One thousand acres of land on North Carolina's coast has become protected as a "natural area" after artifacts possibly related to the Lost Colony were found.
According to the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, the artifacts were found at Site X, about 80 miles west of Roanoke Island, located on the junction of Salmon Creek and Albemarle Sound — leading archaeologists to believe the Lost Colony relocated to the area after 1587.
Phil Evans, president of the First Colony Foundation, said archaeologists of the First Colony Foundation have uncovered a mixture of 16th century English pottery and Algonquian Indian artifacts — suggesting the colonists and Native Americans coexisted in the area.
He said archaeologists have not been able to confirm that the English artifacts belonged to the same Roanoke colonists, but it seems to be the only explanation.
“At this location, and the timeframe we’ve established for these artifacts, there’s no other group that this broken English pottery could have belonged to,” he said.
Camilla Herlevich, the executive director for the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust said with the growing historical significance of Site X, the N.C. Coastal Land Trust seized an opportunity to purchase 1,000 acres of property on and near the site, costing the conservation group roughly $5 million.
“We have never, ever raised money before of this magnitude,” she said.
Herlevich said while the conservation group typically raises funds and grants prior to purchases, there was little time to spare in acquiring the land, as investors were looking to sell the property quickly.
“We took a risk this time by borrowing money, but it was an informed risk," she said. "We made a business decision considering this would be a project with so many different kinds of values that would qualify for a variety of state and federal grant sources.”
