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WHAT HAPPENED TO VIRGINIA DARE?

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we try to find America’s first English colony, save African apes from being sold as pets, discover woolly mammoth tusks ... and ride a wild river that has been turned into a national park.

Virginia Dare; a stone

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARK THIESSEN WITH PERMISSION OF BRENAU UNIVERSITY

What happened to England’s first colony in America, and the little girl named Virginia Dare?

For centuries, the main trace was three letters carved on a tree. Did it signify the place colonists had moved to or the Native Americans they had encountered?

It would be two decades before the first permanent English colony would take hold, but archeologists and others are still investigating the fate of Virginia Dare and her vanished community on Roanoke Island. They have a few theories.

WHERE DID THEY GO?

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a map

PHOTOGRAPH BY STUART CONWAY WITH PERMISSION OF TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

Clues: At top, a depiction of Virginia Dare’s mother; a stone that may provide a clue about the Lost Colony. Above, backlighting this 16th-century map of what is now coastal North Carolina may have provided another clue—a star-shaped symbol under a patch that could have marked fleeing colonists’s new home. Read more.

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

two iron beads

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAOLO VERZONE

How did ancient cultures first discover iron (like the iron beads above)? It fell from the sky.

Hawaii rediscovers ancient healers who transcended gender—and inspire tolerance today

Why America’s greatest racehorse still dominates the track today

The James Webb Space Telescope captured a star unlike ever seen before

These foods can help you fight off everyday stress

Looking for a summer sport? Try rock climbing—it went from an ancient practice to Olympic sport

Who wore this pendant 20,000 years ago? DNA can now tell us

Why air travel needs to improve for passengers with disabilities

Why a WWII-era law, expiring Thursday, is such a focal point in U.S. immigration

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

two people rescue a chimpanzee from a smuggling operation

PHOTOGRAPH BY SAMANTHA REINDERS, THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX

It’s a known problem: Great apes in Africa, like chimpanzees and gorillas, are increasingly poached for the international pet trade and zoo attractions, according to a new report (above, a chimpanzee is rescued from a smuggling operation). And people will pay a pretty penny for a stolen ape: up to $550,000, Nat Geo reports. Where do these creatures go once taken? Who’s watching? And what’s being done to stop it?

WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A tusk hunter removes a mammoth tusk

PHOTOGRAPH BY EVGENIA ARBUGAEVA

Mammoth ivory: When woolly mammoths roamed the Earth, ancient hunters tracked and killed them for their meat. Now, in Russia’s Arctic, people search high and low for these massive creatures' valuable tusks. (Above, a searcher removes a tusk from a frozen riverbed.)

OF MAMMOTHS AND MEN

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

Albania's Vjosa River

PHOTOGRAPH BY JONAS KAKO

No dams, no mining: What if there were a national park with a wild river and only tourism is allowed? This park in Europe (pictured above) is the first of its kind. Now, conservationists around the world are looking for other rivers to be granted this same status. Where is it?

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT

Today’s soundtrack: River, Bishop Briggs

Thanks for reading our newsletter! It was edited and curated by Jen Tse, Hannah Farrow, and David Beard. We'd love to hear from you: [email protected]. Keep shining!

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