Vanished! Well before the Jamestown settlers first sighted the Chesapeake Bay or the Mayflower reached the coast of Massachusetts, the first English colony in America was established on Roanoke Island. “I just told him that I thought it was gold.” Phelps apparently didn’t want to subject the object to potential damage.Now it turns out that researchers had it wrong from the start.His theory is also based on archaeological finds that show that Native Americans on Hatteras manufactured lead shot and used guns to hunt deer and birds by the 1650s. With the landowner’s cooperation, archaeologists began sifting the soil again in 2012.“It’s a 430-year-old mystery, and if I can be a part of solving that mystery, that’s something I’m interested in,” he said.Carter L. Hudgins, the director of the graduate program in historic preservation at Clemson/College of Charleston, said, “Any evidence that helps open the door to this mystery, even if it’s just a little bit, is something folks have been looking for at least since John White’s return to the site in 1590.” While not directly affiliated with the foundation, Dr. Hudgins has volunteered at Site X and other foundation projects over the years.MERRY HILL, N.C. — Under a blistering sun, Nicholas M. Luccketti swatted at mosquitoes as he watched his archaeology team at work in a shallow pit on a hillside above the shimmering waters of Albemarle Sound. Roanoke Hundred. In the settlement’s difficult founding year, its mayor, John White, left for England to request resources and manpower. They want to establish a base, where they can not only raid the Caribbean, but also try to establish a fortified permanent settlement that will enable goods to flow back to England. Indianapolis, IN, 1948. Another group of archaeologists working about 50 miles west of Roanoke Island at the head of Albemarle Sound say that they have pottery and metal artifacts likely associated with the Lost Colony. So he goes back to the vessel and that’s pretty much it; the colonists become lost.Pioneering Research from Boston UniversityBoston University’s Alumni MagazineThere is a connection with Sir Walter Raleigh, a courtier at the First Court, the man with the plan, who can make something like this happen. In 1587, an intrepid Englishman named John White took more than 100 settlers to Roanoke Island, which lies inside the chain of barrier islands that is today called the Outer Banks. When he finally returned in 1590, the Roanoke Island colony had vanished , and it is said that White found only the words ‘CRO’ and ‘CROATOAN’ carved on two trees. Archaeologists start a new hunt for the fabled Lost Colony of the New World. And what became of the rest of the Roanoke colonists?“Everyone has encouraged us that what we’re finding is really exciting and terribly significant,” he said, “and we just need to do some more here.”“I don’t necessarily see that what we’ve found on Hatteras rules out their site, or vice versa,” he said.He is also unconvinced that colonists removed to the Hatteras site, although the findings there could indicate contact between colonists and Native Americans.