The fate of the Roanoke Colony, established in 1585 by Sir Walter Raleigh, has long been an unfinished chapter in American history. Called the “Lost Colony,” all that a follow-up expedition in 1587 found of the original settlers were some bones and a ruined garrison.
The mystery of what happened to this early attempt to tame the New World by Englishmen seemed to have been solved when a rock with unusual carvings was brought to Emory University in 1937. Called the Dare Stone (after the reputed author, Eleanor Dare) the artifact, and others that were recovered, have been deemed authentic by some experts and condemned as obvious fakes by others. More
So, the peaceful Indians who were at one with their environment slaughtered all the White’s women and children because they felt like it?
When was it that it was last possible to learn accurately what the Indians were really like upon first contact with the English?
I say not since WWII.
The stone says the Indians killed Eleanore’s family, therefore it must be a forgery. We all know the Indians were all peaceful.
The Indians needed a wall.
Uh, they made Eleanor Dare look like Hillary.
The Dare family and their cohort invaders were obviously nazis and therefore had to be eliminated.
From the link: ” Champion and Schrader agree that using chemicals to mask the color—particularly in the 1930s—would have been difficult.”
Bullshit. We’ve had forgers and artifact ‘generators’ who know those techniques well before the ’30’s. Making a statement like that discredits the person making the statement. It is something academics would spout that have never spent time among tradesmen, artificers, practitioners of the technology of the time. Which was far more advanced than most people think today.
The tech of the thirties gave us the nuclear bomb. That is not debatable. Staining a rock, to borrow a phrase, “Nigger, please…”.
What woman under such dire conditions would take the time to carve such a lavish story into very hard stone like that?
And what tools would she have had to do so?
Fake news.
might be real, but I’m a bit skeptical that the Eleanor Dare, the mother of the first English child born in North America, just happened to be the one to carve the inscription … doesn’t quite pass the ‘smell test’
… otoh, the university just may be looking for more grant $$$
I really enjoy articles like this. Thank you!
Near-precise carving of an intricate font on hard rock with an uneven surface of over 36 stones, by a half-starved, grief-stricken woman with a hardened chisel and hammer, in the wilderness. Seems…….plausible.
Who knows what happened, they were weak tired Cold and essentially lost. If I were an Indian, it might have been wise to finish them sooner than later.
people, people, people…..calm down and take this happy thought with you to bed tonight.
It’s never too late for revenge.
So it’s authenticity is still not set in stone. Oh the irony.
@Dr. Tar – thanks for posting items that really challenge our brains!
I’m really surprised NatGeo didn’t work ‘climate change’ into the story.
I was a 30yr subscriber and couldn’t take it anymore. They keep sending me subscription notices a year and a half later.
I use a Sharpie and write something vulgar on it, use their postage paid envelope, drop in the mail box, and smile.
Nice to know we have so many experts on everything here.