Excavators found a worn-out ring engraved with a prancing lion while digging on the remote Hatteras Island in North Carolina. An English heraldry expert linked it with the Kendall family involved in the voyage of Luo Anaker organized by Sir Walter Raleigh during the reign of Elizabeth I1580s. A local jeweler claimed that it was gold, but later found that it was more than just a buried treasure.

The discovery of 1998 excited archaeologists and historians. This cultural relic seems to be a rare relic left by the British when they first tried to settle in the New World. It may also reveal the experience of 65,438+065,438+05 men, women and children who settled in coastal areas and then disappeared in a place called "Anacker Lost Colony".

Now it turns out that the researchers made a mistake from the beginning.

A team led by archaeologist Charles Evan recently conducted a laboratory test on the ring at the University of East Carolina. The X-ray fluorescence device is shaped like the intersection of the X-ray gun and the blower. It can display the precise element composition of the object without destroying any part of it. Evan was stunned when he saw the result.

"It's all brass," he said. "There is no gold at all."

This ring used to be considered gold, but later it turned out to be brass. Eric Farrell, the chief executive of North Carolina, analyzed the ring in ECU facilities and found that it contained high content of copper, as well as some trace amounts of zinc and silver, lead, tin and nickel. Farrell said that these ratios were "typical characteristics of brass" in early modern times. He found no evidence of gold plating on the surface of the ring, and years of speculation and research caused serious doubts.

"Everyone wants it to be something that a lost colonist fell into the sand," Evan added. He said that this ring is more likely to be an ordinary mass-produced item, which was sold to Native Americans long after the failed settlement attempt.

However, not all archaeologists agree that this surprising result will definitely rekindle the debate about the fate of this lost colony.

1587 Summer, British immigrants headed by John Wyatt came here. They rebuilt an outpost on the island of Ro Anacker, 50 miles north of Hatteras, which was abandoned by a group of former colonists. White's team members include his daughter Eleanor, who soon gave birth to Virginia Daley, the first child born by British parents in the New World.

White soon went to England to collect materials and more colonists, but his return was delayed because of the war with Spain. Three years later, when he finally managed to land on the island of Ro Anaker, the settlement was abandoned. The only clue is the word "Croatoan" carved on the pillar, which is the name of a tribe allied with Britain and the island, and is now called Hatteras.

David Phelps, an archaeologist of ECU, has passed away. He found this ring while digging in a local native American village, and took it to a jeweler named Frank Riddick in nearby Naghead. Phelps reported that the jeweler tested the ring and determined that it was 18 carat gold.

Ridek now runs a chartering company called Fishy Bizness. He recently recalled that he didn't carry out the acid scratch test, which is usually used to verify the existence and quality of precious metals. He said, "Since this is not a business, we didn't do it. I just told him that I thought it was gold. Phelps obviously doesn't want this object to be potentially harmed.

A senior member of the London Military Academy later noticed that the seal on the signet ring was a lion pass and suggested that it might be related to the Kendall family in Devon and Cornwall. A Kendall master was part of the first colonial attempt in 1585, and another Kendall fleet led by Sir Francis Drake visited Croetoansh in 1 586. Although this connection has never been confirmed, this object is nicknamed Kendall ring.

Because Phelps thinks this ring is made of precious materials and probably belongs to the Elizabethan era, he thinks it is an important clue. After the ring was found, he told reporters at the excavation site: "This does not mean that the lost colony is here." . "But it's beginning to prove it."

However, some archaeologists are skeptical about the connection between this cultural relic and Luo Anaker, because it was discovered with other cultural relics between 1670 and 1720 after sailing for about a century in Elizabethan times. This is also an era when bronze rings appeared in Native American sites on the East Coast.

But mark houghton, an archaeologist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, said that Evan's research results did not necessarily rule out that he was a colonizer from Anacker. "In fact, this ring is made of brass, which makes it more like other British rings," he said, pointing out that this ring may have been made in 1580. "I think it was preserved as a family heirloom and then discarded.

Horton is currently excavating the place where Hatteras found the ring. These excavations are sponsored by the Croatian Archaeological Association. So far, some cultural relics that may have been made in the Elizabethan era have been found, including hilts and metal fragments on clothes.

If the lost colonists left Anacker for Croatia at the end of 1580, Horton thinks they may have taken away their most precious things. In a few generations, they may be assimilated by Algonquin-speaking Croats, and their British heirlooms will eventually run out. "Oh, grandpa's old sword rusted in the corner," Horton said. "Why should we keep this?

His theory is also based on archaeological discoveries, which show that in the 1950s of 16, Native Americans on Hatteras made lead bullets and killed deer and birds with guns. Before that, their diet was mainly fish and shellfish. Horton believes that before the second wave of English was introduced into the region at the end of 17, technological progress hinted at the existence of Europeans. This may also mean the existence of assimilated colonists and their descendants.

Archaeologist Charles Heath said that this theory is an extension. He worked with Phelps, and he was there when he found the ring. He believes: "This kind of goods will be used, modified, traded, re-traded, lost, discarded or managed by local owners and later local owners for many years." . Finally, he said, "A relic of the16th century, which can be seen everywhere in the offshore, cannot make up for the lost colony."

Horton admitted that Croats did not acquire colonial property from Jamestown, but acquired it by absorbing English, and later Virginia colony was in the north. Flint, coins and glass beads found in this site almost certainly came from a new British colony. But he believes that the current excavation work will soon reveal more evidence.

Meanwhile, the search for the lost colony continues. Another group of archaeologists are doing research in the Gulf of Alborale, about 50 miles west of Luo Anaker Island. They said that they might have pottery and metal products related to the lost colony. The excavation work of the first colonial foundation was to find a patch to hide the fortress image on the map drawn by John Wyatt in 20 12.

But as found in Hatteras, these items may be related to the second wave of British colonies.

Last autumn, the National Park Service conducted an excavation in Fort Raleigh, Ro Anacker Island, which is considered as the site of the original settlement, but no trace of Nestero River was found. But as early as 20 16, archaeologists did find some fragments of pharmacists' jars, almost certainly dating back to 16 century.

It is believed that the Kinkendal Ring is probably a cheap brass trade, which will not prevent people from looking for what happened on the Bund more than four centuries ago. As for Evan, he hopes that the analysis of the ring will help researchers return to the track of finding rare clues about Roanoke settlers. "Science is really useful," he said, "if you give it time."