dzes, plane
irons, and race knives, have been excavated. Several barrel
staves--probably made at Jamestown--were found in a few wells. Because
of the great demand for barrels, casks, and hogsheads (both in Virginia
and England) the Jamestown cooper was a busy artisan. His products were
needed at all times, especially after 1620 when the Virginia settlers
began shipping large quantities of tobacco to England in wooden
hogsheads.

[Illustration: TIMBERING--ONE OF THE FIRST ENGLISH INDUSTRIES IN THE NEW
WORLD. (Painting by Sidney E. King.)]

[Illustration: AN EARLY 17TH-CENTURY, TWO-MAN, CROSSCUT SAW.]

THE WOODCUTTER AND SAWYER

Numerous tools found on Jamestown Island relate to timbering, including
felling axes, hewing axes, hatchets, saws, and wedges. An early
17th-century two-man crosscut saw has been recovered almost intact.
Records indicate that pit saws were used, although none has been
excavated.

THE IRONWORKER

A small, primitive hearth or furnace, where small amounts of iron may
have been smelted during the early part of the 17th century, was
uncovered during archeological explorations in 1955. A few miles upriver
from Jamestown, at Falling Creek, the English built their first iron
furnace in America in 1620-21. Iron was smelted in the furnace, and a
few tools were forged--the first iron objects made in the New World by
the English. In 1622 the Indians massacred the ironworkers and their
families, and destroyed the furnace. Although it was never rebuilt, its
importance cannot be overstressed, for the Falling Creek site can
rightfully claim the honor of being the birthplace of the American iron
industry.

[Illustration: A FEW OF MANY TOOLS UNEARTHED AT JAMESTOWN WHICH WERE
USED FOR TIMBERING: FELLING AXES, A HEWING AXE, ADZE, HATCHET, WEDGE,
AND SAW FRAGMENT.]

[Illustration: MAKING "TRIALLS" OF IRON. EVIDENCES OF AN EARTH OVEN OR
SMALL FURNACE WERE DISCOVERED AT JAMESTOWN DURING ARCHEOLOGICAL
EXPLORATIONS. SMALL AMOUNTS OF IRON MAY HAVE BEEN SMELTED IN THE FURNACE
DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF THE SETTLEMENT. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney
E. King.)]

THE BLACKSMITH

In 1955, archeologists discovered the remnants of an early 17th-century
forge. At the site, blacksmith's tools, bar iron, sword guards,
unfinished iron objects, and slag were found. This gave evidence that a
blacksmith once plied his trade only a few yards west of the ancient
brick church. Many blacksmiths worked at Jamestown (there