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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Mysterious Inscribed Slate Discovered at Jamestown


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A simple drawing of a man is etched on a slate tablet recently excavated by archaeologists in Jamestown, Virginia, America's first permanent English settlement.

The rare inscribed slate, believed to be 400 years old, also includes words, numbers, and drawings of birds and animals. It was found in a well that archaeologists think may have been dug by Capt. John Smith, Jamestown's best known leader.

Photograph by Michael Lavin, courtesy Preservation Virginia