Key clue to fate of early American colonists found in Governor John White’s 400-year-old map

In 1587, a group of English settlers established the Roanoke Colony on an island between what is now North Carolina and the Outer Banks. However, by 1590, the traces of the colony had disappeared, and nothing remained of over 100 people. The only clue left behind was the word Croatoan carved on a wooden post.

An ancient map dating back 400 years, titled La Virginea Pars and exhibited at the British Museum, was examined by experts, potentially revealing details that could solve the centuries-old mystery of the lost Roanoke colony, according to Mail Online.

In 1587, a group of English settlers established the Roanoke Colony on an island between what is now North Carolina and the Outer Banks. However, by 1590, the traces of the colony had disappeared, and nothing remained of over 100 people. The only clue left behind was the word Croatoan carved on a wooden post.

Recently, a closer inspection of Governor John White’s map, La Virginea Pars, revealed two faint outlines that appeared to be repairs—small pieces of paper had been used to cover an error. Under advanced lighting techniques, experts discovered that one of these patches concealed a symbol of a fort, which could indicate the intended location of a new settlement.

“I said to Alice, ‘I think we just discovered the predicted location for the City of Raleigh, the colony for which John White was sent to Virginia,'” said Kim Sloan, a British Museum curator who made the discovery with her colleague, paper conservator Alice Ruhamer, according to Mail Online.

The covered area on the map corresponds to a location near present-day Bertie County, at the western end of Albemarle Sound. This site, known as 31BR246 or Site X, is approximately 1.5 kilometers away from where the Roanoke Colony disappeared, less than 100 miles from where English witnesses last saw the colonists.

In 2007, archaeologist Nicholas Luccketti of the James River Institute for Archaeology discovered pieces of English ceramic artifacts at Site X. These artifacts included fragments of Border ware, a specific type of English pottery that had been restricted to the early settlements in Virginia, probably dating from the sixteenth century. The find suggests that archaeologists had stumbled upon a previously unknown English settlement.

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