Know Your Park Dr Charles Ewen to Speak on the Roanoke Colonists Presentation to be held at the Fort Raleigh NHS Visitor Center

Date: March 3, 2008
Contact: Outer Banks Broup, [phone]

As part of the Know Your Park citizen science program series, the National Park Service Outer Banks Group will host a presentation A Very Cold Case: A Progress Report on the Search for the Lost Colonists by Dr. Charles R. Ewen, Professor of Anthropology and Director of Archaeology Laboratories at East Carolina University. Drawing upon recent archaeological research Dr. Ewen will examine several theories concerning what happened to the colonists at Roanoke Island

Dr. Ewen will speak at Fort Raleigh’s Lindsay Warren Visitor Center, Manteo, NC on Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m.

"The presentation will cover the great mystery of the Lost Colonists and why it has been difficult to learn about their fate," stated Outer Banks Group Superintendent Mike Murray. "I hope that local students and residents will take advantage of this opportunity."

Charles Ewen received his PhD at the University of Florida (1987). He joined the faculty at East Carolina University in 1994. His research interests focus mostly on the historical archaeology of the contact and colonial periods. However, like most archaeologists, circumstances have led him to work on nearly every kind of archaeology site, from prehistoric villages to Civil War fortifications and twentieth-century homesteads.

He is currently undertaking a long-term archaeological study of Historic Bath, North Carolina - the last known residence of the pirate Blackbeard. Besides many articles and book chapters, Dr. Ewen is the author or editor of five books, the latest of which are Searching for the Roanoke Colonies, and more recently, X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural world and cultural heritage of their neighboring National Park sites; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. "These presentations offer local residents an opportunity to both learn more about, and enhance the enjoyment of, their National Parks" stated Murray.

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