(Book Cover compliments of titlewave.com)
Bibliography
Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books. ISBN 0-8225-7135-8
Plot summary
Author documents the findings of forensic scientists at colonial-era gravesites in old Jamestown, Virginia, and methods that the scientists use to determine mysteries surrounding the remains of a teenage boy, a ship's captain, an indentured servant, a colonial officer, and an African slave girl.
Critical Analysis
Walker’s research expertise brings to life yet another meticulously detailed non-fiction book. Accompanying a forensic anthropologist and his team of historians, scientists and archaeologists excavating pre-colonial graves in Virginia and Maryland, Walker skillfully documents the processes these experts utilize to reveal and evaluate historical evidence. Organized by chapters that each center on a different burial site, the layout of the book logically presents scientific and historical findings about each skeleton that reveal clues about ancestry, age, diet, cause of death, lifestyle.
Stunning full-color photographs of skeletal remains and other archaeological findings are well-detailed in stand-out captions enticing the reader to flip through the pages and linger on teeth, femurs, and craniums. The earthy colors and antiquated font throughout the book add an authentic pre-colonial feel. The timeline, bibliography, index, and additional reading/website list provide ample grounds for further digging for the aspiring young anthropologist.
Reviews and Honors
“Readers will be enticed by both the scientific detective work and by the tantalizing mysteries that remain.” –Kirkus“Anyone enamored by the science involved in the currently popular crime forensic television programs will appreciate this book as it describes how these methods are used to uncover historical facts.” -Library Media Connection
Kirkus Reviews-Editor’s Choice Children’s Books 2009
YALSA Finalist for Excellence in Nonfiction for YA 2010
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2010
Starred reviews in Book Links, Booklist, School Library Journal. Also reviewed in Horn Book and Wilson’s.
Connections
· Allow students to work in small groups to select a topic for reading, research, and presentation based on one of Sally M. Walker’s award-winning research books:
Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H.L. Hunley (2005) ISBN
Fossil Fish Found Alive (2002) ISBN 1-57505-536-8
Written In Bone (2009) ISBN 0-8225-7135-8
Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed (2010) ISBN 1-58013-607-9
Blizzard of Glass (to be released Nov. 2011) ISBN 0-8050-8945-4
· Create an “archaeological dig site” in the library with hands-on digging for artifacts and research digging as well. Team with the social studies department or science department to create the “dig” topic and parameters for the research. Topics might include: ancient civilizations, ocean bed discoveries, rocks and minerals, etc.
· Create a webquest on Colonial history in early America complete with museum links to primary documents and a virtual fieldtrip to Jamestown http://www.virtualjamestown.org/page2.html .
