Paspahegh Settlements at Governor's Land, James City County, Virginia
The name "Governor's Land" applies to a tract of land near Jamestown Island that, in 1618, the Virginia Company of London set aside for the new governor, George Yeardley. The company granted the governor "3000 acres of land 'in the best and most convenient place of the territory of Jamestown in Virginia and next adjoining to the said town to be the seat and land of the Governor of Virginia'" (Outlaw 1990: 4). Yeardley, though, had not been the first to occupy and develop the land. In fact, the Paspahegh people, a tributary tribe to the Powhatan Confederacy, had previously lived along this stretch of the James River and, according to Hantman, returned to the area with the change of seasons. More recently, archaeologists have found firm evidence of the Paspahegh settlement in the form of postmolds that likely formed the frames of buildings. This study, led by Nicholas M. Luccketti, offers one of the best analyses to date of Indian housing in Virginia (Luccketti et al. 1994).
Structure 43:
This structure would have been approximately 22.8 feet long by 13.6 feet wide. Doorways are suspected to have been located in the northeast and southeast corners, between posts 17AM and 17AN as well as 17AP and 17AR. These doorways would have been about 3 feet wide. The posts in the center, marked by 17M, 17D, 17S, and 17X, were likely used as supports for the center of the structure. These posts would have been of particular importance if the stained soil in the center of the structure represented a hearth, for the roof would have had a smoke hole in the center. The line of posts represented by 17AA, 17AE, and 17AX was most likely a bench that ran alongside the wall (Luccketti et al. 1994: 96-98).
