Archaeological Crime Scene?

The items found at the site of America's first permanent English settlement included the Scottish pistol, a man's leather shoe and a small lead plaque reading "James Towne" — the equivalent of a Colonial luggage tag.

Okay, gentlemen. We can certainly think of a better scenario than some Brit "accidentally knocking" his brass pistol in a well, yes?

And just to nudge the yahoo report back to reality: Besides Indian artifacts, the items are among the oldest [European artifacts] ever unearthed in America. "They're the earliest you could find in what is now the United States," said William Kelso, director of archaeology for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.

[Note: We've (yes, the royal Americas "We") got Native American sites yielding artifacts well over 11,000 years old.]