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How could a society of 115 men, women, and children just disappear? This is a question that has haunted historians and archaeologists for hundreds of years regarding the disappearance of a group of British citizens on Roanoke Island, United States.
As we quote from Discover, this mystery dates back to 1587. At that time, a group of English colonists landed on what is now known as Roanoke Island, on the outer edge of North Carolina. They wanted to form the first permanent British colony in North America.
"Their idea was to create an English village," says Andrew Lawler, journalist and author of The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
They were middle-class Londoners trying to escape the abundance of filth and disease in the British capital and headed for the New World, as the United States was then called, as a way of acquiring land.
They were led by John White, who was appointed governor of the new colony by Sir Walter Raleigh, the expedition's financier. Immediately upon arrival, White returned to England to gather more supplies.
He had wanted to leave for Roanoke immediately, but the war with Spain led Queen Elizabeth I to order all ships to be dispatched. As a result, White was unable to sail across the Atlantic until 1590.
When he finally arrived in Roanoke, White was shocked to find the colony abandoned. The building has no signs of burning and no human remains, so the assumption that the colony was slaughtered by the Algonquian natives who lived there is broken. "It looks like they left in an orderly manner," Lawler said.
White knew that the company had considered moving 50 miles inland. Before leaving Roanoke in 1587, he had them leave carvings in a tree or rock to indicate the new location if they moved.
As he surveyed the abandoned settlement, he saw the word "CROATOAN" carved into a fence post. So, he thinks they moved from Roanoke to Croatoan Island (now known as Hatteras), which is located about 60 miles to the south.
But bad weather prevented White from visiting the island. In the end, his ship was pushed so far that he decided to return to England. After that, the lost colony was never seen again.
In 1603, an expedition team attempted to find the lost colony, but they were hampered by bad weather. Then in 1622, the Powhattan tribe attacked several British colonies and killed many, so it is assumed that the colony was also a victim.
Experts have yet to agree on what caused the loss of the Roanoke colony. There are those who judge them associating or assimilating with local tribes to survive in the new area.
There is indeed evidence of successful European colonists joining the local population. "They adapt pretty quickly, they learn the customs and the language. They look European, but assimilate very quickly," Lawler said.
But there are also those who think that the colony was really slaughtered by local tribes even though there is also no valid proof. Scientists are still several times trying to find the remains of the colony to determine why they disappeared.