Archeologists Stumble on a Clue Hidden in a 400-Year-Old Map That Might Have Just Solved One of America’s Greatest Mysteries

A remarkable finding in pieces of ceramics and a submerged fort sign on a 400-year-old map might reveal the answer to America's Roanoke's Lost Colony, according to Popular Mechanics. The finding, which first occurred in 2007 by an archaeologist identified as Nicholas M. Luccketti, discovered some unique English Border ware pottery during an examination of North Carolina's Bal Gra plantation. As Interesting as the ceramic fragments were, the real breakthrough came when Brent Lane, a First Colony Foundation board member, noticed something peculiar on John White's historic map titled La Virginea Pars. The map contained two patch-like repairs, with one suspiciously blank section catching Lane's attention.

At Lane's request, the British Museum tested the map. Museum curator Kim Sloan made the astonishing find beneath the intriguing patch of a covered-up fort symbol. "I think we just discovered the intended site for the 'Cittie of Ralegh'," Sloan recalled saying to a colleague before effusing her surprise with choice words. The ground became more intriguing when researchers realized it matched where Luccketti had previously found Border ware. This site, designated "Site X," was less than 100 miles away from where the colonists had last been. The First Colony Foundation immediately won a National Geographic Society grant to investigate further.

While the excavations did not bring to light any fort structure, archaeologists unearthed a treasure trove of Elizabethan artifacts. These ranged from early aglets and tenter hooks to Venetian white glass trade beads and a copper necklace that is believed to have been presented to a Roanoke noble, among other items. Especially instructive was the discovery of a bale seal, a type of seal that had stopped being produced before the end of the 16th century.

The initial Roanoke Colony, set up in 1587, comprised 115 English colonists, among them Eleanor, White's pregnant daughter, as per the International Business Times. Just days after the birth of his granddaughter Virginia, the first English child born in the New World, White was obliged to leave the colony for supplies. He did not return for three years; by that time, he found only an abandoned settlement—and the word "CROATOAN" cut on a palisade, as per Coastal Review.

Recent research indicates that some colonists may have separated and the others went towards the villager Mettaquem to take shelter near Site X. This evidence points out a more complex tale to be read rather than the long-held theories of slaughter or the complete assimilation into the native tribes. This has opened up new routes of understanding early colonial history. Today, researchers target the parts of the land near the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site that are facing coastal erosion. They are in a race against time as they attempt to uncover more information on what exactly happened to the colonists.