Unearthed Secrets: Shocking New Artifacts May Finally Reveal the Fate of the Mysterious Roanoke Colony
“The hammerscale shows that English settlers lived among the Croatoans on Hatteras and were ultimately absorbed into their community,” Horton told the Daily Mail. “Once and for all, this smoking gun evidence answers any questions about the supposed mystery of the lost colony.”
Horton asserted that the Croatoan would not have been conducting the sort of blacksmithing that would produce hammerscale — but English settlers would have.
“You heat up an iron rod, and when you hit it, little pieces of metal fly off,” Dawson told the Island Free Press. “It gets walked over and forms a little pile, and no one gives it any mind, except for us, 400 years later.”
Forges were not temporary sites. Settlers wouldn’t have set one up only to move away shortly afterward. Thus, the presence of an English-style forge on Hatteras Island dating back to the 16th century is likely proof that Europeans stayed on the island as permanent residents.
Scott DawsonMetal found at the Hatteras Island dig site.
“We have empirical, physical evidence coming out of the ground with the best professionals in the world behind it,” Dawson said. “This is showing a presence of the English working metal and living in the Indian Village for decades. We’re finding this whole metalworking workshop on the site and natives didn’t do that.”
Dawson also said that finding proof for this narrative is even more pressing as Hatteras Island becomes more developed.
“The archaeology is just a cherry on top, but the fact that we’re able to preserve all of this Croatoan material as well, that makes me happy because it’s in real danger of being lost,” he said.
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