From Frightening to Facts: Roanoke, The Lost Colony
The Roanoke colony has become popular amongst urban legends
and conspiracy theories a like. There are many theories today of what happened
to the settlers who came to Roanoke, from cannibalism to migration, no one
really has any solid proof of what happened to the 115 colonists who were left
in the settlement. However Roanoke has a colorful history even before the
colony was abandoned. Roanoke was the site of the first English childbirth in
the “New World” and also hosted refugees that introduced tobacco, maize and
potatoes to Europe. Roanoke, also now
known as the Lost Colony, was meant to gather riches for England and serve as a
base for privateers to raid Spanish treasure ships. The first group of
colonists arrived in 1585. Colonist relation with the existing native population
was tumultuous at best. The invading colonists accused the people of the
Aquascogoc village of stealing a silver cup, their retaliation for the cup was
to raid and torch the Aquascogoc village. A violent act that would not go
unnoticed or forgiven by the natives. Despite the sour relationship with the
native peoples and lack of food, the Roanoke settlers built a fort and left 108
people on the island with the promise to return with more supplies. The relief
ships however did not return when promised and the natives, angered by the
burning of their own village, attacked the Roanoke fort. The fort was able to
repel the attack but relations between the two parties were clearly getting
tense. Francis Drake visited the colonists on a return trip from the Caribbean,
he took several of the colonists with him back to England in the after math of
the attack and general bad luck of the colony. The relief party eventually came, to find the
colony abandoned. They returned to England leaving a small outpost to protect
England’s claim in the territory.
In 1587 a group of 115 colonists from Chesapeake were
ordered to check on the remaining Roanoke settlement. Upon finding nothing in
the colony but a skeleton, they were instructed to stay and establish a new
colony. While trying to repair relations with the native tribes, a colonist was
murdered while gathering crabs. The colonists feared for their lives, and
begged the governor to go to England to ask for help. Relief for the colonists was delayed for
three years due to the Anglo-Spanish War and weather issues. On August 18, 1590
the governor returned with privateers to the colony, only to find it deserted.
There was no evidence of a struggle or where the 115 colonists were. The only
possible clue was the word CROATOAN that was carved into a fence post. Parts of
the colony were dismantled, indicating the departure was not rushed, but
possibly even planned. So what happened to the people of the Lost Colony?
There are many theories ranging from rational to
supernatural as to what overtook the colonists in Roanoke. People have been
trying to dig up the fate of Roanoke for centuries. Once Jamestown was
established, John Smith (yes that John Smith) tried to find out what happened to
the settlers. Chief Powhatan told him that he had personally lead the attack
and killing of the colonists. Another version of this was relayed to the
secretary of the Jamestown colony, saying that the colonists were living
amongst enemies of the Powhatan and were slaughtered as a result of a raid on
the enemy tribe. However there is no
archaeological evidence of either account. In fact, there is not much
archaeological evidence of the Lost Colony at all.
In 1998 an excavation was lead to investigate the events of
Roanoke. Archaeologists found a gold signet ring, gun flints, and two copper
farthings. The lack of any archaeological evidence is blamed on shoreline
erosion; between 1851 and 1970 nine hundred and twenty eight feet of shore was
lost due to erosion. Erosion is a common threat to coastline archaeological
sites, which is why monitoring of sites and possible excavation or preservation before their loss is so important.
Another theory is that the survivors just integrated with
the surrounding natives, though there is no clear-cut evidence for this either.
Popular culture today leans towards the dramatic, evidence for this is clear in
Roanoke: The Cannibal Colony, and American Horror Story: Roanoke. Urban
myths have tall tales of cannibalism taking over the colony to evil spirits
haunting the settlers. Though Roanoke cannibals seem to thrive in popular
culture, there is no evidence of cannibalism, at least not in that colony.
Jamestown however has archaeological proof of cannibalism, in the form of
skeletal remains. Jamestown experienced a terrible famine, and it was recorded
that people had survived by eating rats, leather, and even the corpses of the
recently deceased. However only written evidence of this survived, until 2012.
During excavations, a pit of butchered horses and dogs were discovered and
among the bones, were the bones of a human woman. The skull and tibia had cut
marks characteristic of cannibalism. The cut marks were made with clear
intention to remove flesh from bone and the brain from the skull. Though
perhaps less terrifying, there was no evidence that the young woman was
murdered, and it is believed that this all occurred post mortem.
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We may never have a full grasp on what happened to the
settlers of Roanoke or the horrors they may or may not have faced. Without much
of an archaeological record we can only speculate from written records and the
evidence we do have as to their fate. The speculation and mystery around
Roanoke has certainly help make its name popular even today. The Lost Colony
has been used as a haunted house, a theme for a popular tv show, and even more loosely
in a Supernatural television episode about a zombie virus. As long as popular culture keeps the mystery alive, we will be able to continue to speculate, and possibly even drive said speculations into new archaeological investigations.
Written by Megan Liebold, FPAN Stafff