Premiere of NOVA documentary on Werowocomoco/Jamestown

A premiere showing of the NOVA/PBS documentary “Pocahontas Revealed,” focusing on recent excavations of Chief Powhatan’s capital at Werowocomoco and the English settlement of Jamestown will be held at the Kimball Theater Tuesday, May 1.

The PBS broadcast of the “Pocahontas Revealed” NOVA episode is scheduled for May 8.

The program examines the complex relations between the early Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians, as seen through the story of Pocahontas, favored daughter of Chief Powhatan.

Several faculty members and students at William and Mary were involved in the production of “Pocahontas Revealed.” Among those appearing in the documentary will be archaeologists Martin Gallivan and William Kelso of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

“The Pocahontas story is central to the events of 1607, 1608 and 1609, which in turn are central to America’s colonial history,” Gallivan said. “But Pocahontas herself was a product of a powerful society with a deep history that we’re learning more and more about.”

Discovery of the York River location of Powhatan’s base of power, Werowocomoco, was announced in 2003 after investigation by a group of archaeologists including Gallivan and E. Randolph Turner, an archaeologist with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “Pocahontas Revealed” makes extensive use of the recent archaeological discoveries by the Werowocomoco Research Group, a partnership among William and Mary, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and Virginia tribes descended from the Powhatan Indians.

The Kimball Theater is located in Merchant’s Square in Williamsburg.