What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke?

Nobody knows for certain. When John White returned to Roanoke Island in 1590, he found the colony abandoned. In the roughly 430 years since, many theories have been investigated, but none has been definitively proven. Many historians now think at least some colonists moved elsewhere and lived among Native American communities, though the archaeology is not conclusive. [1] [2]

The colonists had sent White back to England for help from Sir Walter Raleigh, but war with Spain delayed his return until 1590. White had told the settlers that if they left, they should carve a message showing where they went, adding a cross if they were in distress. The colonists had also talked of moving about 50 miles inland. At the empty village he found the word Croatoan carved into a post. Croatoan was both a people and a place, the island now called Hatteras, and the friendly Croatoan man Manteo had lived with the colonists. White believed they had gone there but never confirmed it. [1]

Famine and disease are often proposed. A drought from 1587 to 1590 left the Algonquian short of food to trade. Yet White found no graves, which would be expected if disease or hunger had wiped out the colony. A Spanish attack is also speculated about, since Spain learned of the colony and sent a captain to search in 1588. He found no English people, and White saw no sign of an attack in 1590. [1]

The Chesapeake theory, argued by historian David Beers Quinn in the 1970s, draws on reports to Jamestown settlers. Powhatan informants told them of people who built English-style houses, and one, Machumps, said most had been killed around 1607. The National Park Service notes that no archaeological evidence has appeared in the Chesapeake area, and that the colonists were not sailors, which casts doubt on an ocean voyage. [2] [1]

Historian James Horn argues the colonists moved west, probably soon after White left, perhaps fearing Spain, and lived among groups such as the Tuscaroras and Chowanocs. In 2012 a British Museum curator found a hidden fort symbol under a patch on a White map, about 50 miles away near the head of Albemarle Sound, matching White's instruction. Excavations there found Elizabethan-era artifacts. Skeptics note that no graves, buildings or village site have been found, and the items could have come through trade from earlier English visitors. Archaeologist Luccketti, who led the dig, said of the site, "It remains a bit of an enigma." [2] [3] [1]

The Croatoan theory has artifacts from Hatteras Island, but these too may come from trade, and the island may not have supported 117 more people. Excavator Horton suggests Elizabethan objects may have been kept by descendants who assimilated with the Croatoan, but admits it is problematic that many items appear alongside material dated over half a century later. [1] [3]