Question

document b: dennis b. blanton, \jamestowns environment,\ center for archaeological research, college of william & mary, williamsburg, virginia, 2000. many people have commented over the last four centuries on the qualities of jamestowns environment... because the adjacent river and creeks became brackish as water levels rose, reliable sources of fresh water would have been scarce by the seventeenth century..., english colonists dug shallow wells to supply themselves with sources of drinking water, but these were vulnerable to drought and salt water intrusion. also, historian carville v. earle attributed... disease in the early years to jamestowns position at the salt - fresh water transition, where filth introduced into the river tended to fester rather than flush away. the island is not situated at a point of great natural food abundance, especially relative to other locations very close by... fish are present in local streams, but only in the spring and early summer are they there in impressive abundance... secondary source primary source document a questions: 1. what is brackish water? brackish water is a mixture of fresh and saltwater 2. what twice daily event would cause water levels around jamestown to rise and cause wells and fresh water streams to become brackish? the tide 3. according to carville earle, what happened to human waste that got dumped in the river? fester rather than flush away 4. what inference can you make about the effect of tides on health in jamestown? tides contributed to disease by causing filth to fester 5. consider the last paragraph. what time of the year do you think starvation was most likely to happen? late fall and winter

Explanation:

1. Brackish water is defined as a mixture of fresh and salt - water.
2. Tides occur twice daily and can cause water levels to rise, making fresh water sources brackish.
3. According to Carville Earle, human waste dumped in the river festered instead of being flushed away due to Jamestown's position at the salt - fresh water transition.
4. Tides contributed to disease in Jamestown as they caused filth to fester, which is an inference based on the text.
5. Starvation was most likely to happen in late fall and winter as fish, a natural food source, were only abundant in spring and early summer.

Answer:

1. Brackish water is a mixture of fresh and saltwater.
2. The tide.
3. Fester rather than flush away.
4. Tides contributed to disease by causing filth to fester.
5. Late fall and winter.