# The Lost Colony of Roanoke > In 1587 about 117 English men, women and children were left on Roanoke Island in what is now North Carolina. When their governor, John White, returned in… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:44+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CQCC09A7F6G·Mystery · disappearance # The Lost Colony of Roanoke **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-colony-roanoke) The Lost Colony of Roanoke ![Photograph: The Lost Colony of Roanoke](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/lost-colony-roanoke-lead) National Park Service · Public domain Colonists 117 men, women and children, led by John White⁠[[9]] Landed Roanoke Island, 22 July 1587, instead of the intended Chesapeake Bay⁠[[2]] White leaves 27 August 1587, at the colonists' request, to fetch supplies⁠[[2]] White returns 18 August 1590; colony gone, CROATOAN carved on a post, no sign of distress⁠[[2]] Climate 1587–1589 the most extreme drought in 800 years in the region's tree rings⁠[[5]] Settlement site Not found; erosion has removed almost half a mile of the island's shore⁠[[4]] Status Unexplained Questions 0 of 5 answered People [**John White** Artist and governor of the 1587 colony](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/people/FIG0CQCC1R6181C/john-white)[**Mark Horton** British archaeologist; leads the Hatteras excavations](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/people/FIG0CQCC27T2E5M/mark-horton)[**Scott Dawson** Hatteras Island historian; co-leads the excavations and runs the Lost Colony Museum in Buxton](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/people/FIG0CQCC2FM1G2B/scott-dawson)[**Virginia Dare** First English child born in the Americas; among the lost](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/people/FIG0CQCC2005719/virginia-dare) Catalog key**MYS** 0CQCC09A7F6G The Roanoke colony of 1587 was the third of Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the Carolina coast, after a reconnaissance in 1584 and a military outpost in 1585–1586, and the first civilian settlement⁠[[1]]. Its governor, the artist John White, meant to settle on Chesapeake Bay, but the fleet's pilot refused to carry the colonists beyond Roanoke Island, where an earlier military colony had failed, and they were landed there on 22 July⁠[[2]]. White's granddaughter Virginia Dare was born on 18 August. A week later the colonists asked White to return to England for supplies, and he sailed on 27 August⁠[[2]]. War with Spain kept him away for three years⁠[[3]]. When he landed again at daybreak on 18 August 1590 he found the houses taken down, the site enclosed by a strong palisade, and on a post at its entrance the word CROATOAN, without the cross they had agreed would signal distress. The colonists had told him they meant to move "50 miles into the maine", and Croatoan was the island of Manteo's people, the English's friends. Storms and lost anchors stopped him reaching Croatoan, and he never returned⁠[[2]]. The colonists were not seen again by any English witness whose account survives. Four centuries of search have produced claims and very little proof. The colony's site on Roanoke Island has not been found, and much of the shore it stood on has eroded away⁠[[4]]. Tree rings show the colonists arrived at the start of the worst drought in 800 years⁠[[5]]. Since 2009 Mark Horton and Scott Dawson have dug on Hatteras Island, the old Croatoan, and in 2025 announced blacksmith's hammerscale in a 16th-century layer⁠[[6]]. Since 2012 the First Colony Foundation has dug two sites on the Chowan River below a fort symbol hidden on White's map, and in June 2026 declared the colony found⁠[[3]]. Neither claim has appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, and both have been challenged⁠[[7]]. Of the 5 questions on this site, 0 are answered. The most likely answer to “Do the Hatteras Island excavations show that colonists lived at Croatoan?”, not yet confirmed: no; the English objects are later trade goods or heirlooms reaching a Croatoan town. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Are Sites X and Y on the Chowan River the colonists' settlement?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7KP2Q3X/are-sites-x-and-y-on-the-chowan-river-the-colonists)No answer ahead yet [**Do the Hatteras Island excavations show that colonists lived at Croatoan?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7BW02SK/do-the-hatteras-island-excavations-show-that-colonists-lived)Most likely: no; the English objects are later trade goods or heirlooms reaching a Croatoan town [**What happened to the colonists left on Roanoke Island in 1587?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC6W858JF/what-happened-to-the-colonists-left-on-roanoke-island-in)Most likely: the colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland [All 5 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-colony-roanoke) ## What is known The record of the colony is almost entirely John White's own, printed by Richard Hakluyt. It gives the voyage, the landing, a list of the men, women and children who stayed (including two children born on the island and two Algonquian men, Manteo and Towaye, who had been to England), the colonists' formal request that White go home, and his account of 1590⁠[[2]]⁠[[8]]. The National Park Service counts the colonists at 117⁠[[9]]. [![First page of John White's narrative of the 1587 voyage and the list of the colonists](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/e7cbf821646a57032b284cb003ae0796a1cf62dc6ac871795dd51f5bacc0a571/p1)532 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCRER5RMG/john-whites-narrative-of-the-1587-voyage-and-the-list-of-the) John White's narrative of the 1587 voyage and the list of the colonistsInternet Archive (from the MacLehose edition), 1587. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCRER5RMG/john-whites-narrative-of-the-1587-voyage-and-the-list-of-the) [![First page of John White's account of the 1590 return to Roanoke (letter to Richard Hakluyt, 1593)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/e7cbf821646a57032b284cb003ae0796a1cf62dc6ac871795dd51f5bacc0a571/p1)532 pages](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCQ7P3ZNZ/john-whites-account-of-the-1590-return-to-roanoke-letter-to) John White's account of the 1590 return to Roanoke (letter to Richard Hakluyt, 1593)Internet Archive (from the MacLehose edition), 1593. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCQ7P3ZNZ/john-whites-account-of-the-1590-return-to-roanoke-letter-to) Three facts from 1590 frame every explanation. First, the colonists had planned before White left to move fifty miles inland, and had agreed with him to carve their destination, with a cross if they were in distress. Second, White found "CRO" on a tree and "CROATOAN" on a palisade post, with no cross, and took it as "a certaine token of their safe being at Croatoan, which is the place where Manteo was borne". Third, the houses had been dismantled and the heavy goods left, which suggests an orderly departure rather than an attack, though chests the colonists had buried had been dug up and plundered⁠[[2]]. The colony also arrived in a drought. Bald cypress rings from south-east Virginia make 1587–1589 the most extreme drought in 800 years, and 1606–1612, when Jamestown nearly failed, the driest seven years in 770⁠[[5]]. **Map of the region** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/map) [+][−] 1 **Roanoke Island, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site** Island Within 1 km 2 **Albemarle, Roanoke and Croatan sounds, North Carolina** Region A region 3 **Buxton and Frisco, Hatteras Island (Croatoan)** Island Within 10 km 4 **Site X, Bertie County, at the head of Albemarle Sound** Archaeological site Within 10 km 5 **Chesapeake Bay** Bay A region Within 1 kmA regionNatural Earth ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## The search On Roanoke Island, excavation at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site began in 1895; J. C. Harrington located the small earthwork in 1947, and it was reconstructed in 1950⁠[[4]]. Ivor Noël Hume's excavations of 1991–1993 reinterpreted a nearby structure as the workshop of the scientist Thomas Harriot and the metallurgist Joachim Gans from the 1585–1586 colony⁠[[10]]. The 1587 settlement itself has not been found; the Park Service notes that erosion has removed almost half a mile of the island and the site may be under water⁠[[4]]. In 2024 the First Colony Foundation reported that a copper earring from the Elizabethan Gardens was of European copper, which it ties to the Algonquian village of Roanoac and the 1584–1586 contacts, not to the 1587 colony⁠[[1]]. On Hatteras Island, East Carolina University's David Phelps found a signet ring in 1998 that was long said to be gold and linked to an Elizabethan family; X-ray fluorescence in 2017 showed it was brass, of a common trade type, and it had been found among artifacts of 1670–1720⁠[[11]]. Mark Horton's Croatoan Archaeological Project dug near Buxton from 2009 to 2018 with Scott Dawson, who argues the colonists moved to Croatoan⁠[[12]]. In May 2025 the two announced hammerscale from a blacksmith's forge in a layer whose animal teeth were dated by a laboratory at UC Irvine to the late 1500s, with finds including reworked iron tools, a bronze Tudor rose and a Nuremberg counter; no report or paper has been published⁠[[6]]. On the mainland, the British Museum revealed in 2012, at the First Colony Foundation's request, a fort symbol under a patch on White's map at the head of Albemarle Sound⁠[[3]]⁠[[13]]. The Foundation then dug Site X, at a creek mouth beside the Algonquian town of Mettaquem in Bertie County, and later Site Y upstream; it reports English pottery of possible late 16th-century date, a lead cloth seal from Augsburg, and at Site Y more Elizabethan artifacts and no Native ones⁠[[3]]⁠[[7]]. A Museum of London specialist judged the pottery could be late 16th century and unlikely to date after 1650; no sealed 16th-century context or structure has been found, the soil has been ploughed, and later Jamestown-era traders could have left the sherds⁠[[7]]. [![John White's map "La Virginea Pars", with its two paper patches](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/3cd696624d1b22c6cfe080a98044f770bd2f63c5bcc9f08de5cc5b76feab2269/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCMHR26H4/john-whites-map-la-virginea-pars-with-its-two-paper-patches) John White's map "La Virginea Pars", with its two paper patchesBritish Museum, 1585. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCMHR26H4/john-whites-map-la-virginea-pars-with-its-two-paper-patches) ## The explanations To Croatoan. The colonists, or some of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) as the carved word says, and in time merged with the Croatoan people⁠[[2]]⁠[[12]]. It has White's own reading of the sign and Manteo's kinship ties. The archaeological support is contested: the ring is a later brass trade item, the Hatteras finds have been dated by critics to the mid to late 17th century, and the 2025 hammerscale and dates are unpublished⁠[[11]]⁠[[7]]⁠[[6]]. Luccketti doubts many colonists could have moved to a barrier island during a drought⁠[[7]]. The Foundation's own map study traces Croatoan families taking over the lands the Roanoke people abandoned in 1587⁠[[14]]. Fifty miles inland. The colonists moved west up Albemarle Sound to the Chowan River, as White said they planned and as the hidden fort symbol suggests, and settled in dispersed farms near friendly towns⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. Its archaeology has the same weakness: the material at Sites X and Y could be from later traders, and it lacks a sealed, datable 16th-century context⁠[[7]]. To the Chesapeake. The colony's original destination was Chesapeake Bay, and some historians have argued the main body went north there⁠[[2]]⁠[[12]]. Later Jamestown reports of Englishmen killed by the Powhatans have been read in this light; this project has not yet sourced those reports. Died in place or at sea. The colonists could have died of hunger and disease in the drought, been killed by hostile neighbours, or been lost trying to sail home in their pinnace⁠[[5]]. The absence of a cross of distress and the orderly removal of the houses argue against a sudden end on Roanoke⁠[[2]]. Several accounts combine the first two: a small party at Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body inland, which fits both White's statements⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1593 | John White⁠[15] | CROATOAN carved without the agreed cross was a sure sign that the colonists were safe at Croatoan, where Manteo was born. | Still possible | No find has yet tied the 1587 colonists securely to Hatteras Island, and the Hatteras finds are disputed⁠[7]⁠[6]. | | 1709 | John Lawson⁠[16] | The Hatteras Indians said several of their ancestors were white people who could read, which their frequent grey eyes confirmed. | Still possible | It is a tradition recorded 120 years later, and the English objects found on Hatteras so far are mostly dated to the late seventeenth century⁠[7]. | | 1938 | Haywood J. Pearce Jr.⁠[19] | A stone found near the Chowan River in 1937 carries a genuine message from Eleanor Dare about the colony's fate. | Disputed | The later Dare Stones were exposed as a hoax, and 2016 tests on the first stone's weathering did not settle its age⁠[17]⁠[18]. | | 1941 | Boyden Sparkes⁠[17] | The Dare Stones are a hoax: their wording is anachronistic, and the man who supplied most of them had sold forged relics before. | Most likely | The later stones are generally accepted as forgeries, but the first stone differs from them and its status is still argued⁠[18]. | | 1998 | David Stahle and colleagues⁠[5] | Tree rings show the colonists arrived in the most extreme drought in 800 years, which may help explain their disappearance. | Still possible | The drought is confirmed in the published tree-ring series, but no evidence yet shows how it affected the colonists⁠[20]. | | 2017 | Charles Ewen's team at East Carolina University⁠[11] | The signet ring found on Hatteras in 1998 is brass, not gold, and a common trade item rather than an Elizabethan heirloom. | Accepted | X-ray fluorescence found no gold or gilding, and the ring lay among artifacts of 1670 to 1720⁠[11]. | | 2020 | Scott Dawson⁠[21] | The colonists were not lost: they were taken in by the Croatoan people on Hatteras Island and joined them. | Disputed | Critics date the Hatteras finds to the mid to late seventeenth century and say English goods could have arrived by trade⁠[7]. | | 2020 | First Colony Foundation (Nicholas Luccketti, Eric Klingelhofer)⁠[7] | Sites X and Y on the Chowan River, under the fort symbol on White's map, hold traces of the colonists' settlement. | Disputed | The English pottery could be late sixteenth century, but no sealed context or structure has been found and Jamestown-era traders could have left it⁠[7]. | | 2024 | First Colony Foundation⁠[1] | A copper earring from the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island is of European copper, a gift or trade item of 1584 to 1586. | Most likely | The metal analysis is reported only in the Foundation's press release, with no published study⁠[1]. | | 2024 | First Colony Foundation⁠[14] | Old maps show Croatoan people taking over the Roanoke people's mainland town of Dasemunkepeuc after 1587. | Still possible | It rests on later maps and has not been tested by excavation⁠[14]. | | 2025 | Mark Horton and Scott Dawson⁠[6] | Blacksmith's hammerscale in a late sixteenth-century layer at Buxton shows colonists working iron on Hatteras Island. | Still possible | The finds and the laboratory dates were announced to the press, and no report or paper has been published⁠[6]. | | 2026 | First Colony Foundation⁠[3] | Sites X and Y were parts of a dispersed farm settlement of the colonists along the Chowan River, so the colony has been found. | Disputed | It has not appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, and the objections about later traders and the lack of a sealed sixteenth-century context still stand⁠[7]. | ## What would settle it A securely dated English domestic context, sealed and undisturbed, at Hatteras or on the Chowan would establish presence; publication of the excavations with full context records, radiocarbon dates with their uncertainties, and artifact catalogues would let others judge the claims already made. Ancient DNA from burials of the right age in either area, compared with English and Algonquian reference genomes, could show whether colonists' descendants lived there. Lead isotopes and XRF on the metal finds could separate 16th-century English material from later trade goods. On Roanoke Island, a survey of the drowned shoreline might find the settlement itself. ## Questions 0 of 5 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 5](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=lost-colony-roanoke) **0** [Are Sites X and Y on the Chowan River the colonists' settlement?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7KP2Q3X/are-sites-x-and-y-on-the-chowan-river-the-colonists) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Open: 3 answers, none ahead **0** [Do the Hatteras Island excavations show that colonists lived at Croatoan?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7BW02SK/do-the-hatteras-island-excavations-show-that-colonists-lived) 0 of 0 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: no; the English objects are later trade goods or heirlooms reaching a Croatoan town **0** [What happened to the colonists left on Roanoke Island in 1587?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC6W858JF/what-happened-to-the-colonists-left-on-roanoke-island-in) 0 of 2 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: the colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland ## Evidence 28 findings [What happened to the colonists left on Roanoke Island in 1587?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC6W858JF/what-happened-to-the-colonists-left-on-roanoke-island-in)14 findings [The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCC83A308F/the-colonists-or-most-of-them-went-to-croatoan-hatteras)Most likely +[White found CROATOAN carved without the cross of distress and read it as a token of their safe being at Croatoan.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC8B46WSR/white-found-croatoan-carved-without-the-cross-of-distress)Established +[Hammerscale in a layer whose animal teeth date to the late 1500s, announced in 2025.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC8JY4FSQ/hammerscale-in-a-layer-whose-animal-teeth-date-to-the-late)Speculative −[The Hatteras signet ring is brass, of a common trade type, and was found among artifacts of 1670–1720.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC8TR7SHG/the-hatteras-signet-ring-is-brass-of-a-common-trade-type-and)Supported −[Critics date the Hatteras finds to the mid to late 17th century, possibly trade goods or heirlooms.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC92J4JA1/critics-date-the-hatteras-finds-to-the-mid-to-late-17th)Suggestive [The colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCC9AC0EJH/the-colonists-moved-about-fifty-miles-west-to-the-albemarle)Most likely +[The colonists told White in 1587 that they planned to move fifty miles into the mainland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC9J63GPG/the-colonists-told-white-in-1587-that-they-planned-to-move)Established +[A fort symbol lies under a patch on White's map at the west end of Albemarle Sound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC9T016D9/a-fort-symbol-lies-under-a-patch-on-whites-map-at-the-west)Supported +[Site X gave English sherds possibly of the late 16th century and an Augsburg cloth seal; Site Y gave more Elizabethan material.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCA1T51HY/site-x-gave-english-sherds-possibly-of-the-late-16th-century)Suggestive −[No sealed 16th-century context or structure; ploughed soil; later traders could have left the pottery.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCA9M6AZ8/no-sealed-16th-century-context-or-structure-ploughed-soil)Supported [The main body went north to the Chesapeake Bay, their original destination.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCAHE3A86/the-main-body-went-north-to-the-chesapeake-bay-their)Still possible +[The colony's instructions were to settle on the Chesapeake Bay.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCAS861GQ/the-colonys-instructions-were-to-settle-on-the-chesapeake)Established −[The colonists said they planned to move fifty miles into the mainland, not to the Chesapeake, which is farther.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCB125SX5/the-colonists-said-they-planned-to-move-fifty-miles-into-the)Suggestive [The colonists died on or near Roanoke of hunger, disease or attack, or were lost at sea trying to reach…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCB8W6M9R/the-colonists-died-on-or-near-roanoke-of-hunger-disease-or)Still possible +[1587–1589 was the most extreme drought in 800 years in the regional tree rings.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCBGP32E8/15871589-was-the-most-extreme-drought-in-800-years-in-the)Established −[The houses were taken down and no cross of distress was carved, implying an orderly departure.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCBRG3N0A/the-houses-were-taken-down-and-no-cross-of-distress-was)Established [The colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCC0A61NB/the-colony-split-a-small-party-went-to-croatoan-to-watch-for)Most likely +[White's account gives both a planned inland move and the CROATOAN token.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCC8443GW/whites-account-gives-both-a-planned-inland-move-and-the)Established +[The Foundation describes Sites X and Y as parts of a dispersed farm settlement.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCCFY02K0/the-foundation-describes-sites-x-and-y-as-parts-of-a)Suggestive [What did the carved word CROATOAN tell White?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7426TA8/what-did-the-carved-word-croatoan-tell-white)2 findings [That the whole colony had moved to Croatoan.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCCZJ3G2D/that-the-whole-colony-had-moved-to-croatoan)Still possible +[White took it as a certain token of their safe being at Croatoan.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCD7C1EVG/white-took-it-as-a-certain-token-of-their-safe-being-at)Established [That some had gone to Croatoan, while others had already moved inland as planned.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCDF62PTR/that-some-had-gone-to-croatoan-while-others-had-already)Most likely +[The plan to move fifty miles inland was made before White left; Croatoan is not fifty miles into the mainland.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCDQ01AV7/the-plan-to-move-fifty-miles-inland-was-made-before-white)Suggestive [Do the Hatteras Island excavations show that colonists lived at Croatoan?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7BW02SK/do-the-hatteras-island-excavations-show-that-colonists-lived)4 findings [Yes; a permanent forge and English tools in a 16th-century layer show colonists living there.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCE6M191M/yes-a-permanent-forge-and-english-tools-in-a-16th-century)Still possible +[Hammerscale and adjacent animal teeth said to date to the late 1500s.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCEEE0QZG/hammerscale-and-adjacent-animal-teeth-said-to-date-to-the)Speculative +[Horton reported an Elizabethan-type rapier hilt.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCEP8142E/horton-reported-an-elizabethan-type-rapier-hilt)Speculative [No; the English objects are later trade goods or heirlooms reaching a Croatoan town.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCEY22EP8/no-the-english-objects-are-later-trade-goods-or-heirlooms)Most likely +[The ring is brass, of a mass-produced type, found among artifacts of 1670–1720.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCF5W777V/the-ring-is-brass-of-a-mass-produced-type-found-among)Supported +[Critics date the Hatteras finds to the mid to late 17th century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCFDP1TAD/critics-date-the-hatteras-finds-to-the-mid-to-late-17th)Suggestive [Are Sites X and Y on the Chowan River the colonists' settlement?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7KP2Q3X/are-sites-x-and-y-on-the-chowan-river-the-colonists)5 findings [Yes; they are parts of the colonists' dispersed settlement along the Chowan.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCFXA1S7A/yes-they-are-parts-of-the-colonists-dispersed-settlement)Disputed +[A late 16th-century Augsburg cloth seal at Site X suggests civilians rather than soldiers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCG5435PR/a-late-16th-century-augsburg-cloth-seal-at-site-x-suggests)Suggestive +[Pottery could be late 16th century and is unlikely after 1650; early clay pipes are absent at Site Y.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCGCY2AF2/pottery-could-be-late-16th-century-and-is-unlikely-after)Suggestive +[The fort symbol on White's map lies at the west end of Albemarle Sound.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCGMR3CAF/the-fort-symbol-on-whites-map-lies-at-the-west-end-of)Supported [No; the material was left by later English traders or settlers, or is too disturbed to date.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCGWJ4S3W/no-the-material-was-left-by-later-english-traders-or)Still possible +[No fort or Elizabethan homestead found; soil ploughed by later farmers; no sealed context yet.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCH4C3STF/no-fort-or-elizabethan-homestead-found-soil-ploughed-by)Supported +[Charles Ewen judged the team to be seeking to prove rather than test its theory.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCHC65M1C/charles-ewen-judged-the-team-to-be-seeking-to-prove-rather)Speculative [Did the 1587–1589 drought contribute to the colony's fate?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/questions/QST0CQCC7VG6WM0/did-the-15871589-drought-contribute-to-the-colonys-fate)3 findings [Yes; harvest failure for colonists and neighbours pushed them to move or killed them.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCHVT35KB/yes-harvest-failure-for-colonists-and-neighbours-pushed-them)Most likely +[The most extreme drought in 800 years, 1587–1589.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCJ3M308Y/the-most-extreme-drought-in-800-years-15871589)Established +[At Jamestown, mortality tracks drought, with a correlation of −0.71 between percent mortality and reconstructed July drought index.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCJBE7GWR/at-jamestown-mortality-tracks-drought-with-a-correlation-of)Suggestive [The drought is established but its effect on this colony cannot be shown from the present evidence.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCCJK8561D/the-drought-is-established-but-its-effect-on-this-colony)Most likely +[Roanoke mortality data in the NOAA file are only for the 1586 military colony.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCCJV20WKQ/roanoke-mortality-data-in-the-noaa-file-are-only-for-the)Supported ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 13](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [John White's map "La Virginea Pars", with its two paper patches](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCMHR26H4/john-whites-map-la-virginea-pars-with-its-two-paper-patches) John White · Public domain (PD-art, PD-old) Photo1 step from object [Signet ring with a lion seal, Hatteras Island](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCN1C61PD/signet-ring-with-a-lion-seal-hatteras-island) Smithsonian magazine · publisher; linked, not copied Photo1 step from object [Lead cloth seal from Augsburg, Site X](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCN9670YT/lead-cloth-seal-from-augsburg-site-x) First Colony Foundation · publisher; linked, not copied Photo1 step from object [Copper earring, Elizabethan Gardens, Roanoke Island](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCNH043G5/copper-earring-elizabethan-gardens-roanoke-island) First Colony Foundation · publisher; linked, not copied Document1 step from object [Hammerscale and associated animal teeth, Hatteras Island](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCNRT6JDV/hammerscale-and-associated-animal-teeth-hatteras-island) Lost Colony Museum, Buxton, and a partner laboratory at UC Irvine (as reported) Photo2 steps from object [John White's account of the 1590 return to Roanoke (letter to Richard Hakluyt, 1593)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCQ7P3ZNZ/john-whites-account-of-the-1590-return-to-roanoke-letter-to) Internet Archive · Public domain Photo2 steps from object [John White's narrative of the 1587 voyage and the list of the colonists](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts/ART0CQCCRER5RMG/john-whites-narrative-of-the-1587-voyage-and-the-list-of-the) Internet Archive · Public domain [See all 13 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/artifacts) ## See also [ **Franklin expedition (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror)** Franklin's 1845 Arctic expedition, whose 129 men died after their ships were iced in. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/franklin-expedition) [ **Disappearance of Amelia Earhart** The aviator who vanished with Fred Noonan near Howland Island in the Pacific in 1937. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/amelia-earhart) [ **Bermuda Triangle** A stretch of the western North Atlantic where ships and aircraft are said to vanish. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/bermuda-triangle) [ **Mary Celeste** An American brigantine found adrift and deserted east of the Azores in December 1872. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/mary-celeste) ## References 1. 1.[First Colony Foundation 2024. Lost Colony: scientific tests confirm First Colony archaeological discovery. firstcolonyfoundation.org.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBZA25P9C/lost-colony-scientific-tests-confirm-first-colony)cited 5 times here**SRC** 0CQCBZA25P9C 1. 2.[Hakluyt, R., White, J. 1904. The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, vol. 8 (Glasgow: MacLehose, 1904). James MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow (reprint of the 1598–1600 edition).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBW4G4EQT/the-principal-navigations-voyages-traffiques-and-discoveries)cited 24 times here**SRC** 0CQCBW4G4EQT 1. 3.[First Colony Foundation 2026. The Lost Colony is Found! How We Did It.. firstcolonyfoundation.org.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBYTE4G59/the-lost-colony-is-found-how-we-did-it)cited 15 times here**SRC** 0CQCBYTE4G59 1. 4.[National Park Service 2026. Archeology at Fort Raleigh. nps.gov.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBWVY0KXT/archeology-at-fort-raleigh)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQCBWVY0KXT 1. 5.[Stahle, D., Cleaveland, M., Blanton, D. et al. 1998. The Lost Colony and Jamestown droughts. Science 280(5363), 564–567.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBX3R5MFA/the-lost-colony-and-jamestown-droughts)[doi](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.280.5363.564)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0CQCBX3R5MFA 1. 6.[Crist, J. 2025. 'Smoking gun' evidence of Lost Colony's relocation to Hatteras Island makes international news. Island Free Press.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBYAT1H00/smoking-gun-evidence-of-lost-colonys-relocation-to-hatteras)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0CQCBYAT1H00 1. 7.[Lawler, A. 2020. Newfound survivor camp may explain fate of the famed Lost Colony of Roanoke. National Geographic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBY301Q8X/newfound-survivor-camp-may-explain-fate-of-the-famed-lost)cited 11 times here**SRC** 0CQCBY301Q8X 1. 8.[Quinn, D. 1955. The Roanoke Voyages, 1584–1590: Documents to Illustrate the English Voyages to North America under the Patent Granted to Walter Raleigh in 1584. Hakluyt Society, Second Series 104–105, London.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBWCA107K/the-roanoke-voyages-15841590-documents-to-illustrate-the)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCBWCA107K 1. 9.[National Park Service 2026. The Lost Colony (Fort Raleigh National Historic Site). nps.gov.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBWM43426/the-lost-colony-fort-raleigh-national-historic-site)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCBWM43426 1. 10.[Klingelhofer, E., Luccketti, N., Watts, G. et al. 2026. Archaeological Dig Reports (First Colony Foundation). firstcolonyfoundation.org.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBZ280ZX1/archaeological-dig-reports-first-colony-foundation)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQCBZ280ZX1 1. 11.[Lawler, A. 2017. The mystery of Roanoke endures yet another cruel twist. Smithsonian Magazine.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBXV63SFJ/the-mystery-of-roanoke-endures-yet-another-cruel-twist)cited 9 times here**SRC** 0CQCBXV63SFJ 1. 12.[Vankevich, P. 2020. Was 'The Lost Colony' really lost or just decamped to Hatteras Island?. Island Free Press.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBYJM33J7/was-the-lost-colony-really-lost-or-just-decamped-to-hatteras)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CQCBYJM33J7 1. 13.[White, J. 1590. La Virginea Pars (map of the east coast of North America from Chesapeake Bay to Cape Lookout), John White, 1585–1593. British Museum, registration number 1906,0509.1.3.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBZSP40M3/la-virginea-pars-map-of-the-east-coast-of-north-america-from)cited 3 times here**SRC** 0CQCBZSP40M3 1. 14.[First Colony Foundation 2024. Roanoke and Croatan tribal movement. firstcolonyfoundation.org.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBZHW3H2H/roanoke-and-croatan-tribal-movement)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCBZHW3H2H 1. 15.[White, J. 1593. A letter of M. John White to M. Richard Hakluyt written in February 1593, with The fifth voyage to Virginia made by master John White in the yeere 1590. Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, vol. 8 (MacLehose, 1904), pp. 404–422.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC0H46NJC/a-letter-of-m-john-white-to-m-richard-hakluyt-written-in)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQCC0H46NJC 1. 16.[Lawson, J. 1709. A New Voyage to Carolina. London.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC1GC63KS/a-new-voyage-to-carolina)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCC1GC63KS 1. 17.[Sparkes, B. 1941. Writ on Rocke: Has America's First Murder Mystery Been Solved?. The Saturday Evening Post, 26 April 1941, 9-11, 118, 120-122.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC2000195/writ-on-rocke-has-americas-first-murder-mystery-been-solved)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCC2000195 1. 18.[NCpedia n.d.. The Dare Stones. NCpedia (State Library of North Carolina).](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC27T3V5Q/the-dare-stones)cited 2 times here**SRC** 0CQCC27T3V5Q 1. 19.[Pearce, H. 1938. New Light on the Roanoke Colony: A Preliminary Examination of a Stone Found in Chowan County, North Carolina. The Journal of Southern History 4(2), 148-163.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC1R65HPK/new-light-on-the-roanoke-colony-a-preliminary-examination-of)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCC1R65HPK 1. 20.[Stahle, D., and others 1998. Stahle et al. 1998 Jamestown-Roanoke Climate Reconstructions. NOAA NCEI World Data Service for Paleoclimatology.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCBXBJ478J/stahle-et-al-1998-jamestown-roanoke-climate-reconstructions)[doi](https://doi.org/10.25921/vr9v-7v37)cited 4 times here**SRC** 0CQCBXBJ478J 1. 21.[Dawson, S. 2020. The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island.](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CQCC2FM172N/the-lost-colony-and-hatteras-island)cited 1 time here**SRC** 0CQCC2FM172N Last edited 27 Oct 2026