42 pages • 1 hour read
Sally WalkerWritten in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland
Sally WalkerNonfiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 6-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 6 Summary
A different burial site in Maryland provided archaeologists with insights into a different colonial family. This grave, excavated beneath the foundation of a chapel in St. Mary’s City, was among colonial America’s most unique resting places. The chapel, a solid brick structure dedicated to Catholic worship, was an anomaly in the English-speaking world during colonial times. Unlike other English settlements, Maryland was founded as a haven for Catholics but allowed all Christians to practice their faith freely.
The chapel, built around 1667, served as a house of worship until 1704, when religious freedom ended in Maryland. The chapel was dismantled, and its foundation was buried under layers of soil. In the fall of 1990, two archaeologists discovered a metal coffin beneath the chapel’s foundation. The unexpected find turned out to be a lead coffin, a rare burial practice in colonial America and therefore an indication that the deceased was someone of significant importance. Further excavation revealed two more lead coffins, one larger and one smaller, likely for a small child.
This led to the creation of Project Lead Coffins, a scientific study to examine the coffins and their contents. Using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and gamma rays, the team mapped the chapel’s foundation and examined the coffins’ interiors. The largest coffin was found to be airtight, potentially preserving 17th-century air. To protect the remains, the team replaced the oxygen with argon gas to prevent decomposition. Infrared scans ensured the coffins had no cracks, and hydraulic jacks lifted them to a clean room for examination.
Chapter 7 Summary
The discovery of three lead coffins beneath the foundation of a chapel in St. Mary’s City revealed details about a colonial family. The smallest coffin contained the skeleton of a child—a reminder of the high mortality rates among children in the 17th-century Chesapeake area. Despite being fragile, most of the child’s bones were well-preserved, but the lower leg bones and feet were missing, likely due to moisture causing deterioration over time. Analysis of the cranium and teeth suggested the child was a five to six-month-old baby girl and possibly suffered from rickets and anemia, which could have contributed to her death.
The second coffin held the remains of a slender woman, about 60 years old, who suffered from osteoporosis and a severely fractured and infected femur that would have caused her significant pain and a limp. Evidence suggested she was treated with great respect in death, with remnants of a shroud, a silk ribbon, and rosemary sprigs found in her coffin. Her teeth were severely worn down due to the abrasive colonial method of cleaning teeth with a gritty paste. Lab analyses of hair samples from the woman revealed high levels of arsenic, suggesting she consumed increasing amounts of the poison to cure her ailments—a common but misguided practice of the time.
The largest coffin, containing a man likely in his fifties, showed evidence of embalming, with bones transformed into brushite crystals. The man, about five foot, seven inches and somewhat overweight, appeared to have lived a gentleman’s life and showed no signs of hard labor or debilitating illness. Analysis of the teeth revealed he was a pipe smoker. His burial with silk ribbons in a well-preserved wooden coffin indicated his high status. Historical research and forensic analysis led to the identification of Philip Calvert, a wealthy and influential figure in colonial Maryland, as the likely occupant of the largest coffin. The air the scientists had extracted from this coffin proved unusable, however, as it appeared to have been contaminated by both the embalming process and the introduction of a modern gas at some point prior to the excavation.
Calvert died between December 1682 and January 1683 at age 56. His first wife, Anne, likely died before 1681, as by then, Philip had remarried to Jane Sewell, a much younger woman who was probably the mother of the child in the small coffin. However, this raised questions about Anne’s burial. She died two years before Philip, yet the grave stratigraphy showed he and the woman in her sixties were buried at the same time. This suggested that Anne’s coffin was stored somewhere before being buried alongside Philip’s. However, the mystery remains unsolved.
Chapters 6-7 Analysis
These chapters are dedicated to the excavation of the lead coffins. Chapter 6 provides more background on colonial Maryland and discusses the context of the discovery, whereas Chapter 7 focuses more on the excavation and the findings. By presenting the background information first and then moving on to the analysis, Walker once again sets up readers to follow the progression of the investigation logically. This structure also builds a narrative arc that mirrors the uncovering of historical truths layer by layer, much like the excavation process itself: Notably, Chapter 6 mentions the Calvert family in passing, foreshadowing their later importance and inviting readers to anticipate their significance.
Walker uses the example of the child’s remains to discuss broader themes of disease, nutrition, and 17th-century medical practices, all of which shaped the Daily Lives of American Colonists. The baby’s burial in an expensive lead coffin suggested that the family was wealthy and could afford to provide the best possible care. However, despite their wealth, the baby’s illnesses could not be cured—a testament to the limitations of medical knowledge and resources in colonial America. Walker uses this individual case to shed light on the broader issue of child mortality, emphasizing that high social status did not exempt families from the tragedy of infant death. She uses the rhetorical technique of pathos to appeal to the reader’s empathy for both mothers who lost children and children who grew up without parents. She describes the fragile state of the child’s bones—a symbolic evocation of the infant’s vulnerability—as well as the careful wrapping in linen and the presence of shroud pins, which paint a detailed picture of the care the family lavished on the child and thus of the grief and loss they must have felt. This focus on the personal stories behind the archaeological findings transforms the hard data of historical mortality rates into an emotional narrative of human suffering.
At the same time, Walker continues to use detailed descriptions of the excavation processes to build a clear understanding of the scientific methods used, underscoring The Role of Science in Understanding Human History. For instance, she describes the intricate methods archaeologists and forensic anthropologists take to preserve remains and prevent contamination. Walker even includes information about scientific efforts that fail—e.g., the scientists’ efforts to learn about 17th-century air. This highlights that despite their best efforts and a great deal of preparation, sometimes scientists are unsuccessful: Failure is an inevitable part of the scientific process. In a similar vein, Walker emphasizes that there are unsolved mysteries in these cases. She speculates that Anne’s body may have been “awaiting shipment to England for burial there” but phrases her guess in the form of a question (107). The reader can agree or disagree with her hypothesis; she is offering one possible solution in the absence of definitive proof. This reflects Walker’s interdisciplinary approach. Science by its nature is cautious in what it postulates, but a book like Written in Bone can incorporate a greater degree of speculation provided it distinguishes this from scientific certainty.
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