The Lost Roanoke Colony

The Lost Roanoke Colony is a mystery that has yet to be solved, a mystery that is centuries old, considered to be “A Four-Hundred-Year-Old Mystery.” The Roanoke Colonists seemed to have disappeared without much of a trace; there are only a small amount of clues to help lead researchers to discovering what really happened to this English settlement. To know what happened to these settlers it is imperative to know the background and exactly what led up to their disappearance. (Miller 4)

The Roanoke Colony started out with what is recorded to be 117 people, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh making these settlers to be among the first to colonize Roanoke Island. In 1587, the colonists have arrived, led by John White, and have started settling on this

This adaptation derives from the television show Supernatural, where two brothers travel together to fight supernatural occurrences and save lives in the process. Similar to the original story, they find CROATOAN carved into a post in a seemingly abandoned town. The Croatoan creature kills people through disease in virus form, this somewhat reflects the theory that the Roanoke people were plagued with illness. If they were plagued with a disease, were there no deaths (Kripke and Singer)? This is a flaw in this theory, the lack of evidence cannot suggest disease; if they had died of disease, they would have had to die somewhere off of Roanoke because, as Miller confirms this conclusion when he writes, “The colonists were not killed on Roanoke” since there was not a single body found much less one hundred bodies (Miller 227). It still does not explain exactly where the colonists went, but it could be the reason the colonists were driven out of Roanoke in the first place (Kripke,

The archaeologists found slates, used to write; an iron sword hilt, part of a light European sword; and an iron bar, the presence of these metals in this usage was not an advancement the Natives had in metal technology. Native American artifacts found in the same area impress the idea that the colonists, or at least some of them, joined the Native Americans, somewhat merging into their way of life (Pruitt). Archaeologist Mark Horton claims, “The evidence is that they assimilated with the Native Americans but kept their goods,” According to Lawler’s research, “More recently, in an area adjacent to the village, the First Colony team uncovered English pottery similar to that dug up on Roanoke Island and common at Jamestown.” These similarities further illustrate that there may have been some connection between the colonists and Natives. They may have just traded with each other, but this does not show absolute evidence that the Roanoke colonists moved and assimilated into Native American land and culture. Furthering this notion, researchers found a hand-drawn map made by John White to have a patch covering up a star located further inland. (Lawler) In reference to White’s map, “one theory is that the symbol may have marked the location of an inland fort,” suggesting the notion that the colonists voluntarily moved away. If the moved away to live on their own or assimilate with natives is still a question