Archaeologists pinpoint site of doomed 'Spanish Roanoke' colony after unearthing single clue

Archaeologists pinpointed the exact location of the so-called "Spanish Roanoke," a doomed colony that collapsed within years - after they uncovered a single coin that helped confirm the site.

A group of Chilean researchers recently announced the discovery of the exact location of Rey Don Felipe, later known as Port Famine, along the Strait of Magellan in Chilean Patagonia.

The colony was established by King Philip II of Spain in 1584 in an effort to control the strait, a critical passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

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But within three years, the site was found abandoned and its colonists dead - earning the name Port Famine.

Using metal detection and high-precision geolocation, researchers tracked variations in signal strength across the ground to pinpoint where to dig.

There, they unearthed a coin - a significant find because it was recovered in situ, meaning exactly where it was originally placed.

The find was consistent with historical accounts describing a coin placed as part of a founding ritual.

"We initially detected a very strong signal, but we didn't know what it was," Francisco Garrido, an archaeologist at Chile's National Museum of Natural History, said in a press release.

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"With the data we gathered, we selected the excavation point - and that's where we found the coin."

The silver coin is a real de a ocho, or "piece of eight" - commonly used across the Spanish Empire.

Pictures of the more than 400-year-old coin show it has an irregular, hand-cut shape, typical of early Spanish colonial minting.

In a press release, researchers called Port Famine "one of the most tragic and mysterious colonial experiments in the Americas."

They added, "The discovery highlights the fragility of early colonial ventures, showing how settlements like Rey Don Felipe and Roanoke were shaped by isolation, limited resources, and uncertain support from distant imperial centers."

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The site was discovered in the 1950s, but it hasn't been excavated in more than half a century, said Soledad González Diaz, a researcher at Bernardo O'Higgins University in Santiago.

González Diaz told Fox News Digital in a translated email that since then, historians have uncovered multiple historical documents, including a 16th-century map - and that survey and analysis technologies "have advanced greatly in precision."

She added, "This demonstrates the importance of returning to already known sites with new questions and tools."

She also noted that the coin indicates "the exact point where the colonizing project was materialized," referring to a ceremonial placement described in historical records.

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"Its discovery not only coincides with documentary descriptions, but it also has deep symbolic value, since it forms part of a foundational rite," added González Diaz.

"These ceremonies were solemn occasions through which the Spanish monarchy marked its presence and took possession of new territories."

The researcher hopes that the excavation will reveal more why the colony failed - and shed light on the lives of the colonists and Indigenous populations in Patagonia.

"The most widespread version of the story of Rey Don Felipe states that the colony failed due to hunger and desolation. …  While there is some truth to that, the reality was much more complex," she said.

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"What we see instead is a scenario also marked by tensions, conflict and violence - elements that must be incorporated into the analysis in order to understand the failure of the project."

Despite excavating in a remote environment, the historian noted that her team only faced "logistical challenges, nothing impossible to overcome."

González Diaz said the project has been documented in audiovisual format from the start - and that the team is working on a documentary set to be released next year.

"The research began in a very spectacular way. During our first campaign, in 2019, two bronze artillery pieces belonging to the expedition came to light," she added.

"This finding marked a very strong starting point for the work we have carried out since then."