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KIDS: Our World!
EVAN: Hey Globey, the early explorers sure had a tremendous
amount of courage. They use to get on these small ships to
explore “Our World” and they really had no idea what they
would find. Today, humans have been all over the world.
Many of us have traveled to different cities, states...
maybe even other countries. But back in the 1600s
that wasn’t the case at all. People didn’t know what was
over the horizon, and no one traveled very far from home.
Explorers had to be curious, observant,
determined, and willing to take risks.
They couldn’t be afraid to make mistakes.
Today, our explorers are just as adventurous and courageous,
especially the men and women who explore outer space.
When people talk about outer space, their thoughts often go
to NASA. And that makes perfect sense.
After all, NASA put an astronaut on the Moon,
and today they’re exploring even further with robotic
missions to explore the moons of Jupiter, capture pieces of
comets, and even make new discoveries about our own Moon.
But NASA also helps us explore Earth. And sometimes,
it even helps us uncover mysteries from our past.
Jamestown, Virginia was founded on May 13, 1607.
That’s more than 400 years ago!
Jamestown is known as the first permanent English-speaking
settlement in the new world. That’s the part of the world
that is now the United States.
Once the settlers arrived here, they stayed... in spite of the
many hardships. Talk about courage and not being afraid!
Did you know that during these first few years at Jamestown,
only 60 of the 500 settlers survived?
But new settlers kept coming to the new world and in time,
Jamestown became a thriving community.
I bet you’re wondering what Jamestown has to do with NASA.
Well, for the last several years, the scientists at NASA
Langley Research Center have been helping archaeologists at
Jamestown by scanning dozens of historic artifacts for
Preservation Virginia. This is the organization
behind the Jamestown Rediscovery Project.
BLYTHE STRAUB: When we started in 1994, we had hoped that we
might find some traces of James Fort.
The common idea was as the time that the fort had washed away
into the James River and no longer existed.
But we knew the 400th anniversary was coming up of
the founding in 2007, so we wanted to look and see if we
could find some traces of it still on dry land.
And, lo and behold, we found the whole fort.
Jamestown is important and people should care about it
because it is really the birthplace of our nation;
where we all began.
That started in May of 1607 when 104 men and boys landed at
Jamestown and established their English colony.
Which then grew, spread and we’re all speaking English
here today because of that little colony
that started back in 1607.
EVAN: Archaeologists at Jamestown discovered a piece of
slate, which is a type of rock, in a drinking well that dates
back to around 1607 to 1611.
This well was once in the center of Jamestown Fort.
When the settlers first arrived, they built a triangle-
shaped walled fort for their protection before
they even built shelters for themselves.
The slate that was found in the well is covered with drawings
of birds, flowers, a tree, several sketches of people,
as well as letters and numbers.
BLYTHE: The slate finding was really really exciting to us.
Because it’s very rare that we find something personal
like that. Something that’s actually been done by
someone in the fort. You know, they’re drawing or they’re
writing, or their impressions. And so we don’t know at this
point if the animals are depicting English birds or
birds from the West Indies which would be a part of their
way to come to Jamestown.
Or actually birds they saw at Jamestown. So we’re still
working on that. We do think that one of the trees looks
like a banana tree, which would be West Indies.
And then there’s some individuals, some people.
So people in early 17th century clothing.
So it does look like they’re sort of passing the time by
sketching down what they’re seeing on their way to Virginia
and maybe while they’re sitting in Virginia.
EVAN: The slate was also covered with a thin layer of
rust, so it was difficult for archaeologists to clearly see
the items carved into the slate’s surface.
That’s where NASA comes in.
NASA is using a new piece of X-ray technology called the X-
TEX HMX-ST 225. Wow, that’s tough to say.
This new, powerful X-ray system creates a three dimensional
image of an object. This is incredibly helpful to
archaeologists because it allows them to see a three
dimensional view of historic artifacts without having to
take the artifacts apart and permanently damage them.
MICHAEL LAVAN: Jamestown Rediscovery archeologists have
been working with NASA on non-destructive testing of
artifacts. We’re trying to get a sneak peak into the artifact
so that our treatment methods will not cause any damage.
The images on the slate were slightly obscured by a thin
layer of rust on a very important portion of the slate;
of the actual writing. Before we intervened at all on the
slate, we wanted to make sure that we would not be removing
any of that original text.
So we talked to NASA to tell us what was underneath it.
They did a wonderful job in picking up that writing and
when we did the cleaning, our cleaning confirmed.
There’s always the chance information could be lost.
And so by doing that test, no information was lost.
EVAN: Just think Globey, NASA is helping archaeologists
uncover the mysteries of primary sources, like the slate
artifact, so we can learn more about our own history.
Do you think the English explorer who carved those
images on the rock knew that one day future scientists would
be studying it? It’s incredible to think that simple drawings
could tell us so much about what “Our World” was like
400 years ago. Gee Globey, I wonder what clues we’re going
to leave behind for people in the future to study?
One thing for sure, we won’t be drawing pictures on pieces of
slate. But I wonder what future archaeologists will think
of my new video game?
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KIDS: Our World!
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