Roanoke Colonies Research Newsletter
Volume 3.2 (May 1996)

Exciting Archaeological Finds on Hatteras Island

Dr. David Phelps, of the East Carolina University Institute for Historical and Cultural Research, lead a team of students in digs on Hatteras Island over spring break the first week of March. Phelps and his crew found Native American artifacts at sites in Frisco and Buxton; the Frisco artifacts tentatively date from the Mount Pleasant phase (300 BC to 800 AD), and the Buxton artifacts tentatively date from the Colington cultural phase (800 AD to 1650 AD). The Colington phase is the name used to describe the Carolina Algonkian people who lived in the region at the time of the English 1580s Roanoke colonization ventures.

"This is the most important archaeological site on the Outer Banks-and one of the most significant in the mid-Atlantic coastal region," Phelps is quoted as saying in the Virginia-Pilot (5 Mar. 1996: B1).

The Frisco site included a Hanover cord-marked pottery shard perhaps 2000-plus years old. Indications are that the Frisco site was most likely a seasonal hunting and fishing location. One important feature of the Frisco site is that it will help demonstrate the amount of sea level rise over time.

Meanwhile, the Buxton site is a more permanent village location. It is in the same place marked on sixteenth-century maps as Croatoan, the capital of the Croatoan chiefdom. The most famous Croatoan is Manteo, whose mother was queen of the chiefdom and who traveled to England with Philip Amadas in 1584, along with Wanchese, a Native American from another chiefdom in the region.

Local support for the digs has been tremendous. Outer Beaches Reality in Avon donated the use of a cottage for the crew, and other people have joined in. The Coastland Times (7 Mar. 1996: A1+) reports that an intrigued Johnny Conner of Conner's Supermarket in Buxton brought the crew lunch one day. Several local citizens have also begun to form a research support group, with money already being raised.

In addition to the Hatteras projects, Phelps plans to do further exploratory testing for artifacts off the north shore of Roanoke Island, a project begun last July. However, the Hatteras sites are the most promising. "The potential of the sites on this island is really amazing for determining how native people of this area lived," Phelps is quoted by the Virginia-Pilot. Hatteras Island, in fact, has more intact archaeological sites than any of the other barrier islands along the Outer Banks. Phelps says, "We've been here before. And we'll definitely be back to dig some more.

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