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Two fragments of pottery could provide clues to a 400-year-old mystery of what happened to one of North America's first colonies.

The sandy outpost on Roanoke Island in North Carolina had been an attempt by explorer Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a capital in the New World for Queen Elizabeth I.

But within just a few years of founding the settlement, more than 200 men, women and children had vanished, leaving the settlement empty.

Archaeologists have discovered two shards of blue and white pottery at the site of a colony that vanished without trace on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. They believe the fragments (pictured) were part of a medicine or ointment jar that may have been used by the colonists before they disappeared

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

Now archaeologists have discovered pieces of what they believe could have been a medicine jar belonging to one of the members of this 'lost colony'.

The blue and white coloured pieces of pottery were found about 75 yards from an earthen mound believed to have been the site of the 16th century fort.

Experts leading the excavation say the jar may have held an ointment or medicine used to treat diseases at the time.

The spread of disease within the fledgling colony could help to explain why it vanished so soon after being established - the inhabitants may have chosen to abandon it.

There are two competing theories for the fate of those who had established the settlement.

Some believe they were killed in a raid by native Americans while others believe they simply abandoned the outpost and assimilated into native tribes.

Last year storage jars, metal hooks and gun flintlocks were found on a nearby hillside around 50 miles to the northwest known as Site X.

At the time, archaeologists said it suggested the lost colonists may have left their settlement and went 'native'.

Eric Deetz, an archaeologist with the First Colony Foundation that is part of the team excavating on Roanoke Island that found the latest pottery, described the find as 'exciting'.

He said researchers had still to confirm that it was related to the colonists but he said it was the most significant piece of pottery found in the area since the 1940s.

He said the ointment jar would have been around three inches tall and 1.5 inches in diameter.

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Speaking to the Virginia Pilot, Mr Deetz said: 'That pottery had something to do with the Elizabethan presence on that island.'

The mystery of what happened to the colonial inhabitants of Roanoke Island in the 1580s has become one of the most enduring stories in American folklore.

Raleigh had sent three groups to the coast of North Carolina in 1584, 1585 and 1587.

The pottery shards (pictured) could help to piece together the story of what happened to the colonists. If they still hide traces of the medicine kept in the container it may provide clues about diseases in the settlement

Archaeologists say the pottery belonged to a small pot around three inches tall and 1.5 inches in diameter, similar to those pictured above. They would have been used to hold ointment or medicine

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. John White returned to Roanake Island in 1590 to find the settlers had vanished after he had gone back to England to fetch more supplies (artist's impression)

A fort was built on the island in 1585 and one of the colonists John White drew pictures of the natives.

His colleague Thomas Harriot is also known to have made maps of the region, learned the local Algonquian language and documented the local wildlife.

Among the plants growing on the island was sassafras, which is thought to have been used a s cure for ailments including syphilis at the time.

The colony on Roanoke Island was one of the first English settlements to be established in North America

The fate of the colonists at Roanoke Island has been one of the most enduring mysteries of American folklore in the past 400 years. A stone commemorates the site of what was one of the first English settlements in the New World before it vanished (pictured)

Earthen mounds at the site on Roanoke Island are thought to be the remains of the fort built by the colonists (pictured)

The jar fragments (pictured) are said to the most significant pieces of pottery to have been found at the site since the 1940s

In 1587 John White returned to England for supplies and never saw his daughter Eleanor or granddaughter Virginia again.

When he returned to the colony in 1590 he found the colony had vanished, but the word 'Croatoan' - the name of a nearby island - had been carved into a tree outside the settlement.

Due to bad weather White was never able to make it to Croatoan to look for the remnants of the colony and their fate has remained a mystery.

Speaking to WTKR, Jami Lanier, cultural resources manager for the Outer Banks Group which is also involved in the excavation, said the shards of medicine jar could help to piece more of the colony's story together.

He said: 'That's the most important value is the stories they can tell and they are pieces of the puzzle that can perhaps help solve the mystery.'

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 'LOST COLONY' AT ROANOKE?

A map of the region known as Roanoac in the late 1500s includes Roanoake Island and Cape Hatteras

The Roanoke Colony was an attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a permanent British presence in the New World, and comprises two unsuccessful attempts at settlement.

Elizabeth's intention was to exlpoit the natural riches of the enexplored country, as well as using the colony as a base from which to launch privateering raids on Spanish ships.

The enterprise was originally financed and planned by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, but was later headed by Sir Humphrey's half brother Sir Walter Raleigh.

An exploration mission led by Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe landed at Roanoke Island on July 4, 1584, and established good relations with the Secotan and Croatan tribes. Barlowe returned to England with members of the tribes, who told Sir Walter about the local customs and geography.

Sir Walter ordered another mission in 1585, led by his distant cousin Sir Richard Grenville. The expedition also included Sir Walter's artist friend John White, who was to provide invaluable coastal mapping of the region.

Sir Richard left 107 men to establish a fort and settlement on Roanoke Island, but within a year the colonists had managed to anger the local tribes, leading to open hostilities.

When Sir Francis Drake stopped there in 1586, after a successful raiding expedition to the Caribbean, he offered to provide passage for anyone who wanted to return to England. Everyone accepted.

When Sir Richard returned with supplies to find the settlement abandoned, he left a small group to retain and English presence.

Sir Walter sent another expedition of 150 people in 1587, let by White. The only evidence they found of the small group left behind was a single skeleton.

Relations with the tribes had not improved and, after a settler was killed in Albemarle Sound, White returned to England to ask for help and reinforcements.

Before he could return, England was plunged into the Anglo-Spanish War and all vessels were comandeered to repel the coming Spanish Armada.

White was not able to return until 1590. His men could not find any trace of the 90 men, 17 women, and 11 children of the colony, nor was there any sign of a struggle or battle.

Before he left for England, White had arranged a code with the colonists. If they were under attack or forced to flee - a sensible arrangement considering relations with the locals - the colonists were to carve a Maltese cross into a tree.

There was no evidence of such a carved cross, but White's men found two trees. One was carved with the word 'Croatoan' and the other simply with 'Cro'.

Whether this was a reference to the settlement's assailants, or a indicator that the colonists had gone to live with the Croatans on nearby Hatteras Island, remains unclear.

Poor weather and his shipmates' desire to leave Roanoke forced White to abandon his search for the colonists. He never returned.

A voyage by Sir Walter Raleigh 12 years later in 1602 also ended when bad weather forced the expedition to return to England. Sir Walter's arrest for treason prevented him from making any other expeditions.