Modern forensic anthropology, archaeology and historical research are allowing early American colonists to tell their stories in a new exhibition, “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake,” opening Feb. 7 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. This dynamic object- and media-rich exhibition will be on view through Feb. 6, 2011, and will not travel afterward.

“Written in Bone” incorporates about 340 objects, artifacts and human bones from the museum’s collection and loans from more than 20 archaeological organizations and museums including the premier archaeological sites of English Colonial America: Jamestown, Va., and St. Mary’s City, Md. These human remains and objects are brought together for the first time to tell the story of how early colonists in the Chesapeake region lived and died 400 years ago. Highlights of the exhibition include the skeletal remains and artifacts from five “Colonial Cold Cases,” three extremely rare lead coffins that held members of the Calvert family—the founding family of Maryland, five stunning facial reconstructions based on actual skulls and two true-to-life-size figures clothed in appropriate historic garments. The 4,800-square-foot exhibition illuminates what life was like for the earliest English and African settlers in the Chesapeake region through nine informative sections, and an additional 600-square-foot Forensic Anthropology Lab allows visitors to experience firsthand how forensic anthropologists examine human remains.

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