Roanoke Island re. DNA

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I've been on a roundabout search and had several questions come up as a result. I will post the other main question separately. 

Through my research I skated around Wikipedia and ended up on the history of Roanoke Island. Although it is best known as, "The Lost Colony of Roanoke," and following the greatly accepted notion that the settlers were massacred by the indigenous peoples of the area, then there is no explanation for the carving of the word, "Croatoan," that many people believe meant the settlers moved on to Croatoan Island; although there has been no evidence found that could verify this fact. There are also stories of people with European features being seen in native villages. But, according to Wikipedia, there is no hard evidence to prove this as fact either. 

Scientists maintain that there is no archaeological evidence to provide definitive proof to solve this mystery or any of the hypotheses that have been put forth through the many years of study, both amateur and scientific.

Added to that we have the mystery of Virginia Dare who was the first English child known to have been born in a New World English Possession, Roanoake Colony. She was born,18 August 1587, her date and place of death is unknown. Checking the profile here, I see she is recorded as having died before 1590 and I'd like to know how that year was determined? There is no comments area on the page so I'll ask here, adding to my question about DNA below. I mention Virginia Dare because we are certain of her place of birth and existence which leads to my question:  Does anyone know of any studies that may have found European and Native American DNA with "questionable" origins (meaning unusual branches with occurrences of differing SNPs) in/around that area of  North Carolina? And, if Virginia Dare is suspected to have died before 1590 then has any White or Dare DNA project been done that might provide any more information?

My knowledge of DNA is clearly minimal, but being part of the Phelps family DNA project, I have seen the work of others showing the amazing rapidity of the branching and changes in SNPs over very short periods of time, eg. <50 years. Within all these Felps/Phelps DNA changes we have migration as well with spread from England, Albemarle and Baltimore Counties, MD, Caswell, NC, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia. An anomaly in the early 1800s was also discovered with the surname; someone with a verified Y-DNA haplogroup showed up with the name "Pond". 

In any case, I realize this is an esoteric post at best, but my background in teaching history always leads me to the truth of the old quotation, "History is a mystery" and in my mind, something that should be examined as such. I believe that genealogy falls directly in line with that thinking, so I follow the clues and ask questions accordingly!

WikiTree profile: Virginia Dare
in The Tree House by Lisa Linn G2G6 Mach 9 (90.4k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
Virginia Dare’s death date is based on the fact that no Roanoke colonists are known to have survived to 1590.  All were missing, presumed dead, when the supply mission arrived in 1590.
I understand that but question it nonetheless. It is very flimsy evidence given that we have no idea as to what really happened at Roanoake. Where are the graves? The archaeological evidence? There should be something, but there is nothing at all.
Thanks Michael!
The Lost Colony and the fate of Virginia Dare is a compelling and romantic story, but it seems quite clear the remaining colonists moved away from the island to live with their friends instead of waiting around to be murdered by their enemies.

1 Answer

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Best answer

Lisa! Happy New Year!

I admit I've not followed it (or even paid very close attention), but there has been some DNA investigation around the Lost Colony. Last October 18, the History Channel aired "In Search of the Lost Colony" as an In Search Of episode. You can stream it here (it's sixth from the top): https://www.history.com/shows/in-search-of/season-2.

Featured in that was popular genetic genealogist and blogger Roberta Estes, who has been interested in and researching aspects of the Lost Colony for more than a few years. An extensive post she wrote about it was published in June 2018. Several of the comments to tha blog post are also informative.

I watched the History Channel episode when it aired, and Roberta and her work was saved till near the end of the program. I was a bit disappointed in the extent and depth of the DNA research and evidence, but it isn't nothing smiley and is worth a look (and reading her blog) for some of the background. And there is even a Lost Colony Family DNA project at Family Tree DNA, currently boasting 1,627 members.

by Edison Williams G2G6 Pilot (434k points)
selected by Lisa Linn
Happy New Year to you as well Ed!

Thank you for the insightful answer and information. I will certainly look at those resources. I too am a fan of the History Channel but watch in fits and starts (and depending if I've "won" the war of the remote for the evening!).

Just adding this from Wikipeida:  

Genetic analysis

Since 2005, computer scientist Roberta Estes has founded several organizations for DNA analysis and genealogical research. Her interest in the disappearance of the 1587 colony motivated various projects to establish a genetic link between the colonists and potential Native American descendants. Examining autosomal DNA for this purpose is unreliable, since so little of the colonists' genetic material would remain after five or six generations. However, testing of Y chromosomes and Mitochondrial DNA is more reliable over large spans of time. The main challenge of this work is to obtain a genetic point of comparison, either from the remains of a Lost Colonist or one of their descendants. Although it is conceivable to sequence DNA from 430-year-old bones, there are as yet no bones from the Lost Colony to work with. As of 2019, the project has yet to identify any living descendants either.[1]:311–314

And adding this to that.

The Lost Colony of Roanoke: Did They Survive? – National Geographic, Archaeology, Historical Records and DNA

https://dna-explained.com/2018/06/28/the-lost-colony-of-roanoke-did-they-survive-national-geographic-archaeology-historical-records-and-dna/

Thank you Laura and Michael. I will take a look at that work as well. It was such an odd way that I came to that question in the first place, but like I said, I taught history, and history is a mystery! Thanks again!
Michael, that Nat Geo article was great, thanks for sharing it!
Thank you Laura. Science has such an amazing ability to teach us if we simply have the patience to learn at its' own time, and not our own.

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