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POPSA New World: England's First View of America "A Very Cold Case: A Progress Report on the Search for the Lost Colonists," Saturday, Nov. 10, 2 p.m., To register, call (919) 807-7992 by Nov. 8. Presented by Dr. Charles Ewen, professor of anthropology and director of Archaeology Laboratories, East Carolina University. Drawing upon recent archaeological research, Dr. Ewen will examine several theories concerning what happened to the colonists at Roanoke Island. The N.C. Museum of History's hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. From Saturday, Oct. 20, through Jan. 13, 2008, the museum will be open on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. The museum is part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives and History, an agency of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The department's Web site is http://www.ncculture.com/.
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POPSThe First Colony on Roanoke Island
The first Colony at Roanoke Predated the Lost Colony by two years. Mistakes made then by the military expedition in relations with the Native Americans probaby doomed the Lost Colonists. Lane's fort on Roanoke Island resembled in some noteworthy respects the fort which he had built on St. Johns Island, Puerto Rico, in May 1585, when he seized the salt supply. Both forts seem to have been roughly shaped like a star built on a square with the bastions constructed on the sides of the square instead of at the corners, as was common in later fortifications. Copies of the plans of these forts may be seen in the Fort Raleigh museum. The dwelling houses of the early colonists were near the fort, which was too small to enclose them. They were described by the colonists themselves as "decent dwelling houses" or "cottages" and must have been at least a story and a half or two stories high, because we have a reference to the "neather roomes of them." The roofs were thatched, as we learn
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POPSTHE MYSTERIOUS “WOMEN’S TOWNE” OF NORTH CAROLINA THE MYSTERIOUS “WOMEN’S TOWNE” OF NORTH CAROLINA The earliest illustrations of North Carolina, painted by the artist John White, are coming to America this October. White traveled with a company of Englishmen who explored the region and left tantalizing records of their discoveries. One of their most unusual finds, an Indian “Women’s Towne,” was never illustrated or explained.