Archaeologists this week unearthed further evidence of late 16th century English activity near reconstructed earthworks at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, although the discoveries — mostly fragments and shadows in dirt layers — are incremental details that will inform the First Colony Foundation’s meticulous effort to reconstruct a significant science laboratory discovered decades ago.

First Colony Foundation conducted small archaeological studies at Fort Raleigh between September 16 and September 24, 2021. The activities will include completion of excavation at the science laboratory west of the fort site.

Sections of the west bank of Albemarle Sound are undergoing heavy erosion, including the location of First Colony Foundation’s Site Y on the bluff at the Bertie County Beach Facility. To salvage what information could be saved from future erosion, FCF planned to examine in 2021 a 200’ by 25’ area along the edge of the bluff. Its first phase focused on an area where Roanoke Colony Period artifacts had been located.

There is not and probably will never be a Lost Colony “smoking gun.” Roanoke Colony Period Ceramics types found at Site X and Y in Bertie County, findings from the Zuniga and Virginea Pars maps helps answer the old question: Where did the settlers go?