THE LOST COLONY AND JAMESTOWN DROUGHTS

Tree-ring data from Virginia indicate that the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island disappeared during the most extreme drought in 800 years (1587- 1589) and that the alarming mortality and the near abandonment of Jame stown Colony occurred during the driest 7-year episode in 770 years (1 606-1612), These extraordinary droughts can now be implicated in the f ate of the Lost Colony and in the appalling death rate during the earl y occupations at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America.