Editing Roanoke Colony (section)

==Scientific research==
Research into the disappearance of the 1587 colonists largely ended with Lawson's 1701 investigation. Renewed interest in the Lost Colony during the 19th century eventually led to a wide range of scholarly analyses.

===1800s–1950: Site preservation===
{{Main|Fort Raleigh National Historic Site}}
[[File:Fort Raleigh National Historic Site earthworks 2 - Sarah Stierch.jpg|thumb|Reconstructed earthwork at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site]]

The ruins that Lawson encountered in 1701 eventually became a tourist attraction. [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[James Monroe]] visited the site on April 7, 1819. During the 1860s, visitors described the deteriorated "fort" as little more than an earthwork in the shape of a small [[bastion]], and reported holes dug nearby in search of valuable relics. Production of the 1921 [[silent film]] ''The Lost Colony'' and road development further damaged the site. In the 1930s, [[J. C. Harrington]] advocated for the restoration and preservation of the earthwork.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=135–141}} The [[National Park Service]] began administration of the area in 1941, designating it [[Fort Raleigh National Historic Site]]. In 1950, the earthwork was reconstructed in an effort to restore its original size and shape.<ref name="foracommemoration">{{cite web |title=Commemorating Fort Raleigh |website=U.S. National Park Service |date=August 10, 2016 |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/foracommemoration.htm |access-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-date=October 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005032558/https://www.nps.gov/articles/foracommemoration.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===1998: Climate research===
In 1998, a team led by [[climatology|climatologist]] David W. Stahle (of the [[University of Arkansas]]) and [[archaeologist]] Dennis B. Blanton (of the [[College of William and Mary]]) concluded that an extreme drought occurred in [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater]] between 1587 and 1589. Their study [[Dendrochronology|measured growth rings]] from a network of [[Taxodium distichum|bald cypress]] trees, producing data ranging from 1185 to 1984. Specifically, 1587 was measured as the worst growing season in the entire 800-year period. The findings were considered consistent with the concerns the Croatan expressed about their food supply.<ref name="Stahle 1998">{{cite journal |last1=Stahle |first1=David W. |date=April 24, 1998 |title=The Lost Colony and Jamestown Droughts |journal=Science |volume=280 |issue=5363 |pages=564–567 |doi=10.1126/science.280.5363.564 |pmid=9554842 |jstor=2895280 |display-authors=1 |last2=Cleaveland |first2=MK |last3=Blanton |first3=DB |last4=Therrell |first4=MD |last5=Gay |first5=DA |bibcode=1998Sci...280..564S |s2cid=25480457 }}</ref>

===2005–2019: 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 [[Autosome|autosomal DNA]] for this purpose is unreliable, as so little of the colonists' genetic material would remain after five or six generations. However, testing of [[Y chromosome]]s 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. While it is conceivable to sequence DNA from 430-year-old bones, there are as yet no bones from the Lost Colony to work with. And, as of 2019, the project had yet to identify any living descendant.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=311–314}}