“The World of 1607,” a special exhibition at Jamestown Settlement from April 2007 to April 2008, put the founding of Jamestown in a global context. This exhibition also focused on worldwide cultural developments during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Presented in four distinct cycles, the exhibition offered a unique opportunity to view early Jamestown as a crossroads of peoples and empires, trade routes and ways of war, and cosmologies and technologies.

When worlds collide

The Jamestown settlement of 1607 arose at the intersection of multiple worlds. Their crossings were both typical of their time and ripe with possibilities for the future. After 1607, similar junctures would occur across the globe in the histories of states, empires and peoples. Our world today is the product of these encounters. Jamestown stands as an emblem of both their promise and their price.

Explore themes and images from each of the four cycles.

• Cycle One
• Cycle Two
• Cycle Three
• Cycle Four

“The World of 1607” exhibition was made possible through an exceptional collaboration with 28 distinguished scholars and brought together a selection of precious objects from museums, libraries and private collections in 10 countries.