Unearthed Secrets: Shocking New Artifacts May Finally Reveal the Fate of the Mysterious Roanoke Colony
“They say that the colony vanished and they left behind this cryptic message on a tree, ‘Croatoan,’ and no one knows what it means,” he said. “The reason they do this is mystery sells, right? But Croatoan is Hatteras Island. It’s clearly labeled on the maps.”
In 1937, playwright Paul Green penned The Lost Colony, a theatrical production about the Roanoke Colony that proved to be fairly popular. But Dawson believes that the whole narrative about Roanoke being lost was nothing more than “a marketing campaign” — one that evidently proved to be very effective.
His skepticism about the common Roanoke story eventually culminated in his book, The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island, in which he outlined his theory about the colonists, their close ties to the Croatoan tribe, and their eventual relocation to Hatteras Island.
Now, he’s found physical evidence to back up his claims.
The “Smoking Gun” On Hatteras Island That Could Finally Solve The Mystery Of What Happened To The Roanoke Colony
Scott DawsonA pile of hammerscale found on Hatteras Island, showing that European blacksmithing techniques were used there.
Dawson and Horton have been digging near the former Roanoke and Croatoan settlements for more than a decade, during which they uncovered numerous weapons and European artifacts on Hatteras Island.
Those discoveries provided some good support for Dawson’s theory, but the artifacts could just as easily have supported some of the more macabre theories about the colonists’ fates. As the researchers said, “coins and sword hilts could have got to Hatteras through trade or a passing settler.” Their most recent discovery, however, is a clear sign that European settlers were indeed living on the island.
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