Newspaper Article

BELOW THE SURFACE

St John Erickson, Mark

2016

Overview

\"I'd seen a lot of the material they'd found before I got there. So I knew Hampton was tremendously rich,\" recalls Joseph L. Benthall, whom Evans hired as the first full-time professional archaeologist to explore the newly accessible historic landscape. \"The wonderful thing about Hampton -- at least for archaeologists -- is that it's so rich with targets from so many parts of the past. That's why the contraband camp has to be done,\" says Hank Lutton, who led the Goodyear and Old Point digs. Staff graphic (color) by Mark St. John Erickson and Wayne Elfman with photos courtesy of James River Institute for Archaeology, Hampton History Museum, W&M Center for Archaeological Research and Daily Press archive; Downtown Hampton has been the site of 18 major archaeological excavations since 1966, making the historic settlement founded in 1610 one of the nation's best-documented urban areas. The digs are plotted here on a 1781 French map of Hampton, which has been an invaluable tool in the exploration of America's oldest continuous English town.Photo (color) Courtesy of Robert S. HunterIn the late 1980s, archaeologists explore the foundation of the structure that served as the Bunch of Grapes Tavern in 1700s Hampton. Daily Press file photo (color)This close-up view of a 1700s cellar entrance unearthed in the late 1980s off Settlers Landing Road in downtown Hampton shows its proximity to the Virginia Air & Space Center. Photo (color) Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum Among the most startling finds of the mid-1980s dig on the Hampton waterfront was the ritual burial of an early 1700s pirate, whose remains were placed face down at the tidal line.

• Publisher: Tribune Publishing Company, LLC
• Subject: Benthall, Joseph L / Cobb, J Michael / Luccketti, Nick