Random Utterly Fascinating Theories Behind Vanishing Roanoke Colony (17 items)

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  (#2) The Colonists Fell Victim To Cannibalism Or Practiced It Themselves

  Unlike the Croatoans, other Native American tribes may have been more hostile to the Roanoke colonists. There's a theory that a cannibalistic tribe could have attacked and eaten the British colonists.

  If true, that would explain why no bodies were ever found.

  Many native cultures used bones as ingredients for healing remedies, grinding them into a powder form. Although it's a time-consuming task, they would've had time. White was gone for three years, and there’s no way to know exactly when the settlers started to disappear. There isn't convincing evidence that any tribes in the area practiced cannibalism, but there is proof that the colonists of Jamestown resorted to cannibalism in 1609. It’s quite possible their predecessors in Roanoke succumbed to eating human flesh as well. 
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  (#13) The Reptilian Devil Of The Woods Possessed The Colonists

  The Croatoans believed that “greater spirits” manifested themselves in the form of elements, and they reported a strange phenomenon that occurred at the same time as the vanishing of the colonists. Birds fell from the sky and large numbers of wildlife died abruptly in the area where the Native people hunted.

  The Croatoans told of an evil spirit that took the form of a reptile. They said it was able to attach itself to humans, causing them to demonstrate the demonic traits like violence, rapaciousness, and greed. The Croatoans warned the colonists that the evil reptilian spirit had infested the entire region and once the infighting began, they knew the settlers were infected with the creature’s evil and that’s why they turned on each other.
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  (#11) Roanoke Was The Site Of A Zombie Apocalypse

  Another theory some folks like to share on the internet claims Roanoke served as ground zero for some kind of zombie apocalypse. This combines aspects of other theories that the colonists were diseased and became cannibals.

  According to this idea, the settlers became infected with a zombie virus that gave them an insatiable hunger for human flesh and hastened the decaying process of their own bodies. The remains would've been long gone and the infestation would've been over before White returned.
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  (#1) Local Native Tribes Absorbed The Colonists As Friends Or Slaves

  An island named Croatoan (now Hatteras Island) just south of Roanoke is home to a Native American tribe of the same name. Because the settlers developed a good rapport with the tribe and they carved “Croatoan” on the fort's gatepost, many assumed the settlers moved to the island and were absorbed into the tribe. As Scott Dawson's 2020 book The Lost Colony and Hatteras Island shows, this theory appears solid and solves the mystery.

  Previous researchers also considered other possible connections to Native Americans.  

  Some theorize they moved north to join the Chesapeake tribe, or perhaps the Chowanocs or Weapemeocs. In the years after the colony disappeared, many people reported seeing Europeans and European-made goods in the area, though it was mostly hearsay. The Zuniga Map, a chart of the area drawn aroun 1607 by a settler from the Virginia colony of Jamestown, states "four men clothed that came from roonock" lived among the Iroquois. Another English man claimed to see two-story stone houses at the Indian settlements of Peccarecanick and Ochanahoen. British settlers supposedly taught them how to build such houses. Contemporary archeologists unearthed evidence including a gold signet ring, part of a rapier, and a slate and pencil that likely belonged to the Roanoke colonists while living among Native people. 

  It's also possible the colonists met with Native people who were less friendly. Jamestown colonist secretary William Strachey reported seeing Native tribes with European slaves who were forced to beat copper. To this day, many Native people in the region claim to have European ancestry, but DNA analysis of present-day local families proved inconclusive.
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  (#6) An Infectious Disease Drove The Colonists Mad

  Because of reports from Native American tribes claiming to witness internal warfare among the Roanoke colonists, archeologists also theorize the Roanoke settlers contracted a plague. The illness could have caused delirium, paranoia, or even complete madness among the infected. Those not infected would've wanted to vanquish those who were out of fear of contracting the virus themselves. 
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  (#15) The Dare Stones Tell The Story Of The Missing Colonists

  From 1937 to 1941, people began uncovering engraved stones supposedly written by members of the Roanoke colony. A man claimed to have found the first stone, a 21-pound rock, somewhere along the Carolina coast. It's believed that Eleanor Dare used it to write a message to her father, John White.

  In the alleged account, Dare says the colonists moved farther away from the ocean a short time after White embarked for England, but they were plagued with illness and violent encounters with native tribes until only seven colonists remained.

  Through the 1930s, a North Carolina farmer came up with more than 40 more engraved stones, but those have been proven to be fake. The first stone is different, however, and it could be the real deal. 

   

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