Starvation and cannibalism, run-ins with a witch, or an end brought about by a Native
American leader.
Keep watching: these are the biggest theories surrounding the lost colony of Roanoke.
In August 1587, a group of just over 100 English colonists founded a small settlement on Roanoke
Island off the coast of modern-day North Carolina.
That same year, one of the settlers sailed back to England to gather more supplies.
That colonist was John White, and his return voyage — with much-needed supplies — was
delayed due to a naval war between Spain and England.
It took three years before he made it back, and when he did get back to the New World,
he found the settlement abandoned.
The only clue he found to the disappearance of the colonists was the word "Croatoan" carved
into a wooden post, and another three letters, "CRO [C-R-O]," carved on nearby trees.
You may have heard this story in history class, but what actually happened to the settlers,
and what did that word mean?
Historians and archaeologists have spent decades trying to figure out the ultimate fate of
the Roanoke settlers, and along the way, there have been a lot of theories put forward.
To the colonists of Roanoke Island, the word "Croatoan" would have likely referred to a
nearby indigenous tribe, the Croatoan people, with whom the colonists had cordial relations.
It also was the name of the island they lived on, which is today known as Hatteras Island.
This has led to the most common theory about where the colonists went — to live alongside
the Native Americans on Hatteras Island.
The scant archeological evidence that exists may support this theory.
A 1709 log by an Englishman told of Indigenous peoples who could read English, though the
accuracy of this account is debated.
Other accounts by early settlers spoke of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Native Americans
in the area, or of indigenous tribes that claimed to have white ancestors.
European tools and artifacts from the late 16th century were found on Hatteras Island,
and also support the theory.
Most intriguing of all, Roanoke Island had not been quickly abandoned, and there was
no sign of violence in the deserted village.
The buildings had all been taken down intentionally, and the symbol the colonists were supposed
to carve if they had to flee in distress — a Maltese cross — was nowhere to be seen.
But as straightforward and logical as that sounds, others claim there are serious flaws
in the theory.
Dennis Blanton, an archeologist at James Madison University, explained to The New York Times:
"If experience is any guide, the adoption of Europeans into an Indigenous community
would have been quite limited."
That makes sense, too, and it's led some experts to speculate that the settlers actually split
up.
Some may have headed for Hatteras Island, and others may have made for a different,
inland location, known as Site X.
These colonists may have also been taken in by local tribes.
However, DNA testing of Native Americans indigenous in both areas has thus far not revealed any
hidden Roanoke ancestors.
This may point to a more tragic end for the colonists.
According to Captain John Smith, the famous early settler of Jamestown in Virginia, a
Native American leader in the area claimed to have killed the Roanoke colonists.
As you'd expect, there have been spookier explanations for the disappearances as well.
"Do you want to play… a game?"
"Oh, no thanks."
Needless to say, these theories are generally light on evidence.
Some fringe theories suggest that the colonists succumbed to starvation and cannibalism — similar
to a fate that befell some later colonists in Jamestown, Virginia.
But, this would have been an ordinary tragedy, rather than a supernatural one.
Some have blamed the disappearances on the wendigo, a kind of Native American monster
with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.
The anthology horror series "American Horror Story" posited that one of the settlers turned
on the other colonists and massacred them at the bidding of a witch — a plot based
on no historical evidence whatsoever.
But fanciful depictions of the colonists' fate have been common in American fiction
for a long time.
A poem written by Sallie Southall Cotten in 1901 spun the tale that Virginia Dare, a child
among the settlers and possibly the first English person born in the Americas, was in
her adulthood engaged to a Native American.
However, a jealous witch turned her into a deer.
According to the poem, Virginia wanders the woods as a white doe to this day.
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