suggests the colonists may have made their way south to Hatteras around 1590 and met with a Native American tribe there

For more than 400 years, researchers have been attempting to uncover the fate of the 'lost colonists' who disappeared from a sandy outpost on Roanoke Island.

Queen Elizabeth I and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh had hoped the 1580s expedition would create a capital in the New World, but something went terribly wrong.

The men, women and children somehow vanished, along with any sign of a settlement, and the infamous 'lost colony' became rooted in American folklore.

Now, two teams of archaeologists say they have uncovered fresh evidence that could reveal what happened to the inhabitants of the 'Lost Colony.'

Two teams of archaeologists have uncovered artefacts, such as pottery and jewellery, that may help reveal how 'lost colonists' disappeared from a sandy outpost on Roanoke Island. Nicholas Luccketti, principal archaeologist at the James River Institute, holding Border ware fragments uncovered near Merry Hill

Their clues suggest the lost colonists of Roanoke went 'native', instead of being killed in Indian slaughter, as previous theories have suggested.

One team is excavating a site near Cape Creek on Hatteras Island, 50 miles (80km) southeast of the Roanoke Island settlement.

Another research group, led by Nicholas Luccketti, is looking on the mainland about 50 miles to the northwest of the Roanoke site.

Luccketti and colleagues with the First Colony Foundation have been excavating parts of the hillside known as 'Site X'.

The spot, which was found in hidden markings on a 16th-century map, led the researchers to an area on the western shore, which Mr Luccketti had previously surveyed.

A Nuremberg counter of late 16th century date found on the Hatteras island site. Identical counters have been found close to the presumed colonists settlement site on Roanoke Island, and provides compelling evidence for a link between the two locations

For more than 400 years, researchers have been attempting to uncover the fate of the 'lost colonists' who disappeared from a sandy outpost on Roanoke Island. in this image, John White returns to Roanake Island in 1590 to find the settlers have quite simply vanished after he had gone back to England to fetch more supplies

The map of Roanoke Island in North America drawn by John White during an attempt to create England's first colony reveals a hidden possible location for the settlement when it was illuminated from underneath (pictured) in recent tests. The colony disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the 1580s

'I'm trying to make sure that I say this correctly,' Mr Luccketti told Theo Emery at the New York Times.

TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR 1584 — Sir Walter Raleigh's men first land on Roanoke Island and find it suitable for settlement. 1585 — 108 soldiers come to Roanoke to establish first colony. 1586 — Colonists and Native Americans at 'war,' and colony abandoned. 1587 — Second group of 117 colonists come to Roanoke 1590 — Captain White returns to Roanoke to find the colony gone. 1602 — Raleigh makes another attempt to locate the colony. 1921 — The Story of the Lost Colony movie made on site. 1940s — Professional archaeology begins at Roanoke. 2012 - Experts identified a tantalising clue hidden in a map drawn by a man on that fateful voyage. 2013 - Researchers study the site with the help of magnetometers and GPR. 2015- Excavations at the site uncover pottery and other items that suggest Roanoke colonists once lived there. A second Bristol University excavation suggests colonists made their way south to Hatteras around 1590 and met with a Native American tribe there Advertisement

'We have evidence from this site that strongly indicates that there were Roanoke colonists here.'

The team believe at least a few of the settlers moved inland to Site X.

They say they have found shards of pottery may have been used by Roanoke settlers after they left the colony.

The pottery is in a style called Border Ware, which is typical of the pottery dug up on Roanoke Island, as well as at Jamestown.

They also found a food-storage jar called a baluster, gun flintlocks, a small copper tube used to secure wool fibers and a metal hook possible used to stretch animal hides or tents.

Luccketti thinks these items were left behind on Site X when the Roanoke colonists moved inland to live with Native Americans in the town Mettaquem.

The idea to excavate Site X came in 2012, after the British Museum took a closer look a map of North America drawn by John White for the First Colony Foundation.

Tests found a hint at the possible location of what may have been intended as the colony's capital near Roanoke Island or a fort, apparently drawn in invisible ink.

The 'x-marks-the-spot' was shown in the form of a lozenge, the symbol for a fort, on the map drawn by expedition leader John White, who accompanied Raleigh's first attempt to establish the colony and who led the settlers on their quest to set up the 'Cittie of Raleigh'.

The ink, which is also disguised by a piece of paper glued to it, was likely put together using milk, citrus juice or urine, as was common at the time.

A second Bristol University excavation, let by British archaeologist, Mark Horton has been taking place in Cape Creak on Hatteras Island, near Pamlico Sound.

Part of a 16th century iron rapier found in the Hatteras Island site. These were high status objects that would be unlikely to be traded to the Native Americans, but owned by a gentleman colonist

Were they slaughtered? This painting by White shows native North Americans dancing in a religious ceremony during an expedition in 1585. Many believe the 'lost colony' were massacre by American Indians

One team is excavating a site near Cape Creek on Hatteras Island, 50 miles (80km) southeast of the Roanoke Island settlement. Another research group, led by Nicholas Luccketti, is looking on the mainland about 50 miles to the northwest of the Roanoke site

Over the years, Horton and his team have found a signet ring, a crucible, part of a horse bridle, coins and part of a gun firing mechanism.

They also found a small slate with 'M' written in one corner that may have been used as a writing tablet. and a sword similar to those used in England in the late 16th century.

Horton suggests that colonists made their way south to Hatteras around 1590 and met with a Native American tribe there.

After years of living together, their items could have been mixed up and thrown away with later artefacts, which could explain why there are other items from a later date at the site.

'It would have been entirely logical for the colonists to go to Croatoan Island,' Horton told DailyMail.com.

Clay Swindell, an archaeologist, carefully scraps through an excavation block at Site X in search of artefacts

Fragment of writing slate, found in April , from the Hatteras Island site, dating to the 16th century, and providing evidence for literacy, and likely assimilation of the Lost Colonists into Native American society

This hand-colored engraving depicts a man from Roanoke Island. The evidence is that they assimilated with the Native Americans but kept their goods, according to one study

'It was a place with lots of food, it was where their allies, including the local chief Manteo lived, and as an island sticking into the Atlantic, the best place to be rescued from.

'Some parts of the colony may have gone inland but the odds on their surviving was pretty low.

'The two theories are not incompatible, but I would expect to find far more evidence for their survival into the 17th on Hatteras Island.'

Horton told National Geographic that some of the artefacts his team found are trade items, but that others may well have belonged to the Roanoke colonists themselves.

'The evidence is that they assimilated with the Native Americans but kept their goods.'

Researchers at the foundation are expected to reveal their findings in detail in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, tomorrow.

New York Times' in-depth report claims some scholars who have seen the evidence are supportive of the research, while others claim more work still needs to be done.

'We need to know more,' Eric Klingelhofer, a vice president for research at the foundation and a history professor at Mercer University in Macon told Emery.

'This whole story is a blank — a blank page, a blank chapter of history, and I think archaeology is the only way to come up with answers.'