UC Davis

The discovery of an intact valve of the fossil bivalve Chesapecten jeffersonius and shells of three tropical snail species in a c. 1610 James Fort well speaks to the curiosity that European colonists brought to the New World. While implementing the Virginia Company of London's mandate to identify and secure profitable natural resources, the Jamestown, Virginia, colonists apparendy also gathered interesting natural objects. The shells may have been collected either as personal souvenirs, much like modern-day tourists, or as curios destined for the lucrative European conchology market. Chesapecten jeffersonius, Virginias state fossil, was collected locally as representatives can still be found in James River Pliocene deposits near Jamestown. In contrast, the tropical shells were likely brought to Jamestown in May 1610 by survivors of an English shipwreck on Bermuda. The shells from both Virginia and Bermuda were discarded in the forts well by June 1610 as the settlers hastily prepared to permanendy abandon Jamestown.