Join us for the March 2026 installment of the “Science on the Sound” Lecture Series at the Coastal Studies Institute on the ECU Outer Banks Campus. This monthly, in-person lecture series brings perspectives from all over the state and highlights coastal topics in northeastern North Carolina.
This month, Beth K. Scaffidi, Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Heritage Studies, Director of the Skeletal & Environmental Isotope Laboratory (SEIL), Scott Dawson, Director of the Croatoan Archaeological Society and Mark Horton, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research & Enterprise and Professor of Historical Archeology at the Royal Agricultural University of England will present, “The Smoking Gun?: New Radiocarbon Dates and Hunting Practices Linking Hatteras Island to Fort Raleigh in the Sixteenth Century”. The program will take place at 6 PM on March 26, 2026.
Building on pioneering research by David Phelps and predecessors, over the last decade, excavations of the Croatoan Archaeological Society and the University of Bristol have uncovered tantalizing evidence of mixed Elizabethan-Algonquian material culture at sites on Hatteras Island. This evidence strongly suggests Hatteras was the location where at least some of the “lost” colonists re-settled when they went missing between 1587 and 1590. These objects have been cautiously interpreted, however, since European objects may have been traded long after those who originally brought them to the Carolina coast had passed away. Here we summarize past findings and describe the clearest evidence to date that the 1587 colonists were present on Hatteras Island: biogeochemical, radiocarbon, osteological, and metalwork evidence that demonstrate the presence of late sixteenth-century firearms and hunting practices on Croatoan land.
Based at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) advances inter-disciplinary marine energy solutions across UNC System partner colleges of engineering at NC State University, UNC Charlotte, and NC A&T University. Click on the links below for more information.
ECU's Integrated Coastal Programs (ECU ICP) is a leader in coastal and marine research, education, and engagement. ECU ICP includes the Coastal Studies Institute, ECU's Department of Coastal Studies, and ECU Diving and Water Safety.
The ECU Outer Banks campus is home to the Coastal Studies Institute.
