42 pages • 1 hour read
Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
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Background
Geohistorical Context: Colonial Maryland and Virginia
The colony of Virginia, established in 1607 with the founding of Jamestown, was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. While the first colonists came to Virginia seeking gold, they instead obtained wealth through the cash crop of tobacco. The cultivation of tobacco created a demand for labor that was initially met by European indentured servants (servants contractually bound to labor without pay for a set period of time) and later by enslaved Africans. As Written in Bone documents, archaeological sites in Virginia reveal much about the harsh realities of colonial life, including the high mortality rates and the settlers’ struggles with disease and conflict. The remains of JR1225B, for example, showed signs of heavy physical toil as well as an injury by an arrowhead.
Maryland was founded in 1634 by Cecil Calvert, also known as Lord Baltimore—the brother of one of the people whose remains Walker describes. It was established as a haven for English Catholics facing persecution in Protestant England. The colony’s charter granted Calvert significant autonomy, allowing religious freedom for all Christians, which was unique for its time. Unlike the first settlers of Jamestown, the first colonists in Maryland included women. Maryland’s economy was based on tobacco farming, which became the colony’s primary export and a significant source of wealth.
Both Maryland and Virginia are part of the Chesapeake region of the Mid-Atlantic. This area’s rivers and fertile soil made it ideal for large-scale agriculture, which became the colonies’ economic backbone. The Chesapeake Bay also provided a waterway for transport and trade, which led to its establishment as a cultural melting pot where European settlers, enslaved Africans (including, potentially, the young woman known as HK7), and Indigenous peoples interacted. Large plantations were established in these colonies, which led to the social stratification reflected in the burial customs Written in Bone describes.
Literary Context: Nonfiction for Young Adults
Written in Bone is aimed at a younger audience and seeks to make scientific concepts understandable by blending research-based content with storytelling. The book includes photographs, diagrams, and sidebars that break down complex scientific information into manageable pieces.
Walker also uses a narrative structure that frames scientific discoveries within the stories of individuals. By doing so, she humanizes the scientific content in an effort to make it relatable and interesting. She uses descriptive language to help the reader visualize the scenes and understand the significance of the findings. Descriptions of burial sites, skeletal remains, and the process of isotopic analysis are detailed but avoid highly technical jargon, and Walker supplements these descriptions with visual aids and short captions so the reader can understand each step in the excavation process. Overall, she presents scientific investigations as mysteries to be solved, incorporating cliffhangers and gradual revelations to engage readers while encouraging them to think critically.
Written in Bone is typical of Walker’s work, which frequently blends science and history for young adult (YA) readers. Young adult literature is often thought of as being dominated by fiction, with many of the best-known examples falling under the umbrella of fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian literature. Nevertheless, nonfiction constitutes a respected and growing subsector of the YA market, with the Young Adult Library Services Association (a branch of the ALA) instituting a prize for such works in 2010. Written in Bone earned Walker a nomination for this award, and many other nominees or winners have made names for themselves in the YA nonfiction genre. Examples include Candace Fleming, whose The Rise & Fall of Charles Lindbergh won in 2021, and Steve Sheinkin, who received the award in 2012, 2013, and 2016 for The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, by Treachery, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, and Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, respectively.
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