In a surprising discovery, researchers have found a new piece of the puzzle of the oldest known surviving tombstone in the United States.
As per CNN, a beautifully carved black limestone slab was originally set into the floor of the second church in Jamestown, Virginia.
This discovery about the gravestone’s origin will help researchers to completely understand about the individual to whom the gravestone likely belonged.
By analyzing the small fossils inside the limestone, it is known that the small ancient organisms preserved in the rock were from Europe.
Lead study author Marcus Key, a geoscientist and the Joseph Priestley Professor of Natural Philosophy said in a statement, “These stones are quite heavy, and the most expensive part of the stone is not the stone itself, but the transportation costs. … To me, that was surprising, that there was somebody that was affluent enough to want to exhibit their wealth and memorialize themselves with such an expensive proposition.”
As per the study, the heavy stone was sent from Belgium to London for carving and then transported across the Atlantic Ocean to its final resting place in Jamestown.
Researchers said that this journey probably took around one year.
The tomb is believed to be that of Sir George Yardley, an early English colonial governor and one of the first slaves in America, who was knighted in 1618.
