Welcome to Historical Tidbit Thursdays. Once again, I'll be drifting off the usual Texas History research and exploring a fascinating piece of history - the Roanoke colony of Virginia. I hope you enjoy this peek into a mystery that so far is still largely unsolved.
This week we continue the History Channel Special and learn more about the artifacts and people from the missing colony, Roanoke.
The Dare Stone was pure quartz which had developed a reddish hue outside from the soil. Inside it was white.
Interestingly, this rock was not native to the coastal area it was found in. Theories abound, but perhaps it had been a ballast stone (used as weight) from a ship. Ballast stones were often swapped in and out of ships so it could have come from another location in the world.
Jamestown's secretary, William Strachey, learned from a local Powhatan that the previous colonists had been slaughtered except for 7 survivors (1 woman, 4 men, and 2 boys) and had been taken to a copper mine in Ritanoc to be used as slaves and they wouldn't be able to get them back. The Virginia Company, upon learning this, declared they had all been slaughtered (causing people to feel just toward eliminating the native tribes).
Natives only mined copper that appeared in its native form. They traded this valuable mineral with other tribes and Euro-Americans.
Source:
History Channel Special - Return to Roanoke: Search for the Seven (https://www.history.com/specials/return-to-roanoke-search-for-the-seven)
Photo Credit: Dare Stone - https://www.brenau.edu/darestones/
Photo Credit: Native Copper - https://Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNative_copper&psig=AOvVaw1prH6vHSFEU5bAX12PJizb&ust=1530298256249437
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