‘Conclusive Proof’: Fascinating New Clue on What Happened to Lost Roanoke Island Settlers
- Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:27pm by
Liz Klimas
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — A new look at a 425-year-old map has yielded a tantalizing clue about the fate of the Lost Colony, the settlers who disappeared from North Carolina’s Roanoke Island in the late 16th century.
Experts from the First Colony Foundation and the British Museum in London discussed their findings Thursday at a scholarly meeting on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Their focus: the “Virginea Pars” map of Virginia and North Carolina created by explorer John White in the 1580s and owned by the British Museum since 1866.
"La Virginea Pars", a map of the east coast of North America (c. 1585-87) produced by the Elizabethan artist and gentleman, John White (P&D 1906,0509.1.3, c. British Museum,) © Trustees of the British Museum (Photo and caption via First Colony Foundation)
“We believe that this evidence provides conclusive proof that they moved westward up the Albemarle Sound to the confluence of the Chowan and Roanoke rivers,” said James Horn, vice president of research and historical interpretation at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and author of a 2010 book about the Lost Colony.
“Their intention was to create a settlement. And this is what we believe we are looking at with this symbol — their clear intention, marked on the map …”
Watch this WRAL news report on the discovery:
Attached to the map are two patches. One patch appears to merely correct a mistake on the map, but the other — in what is modern-day Bertie County in northeastern North Carolina — hides what appears to be a fort. Another symbol, appearing to be the very faint image of a different kind of fort, is drawn on top of the patch.
Detail of " La Virginea Pars" by John White showing the area of one of two paper patches (the northern patch) stuck to the map (P&D 1906,0509.1.3 (detail), © Trustees of the British Museum. (Photo and caption via First Colony Foundation)
The American and British scholars believe the fort symbol could indicate where the settlers went. The British researchers joined the Thursday meeting via webcast.
In a joint announcement, the museums said, “First Colony Foundation researchers believe that it could mark, literally and symbolically, `the way to Jamestown.’ As such, it is a unique discovery of the first importance.”
An enhanced ultraviolet-reflected image of the very faint image on the surface of the northern patch on "La Virginea Pars" by John White (P&D 1906,0509.1.3 (detail) © Trustees of the British Museum (Photo and caption via First Colony Foundation)
White made the map and other drawings when he traveled to Roanoke Island in 1585 on an expedition commanded by Sir Ralph Lane. In 1587, a second colony of 116 English settlers landed on Roanoke Island, led by White. He left the island for England for more supplies but couldn’t return again until 1590 because of the war between England and Spain.
When he came back, the colony was gone. White knew the majority had planned to move “50 miles into the maine,” as he wrote, referring to the mainland. The only clue he found about the fate of the other two dozen was the word “CROATOAN” carved into a post, leading historians to believe they moved south to live with American Indians on what’s now Hatteras Island.
But the discovery of the fort symbol offers the first new clue in centuries about what happened to the 95 or so settlers, experts said Thursday. And researchers at the British Museum discovered it because Brent Lane, a member of the board of the First Colony Foundation, asked a seemingly obvious question: What’s under those two patches?
Researchers say the patches attached to White’s excruciatingly accurate map were made with ink and paper contemporaneous with the rest of the map. One corrected mistakes on the shoreline of the Pamlico River and the placing of some villages. But the other covered the possible fort symbol, which is visible only when the map is viewed in a light box.
A transmitted light image of the symbol underlying the northern patch on "La Virginea Pars" by John White, produced by lighting it from below. (P&D 1906,0509.1.3 (detail), © Trustees of the British Museum (Photo and caption via First Colony Foundation)
The map was critical to Sir Walter Raleigh’s quest to attract investors in his second colony, Lane said. It was critical to his convincing Queen Elizabeth I to let him keep his charter to establish a colony in the New World. It was critical to the colonists who navigated small boats in rough waters.
So that made Lane wonder: “If this was such an accurate map and it was so critical to their mission, why in the world did it have patches on it? This important document was being shown to investors and royalty to document the success of this mission. And it had patches on it like a hand-me-down.”
Researchers don’t know why someone covered the symbol with a patch, although Horn said the two drawings could indicate the settlers planned to build more of a settlement than just a fort.
The land where archaeologists would need to dig eventually is privately owned, and some of it could be under a golf course and residential community. So excavating won’t begin anytime soon. But it doesn’t have to, said Nicholas Luccketti, a professional archaeologist in Virginia and North Carolina for more than 35 years.
Archaeologists must first re-examine ceramics, including some recovered from an area in Bertie County called Salmon Creek, he said.
“This clue is certainly the most significant in pointing where a search should continue,” Lane said. “The search for the colonists didn’t start this decade; it didn’t start this century. It started as soon as they were found to be absent from Roanoke Island … I would say every generation in the last 400 years has taken this search on.”
But none have had today’s sophisticated technology to help, he said.
“None of them had this clue on this map.”
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Comments (76)
mils
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:26pmsince the blaze will not fix the site so that posters can respond to a particular post, except 200 blogs down..by then you forgot what you were saying…HOW ABOUT A ‘LIKE“ OR ”DISAGREE” BUTTON???..
Report Post »48Straight
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:51pmLike/disagree would be good. Funny how you were the top poster and I am the top reply.
Report Post »Granny58
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 9:45amwould LOVE a like/dislike button.
Also, Blaze, I don’t need the website automatically pointing me toward the next story…I can find it myself.
Report Post »SHOOTnCRASH
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 11:24amI agree with the comments structure, its like were living in the late 80′s man.
Report Post »MCDAVE
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 12:10pmIf they tried to create a settlement in the area where the article suggests the cottonmouths and mosquitoes killed the colonists..End of mystery .
Report Post »goofyfoot2001
Posted on May 6, 2012 at 5:35amI‘ve sayin’ it, I‘ve been sayin’ it for years… FIX THE COMMENT SORT!
Report Post »FL_Catholic
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:02pmI believe the real answer to the mystery of Roanoke lies in the journals that were detailed in this book: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7108001-abraham-lincoln
Report Post »Go Glenn
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:52pmI don’t trust most of our history anymore.
It has all been written and re-written with a liberal slant.
The forces that drive us toward a New World Order are as diverse as they are strong but I will fight the inevitable until might last breath is drawn.
Trust nothing that is tainted with political correctness.
Report Post »mils
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:28pmthis goes for so many things..books etc that we take for granted…who the heck knows what was really said…who really wrote them..what did they write, rewrite, rewrite to fit the current times, etcetc…heck I get more information from watching the tv series..“ancient aliens”…
Report Post »inblack
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:42pmWhy do American’s not believe the Intellectual Class?
Quote: “this evidence provides conclusive proof”
NO, this evidence does not provide ANYWHERE NEAR conclusive proof.
Do these people know what these words mean?
It is just another theory.
Report Post »48Straight
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 9:54pmHey like in Global warming the scientists voted on it so it is a indisputable scientific fact.
Report Post »kentuckyjim
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 8:22pmI agree about history had been re-written. I think obama has a history book that says the rich need to pay their fare share, I think it was Washington who might have said that. Not sure just follow up with obama.
Lack of capitalizing proper names is not a typo, mistake, or meaning I am an idiot ( you will need more proof to prove that ) but my wanting to give the guy claiming to be president a little disrespect.
Report Post »REBELWITHACAUSE
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:42pmOkay… REWIND… THIS will be my first question for God… Where the hell did those Roanokans go? Uhh… naaaahhhh…
Report Post »observer48
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:33pmvampires don’t eat people. It was Zombies,brain eatin‘ lip smackin’ pre colonial zombies…….or Eric Holder.
Report Post »neoconpunk
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:07pmI’m interested only because it involves the possibility of the mutilation of a golf course. I’d watch that in a heartbeat.
Report Post »Mapache
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 8:40pmwhy does nobody complain when you want to put a battlefield on a golf course but raise holy hell when you want to put a golf course on a battlefield?
Report Post »Grannie4news
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:07pmIt is amazingly disturbing to see so many infantile remarks here on such a serious mystery in history. I thought the Lumbi tribe which is in Heather Locklears ancestory were supposed to possibly be an answer also. I really enjoy stories from history. Wish I had felt the same back in High School. Not every subject demands jokesters respond.
Report Post »mauijonny
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 11:50pm*Like*
Report Post »Granny58
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 9:46am“Like” (good way to do it…thanks)
Report Post »Inlightofthings
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 6:51pmGRANNIE…Maybe some of us are still in high school and not takin’ things so seriously…
*whack*…was that a yardstick I just felt on the back of my hand???
Report Post »neoconpunk
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:04pmMaybe it’s what it says it is………..a patch. An early version of liquid paper. It could have just been a mistake. Maps were a huge effort to draw back then, so a mistaken placement of a symbol would have been “patched”. Of course, I don’t want to stop the map-gasms the archeological geeks are having. They get so few.
Report Post »Rebltea
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:13pmBeing a ninth generation Carolinian this is of particular interest and of course required study. Many theories have abounded but the one that makes the most sense to me is that they moved inland lived and mixed with the Pembroke tribe where many light skinned blue eyed indians were found in the tribe many years later as white settlers moved further inland. Besides, if they remained in the location mentioned where was the settlement and why was it not found sooner and with white people inhabiting it ???
Report Post »neoconpunk
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 3:05pmMaybe THATS where Elizabeth Warren came from.
Report Post »FL_Catholic
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:04pmAwesome! Elizabeth Warren is a joke… and a punchline!
Report Post »thegreatcarnac
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:59pmEveryone knows that they caught the train to Nashville where they ended up being back up singers some coal-miner’s daughter.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:26pmTheir Explanation… explains NOTHING!
Report Post »RedDirtTexas
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:42pmA patch over the fort symbol would mean no fort here. Perhaps some Scots arrived, burned it down, drove the English away and built the golf course. Just don’t know.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:36pm‘Conclusive’? Just give me an investigative news story and lose the hyperbole, okay?
Report Post »Nemo13
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:30pmI think Bigfoot chased them off. :-)
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:57pmI think they were worried about the harm they were causing to the environment by burning wood to stay warm. They went green and froze to death.
Report Post »scuba13
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 7:26pmElizabeth Warren‘s dead relatives killed them because they didn’t have those high cheekbones.
Report Post »SoCalSE
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:27pmVery cool. I hope it leads to a new discovery.
Report Post »kspatriot
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:18pmWHY ARE YOU NOT REPORTING THIS?
The GOP is breaking their own rules by “merging” with Romney while a Republican Primary is still in progress. IT IS ILLEGAL!
Watch short video explaining.
Report Post »http://youtu.be/mDPK4GCprYA
Razlord
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:46pmmost will not believe the truth with their own eyes…
dr. paul will win.
flippin mitt can go away.
Report Post »Still Voting For ‘Mitt Romney’?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQwrB1vu74c&feature=related
Binski430
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:52pmMaybe cause we want to read something not about our country going down the toilet for a change…
Report Post »Razlord
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:58pmRNC Threatens To Bar Nevada To Stop Delegates Voting For Ron Paul
Report Post »http://www.infowars.com/yes-the-re-education-camp-manual-does-apply-domestically-to-u-s-citizens/
KyleD
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:17pmPaul has no chance, as far as I’m concerned and most of the republican party Mitt has already won.
Report Post »Zer0
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 4:04pmWished I could believe you guys…Mitt sucks. Paul>Mitt or Barack. Alas, the Democrats get two choices this year; Mitt or O. Thanks RNC, thanks for disqualifying, railroading, and destroying any possible alternative to Progressive Lite versus Progressive Radical. Maybe in 2016 we’ll get a real choice.
Still, ANYONE but Obama 2012
Report Post »MCDAVE
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:08pmI voting for Ron Paul….
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:11pmHurray for Ron Paul!
Hurray for Ross Perot!
Hurray for Ralph Nader!
These proud heroes will rise up and defeat Obama, and restore our country to GREATNESS!!!
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:14pm…..well, maybe not…..
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:18pm…..or maybe they will all just disappear like the Roanoke Colony?
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:31pmHowabout….. Pat PAULson for President?!!!
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:17pmWhat they didn’t answer is how many slaves did they own, and what reparations do they owe minorities today. Did they attempt to farm and were they ever discriminated against in getting loans to farm. Did they get EPA approval for deforesting the land and was the fort up to building codes. And if they sold any food, was it up to FDA regulations. Did they register their firearms. When they built their settlement was it inspected by an OSHA inspector. And lastly, did they make sure they reported and paid taxes on any buisnesses and incomes they generated along with any Green Energy credits they might have received. Also, was any child labor involved.
That is what was left out of this story, and these are things we should demand be answered.
Report Post »Nemo13
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:36pmReparations?!?! Haha.. Um, they are all long dead. Nobody gets any reparations. SORRY! No gibsmedatz.
Report Post »spirited
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:11pmTaxes; don’t forget about taxes.
$^> Did they pay their fair share of taxes??? –Dr. Gates can Root down ancestor’s back-pay.
Report Post »Todd P
Posted on May 5, 2012 at 4:33pmMaybe they didn’t have all those things – so they were WIPED OUT as a consequence!
(See, maybe we really do need government’s heavy hand to take care of us!)
Report Post »trotula
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:13pmIf I were to hazard a guess, judging from the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements, their biggest challenge would be hunger. When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World, he met many natives who were willing and able to feed them. The settlers weren’t so lucky and many starved. If the Roanoke Colony didn’t all die from hunger, they probably joined and assimilated with the local natives.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:49pmSo, Happy Meals weren’t a problem back then, did they live in a Food Desert?
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:13pm…
Report Post »Maybe they were murdered by the Indians.
This theory is not Politically Correct. Shame on me.
SovereignSoul
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:35pmMaybe they were deported by Native Americans. No papers? Get out!
Report Post »HADEN0UGH
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:12pmSupernatural’s way of explaining it was way cooler!
Report Post »Balthazor
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 2:03pmIndeed!
Report Post »carpenb94m
Posted on May 8, 2012 at 7:02pmWow can’t believe more than one Supernatural fan on here.
Report Post »Jumper
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:06pmI’m not sure that actually solves anything. I would hardly call it “conclusive proof” It’s very cool, and c should certainly give researches a place to start looking. I just don’t buy the simple existance of a symbol on a map, which runs contrary to the only physical evidence found at the site, the word “CROATAN” carved into a stockade pole, as proof of where they went.
Report Post »Sine labore nihil
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:17pmWe all know they were eaten by vampires.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:56pmI find this MORE interesting than a show on the Titanic! Very cool!
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:56pmFascinating. This is where some of my mother‘s relatives settled in the early 1700’s migrating from VA. So the idea that earlier settlers moved to that area is not far fetched.
Most likely the settler’s on Roanoke Island learned very quickly from a hurricane that staying on the island would be suicide not to mention hunting for food. One needs to delve into the records to see if a hurricane came close during that time period, which would make them relocate. I’m inclined to think so. Plus moving inland would give them more protection.
In looking at the shoreline in the 1585 map compared to my Atlas now, it has changed immensely; certainly from erosion and hurricanes.
Report Post »TheBurningTruth
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:09pmThe problem was that the original settlers of Roanoke took their computers and records with them when they left. So, there just aren’t any weather “records” of hurricanes off the East Cost in the 1580 to review.
Report Post »SquidVetOhio
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:51pmThere‘s 10 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
Report Post »JRook
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:01pmLOL Exactly Major YAWN
Report Post »Mark0331
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:49pmInteresting historical find…all I know is Hatteras has some of the BEST surfing and fishing on all of the East Coast…epic.;-)
Report Post »mils
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:48pmconclusive…doesn’t seem like the right word….what am i missing…
Report Post »lawrench
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 12:57pmI am with you… does not appear to be conclusive to me.
Report Post »Constructionist
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:15pmI believe this was a typo; it should have read that the patch on the map was ‘adhesive’, not ‘conclusive’.
Report Post »TheSoundOf Truth
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 1:18pmMore like “more questions arise” instead of “conclusive” proof.
This is fire in the sky type stuff. They were abducted.
Report Post »TheBurningTruth
Posted on May 4, 2012 at 5:12pmI liked the part about “But none have had today’s sophisticated technology to help, he said”. A light box is NEW and SOPHISTICATED technology? That’s the picture that shows the best image. Too bad nobody thought about holding the map up to the sun either!
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