Question: what happened to the colony at roanoke island

title: Roanoke Colony
text: In 1998 , East Carolina University organized `` The Croatoan Project '' , an archaeological investigation into the events at Roanoke . The excavation team sent to Hatteras Island uncovered what they believed to be a 10 karat ( 42 % ) gold 16th - century English signet ring , gun flints , and two copper farthings ( produced sometime in the 1670s ) at the site of the ancient Croatan capital , 50 miles ( 80 km ) from the old Roanoke Colony . Genealogists were able to trace the lion crest on the signet ring to the Kendall coat of arms , and concluded that the ring most likely belonged to one Master Kendall who is recorded as having lived in the Roanoke Colony from 1585 to 1586 . If this is the case , the ring represents the first material connection between the Roanoke colonists and the Native Americans on Hatteras Island . However , archaeologist David Phelps did not have the ring tested , and Charles Ewen , who continued Phelps ' work after Phelps retired , had the ring tested and found the ring was brass . Ewen announced his findings in April 2017 . Mark Horton of the University of Bristol said he was not convinced that this news proved the ring did not date to the 16th century .