# The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…

> Most likely: The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan people.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/answers/ANS0CQCC83A308F/the-colonists-or-most-of-them-went-to-croatoan-hatteras  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Lost Colony of Roanoke](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke)[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)Answer

Answer · Lost Colony of Roanoke

# The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…

The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan people.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests partly supported it: two pieces of evidence for, two against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Sealed late 16th-century English domestic material at Hatteras village sites.
- English and Algonquian material mixed in the same early contexts.
- Ancestry of English origin in 17th-century burials on Hatteras.

## What would rule it out

- Excavated Hatteras contexts with English material all dating after about 1650, and no earlier English presence.

## Evidence 2 for · 2 against

[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

FOR

[White found CROATOAN carved without the cross of distress and read it as a token of their safe being at…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/lost-colony-roanoke/evidence/EVD0CQCC8B46WSR/white-found-croatoan-carved-without-the-cross-of-distress)

Established

FOR

[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

AGAINST

[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

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[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 likelyThe colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan… [Answer ANS0CQCC83A308F]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CQCC83A308F
```

Key

**ANS** 0CQCC83A308F

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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