The Roanoke Colony was established on Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina in 1587 and was financed by Sir Walter Raleigh. When a supply ship returned from England three years later, the colonists had disappeared, becoming known as the "Lost Colony." The fate of the colonists remains a mystery, though theories include that they were absorbed by local tribes or died of starvation during a severe drought. Archaeological evidence uncovered on Roanoke Island, including English artifacts, provides some clues but no definitive answers about what ultimately happened to the Lost Colony.