What happened to the colonists left on Roanoke Island in 1587?
Most likely: the colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inlandAhead on the evidence, not yet confirmed. It needs two reviews to be accepted.
Where it stands
Six answers have been proposed. The colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed… leads, with evidence 3 for, 1 against: partly supported by its tests. Five are still possible. Of the two narrower questions under it, none is answered yet.
Answers 6
History
- Hakluyt & White puts forward: the colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…
- Hakluyt & White puts forward: the colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland.
- Hakluyt & White: white found CROATOAN carved without the cross of distress and read it as a token of their safe being at…For: The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…
- Hakluyt & White: the colonists told White in 1587 that they planned to move fifty miles into the mainland.For: The colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed…
- Hakluyt & White: the colonists said they planned to move fifty miles into the mainland, not to the Chesapeake, which is…Against: The main body went north to the Chesapeake Bay, their original destination.
- Hakluyt & White: the colony's instructions were to settle on the Chesapeake Bay.For: The main body went north to the Chesapeake Bay, their original destination.
- Lawler: critics date the Hatteras finds to the mid to late 17th century, possibly trade goods or heirlooms.Against: The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…
- Lawler: no sealed 16th-century context or structure; ploughed soil; later traders could have left the pottery.Against: The colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed…
- Crist: hammerscale in a layer whose animal teeth date to the late 1500s, announced in 2025.For: The colonists, or most of them, went to Croatoan (Hatteras Island) and in time merged with the Croatoan…
- First Colony Foundation puts forward: the colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed…
- First Colony Foundation: a fort symbol lies under a patch on White's map at the west end of Albemarle Sound.For: The colonists moved about fifty miles west to the Albemarle Sound and Chowan River and settled in dispersed…
- First Colony Foundation: the Foundation describes Sites X and Y as parts of a dispersed farm settlement.For: The colony split; a small party went to Croatoan to watch for ships and the main body moved inland.
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