In 1971 William Kelso happened almost by chance on an archaeological find that would open a new door on the rural history of colonial Tidewater Virginia. Erosion had revealed a brick well shaft in a cliff on the James River; above this was an earthen fort and, a bit farther downriver, the remains of a plantation manor. These would be the first of many intriguing discoveries to be made in the area known as Kingsmill. Though the land's owners agreed to cooperate with, and even fund, an archaeological study of the area, the excavation schedule would have to keep one step ahead of the work on a...