ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH TAKES PLACE AT FORT RALEIGH NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

Date: September 22, 2006
Contact: Outer Banks Group, [phone]
Contact: The First Colony Foundation, [phone]

The search for the settlement site of Sir Walter Raleigh’s Roanoke colonies of the 1580s, including the mysterious "Lost Colony," will enter a new phase as First Colony Foundation archaeologists begin testing and limited excavation at the National Park Service’s Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Work by an eleven member team is scheduled to begin October 9 and continue for two weeks. Leading the research project will be First Colony Foundation research vice presidents Eric Klingelhofer and Nicholas Luccketti.

"This is the next step in the ongoing study of the Lost Colony," said Superintendent Mike Murray. "This project will build on the work of the previous archeological investigations and we are excited about the possibility of new discoveries."

The First Colony Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit incorporated in North Carolina, was formed to sponsor and encourage archaeological research, historical research, and public education relating to the colonies attempted on Roanoke Island by Sir Walter Raleigh under his charter from England’s Queen Elizabeth I.

The principle objective of the First Colony Foundation’s research at Fort Raleigh this year is to determine whether there are artifact concentrations, archaeological features and cultural strata related to the Raleigh settlements in an area where 16th century European artifacts have sporadically been found along an eroding shoreline. Foundation archaeologists will excavate a series of test plots to examine the target area. The First Colony Foundation also performed underwater archaeological research and testing in Roanoke Sound and Shallowbag Bay this summer. Field work has recently been completed and results are currently being analyzed.