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Virtual Port Hampton Lecture
The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island
Facebook Live - Monday, November 2, 7-8 pm
For over 400 years, the mystery of Roanoke's "Lost Colony" has puzzled historians and spawned conspiracies--until now. New discoveries link the lost colony of Roanoke to Hatteras Island.

This lost colony as it became known in the 20th century was never actually lost. Dawson set out to prove this by digging them up and has done so. This presentation will present the real history, which has been buried in mythology and legend and separate fact from fiction backed by modern science and an exhaustive analysis of primary sources.

The legend of the Lost Colony has been captivating imaginations for nearly a century. When they left Roanoke Island, where did they go? What is the meaning of the mysterious word Croatoan? In the sixteenth century, Croatoan was the name of an island to the south now known as Hatteras. Scholars have long considered the island as one of the colonists' possible destinations, but only recently has anyone set out to prove it. Archaeologists from the University of Bristol, working with local residents through the Croatoan Archaeological Society, have uncovered tantalizing clues to the fate of the colony.

Hatteras native Scott Dawson is an author and President of the Croatoan Archaeological Society. He has participated in 10 years of archaeological dig on Hatteras Island excavating a Croatoan Indian village where they located an abandoned English colony for over 430 years ago.

Croatoan Archaeological Society, Inc.

Image: Design by William Ludwell Sheppard, Engraving by William James Linton, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons