While I was in Washington, D.C., I had the chance to visit a terrific exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Called “Written in Bone,” it involves the fascinating discovery of the lives of the 17^th century colonists in Jamestown, Virginia and St. Mary’s City, Maryland through the examination of their bones.

The show demonstrates, using what’s called forensic anthropology, how the race, gender and even profession of those settlers could be determined by using 21st century technology to closely observe the variations of their remains.

The bones of one mysterious individual were analyzed to determine the identity of this person and to even recreate what he looked like.

The exhibit runs until February 6, 2011 and admission is free.