The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
In last week’s episode, “May The Norse Be With You”, we are first taken to the Garden Shaft where DUMAS and the Oak Island team are meeting to discuss the recent exploratory work. A pile of timbers is shown that has been taken from the bottom of the Garden Shaft and it is explained that there appears to be no walls or a ceiling of a tunnel. It is DUMAS’ opinion that the tunnel either collapsed or was partially deconstructed. This brings up some interesting questions for the Oak Island Team to ponder. What looks like a rose head spike is taken out from one of the timbers and it was bagged and tagged and taken to Emma Culligan in the Lab for further analysis.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We then move to the War Room where the Oak Island team is meeting with Dr. Doug Symons, a retired Psychology professor from Acadia University in Nova Scotia. Dr. Symons is presenting his theory that the Norse and Knights Templar were connected during the Crusades and a knowledge of Oak Island was transmitted between the two groups. Professor Symons described the pieces of wood and other features that have been dated to around 1200 AD as possible evidence of activity of the Norse or Knights Templar on Oak Island. Dr. Symons described the history of the Norse during The Crusades that was led by King Sigurd of Norway. He feels that it is possible that the Norse were exploring the North Atlantic coast of North America and could have visited Oak Island, although at the time it would not have been an island, but a mainland feature. Dr. Symons postulates that this knowledge of Oak Island may have been transmitted to the Knights Templars who in turn visited the area and possibly buried holy relics there.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The scene shifted to the southeast corner of The Swamp were metal detectorist, Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina are continuing to excavate and explore the area for more artifacts. They uncover a strange piece of wood that looks to be shaped by man. It is speculated that it may have been from a keel of a boat or possibly a runner on the bottom of a boat. It was bagged and tagged for further analysis. Sometime later, surveyor Steve Guptill joined Gary and they discovered what appeared to be another ship railing which looked very similar to another proposed ship railing found previously which dated to the 8th Century. It will also be sent for analysis.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We are then taken to the center of Lot 5, the location headed by archeologist Helen Sheldon where the large rectangular feature identified earlier is located. She is joined by archeologist Laird Niven and Jack Begley. While working Helen finds a piece of metal and sees that it has a greenish cast. She believes it is a coin. Upon studying it, she believes it is a copper coin, a King George III Half Penny that she estimates is from the 1780’s. This correlates with the end of the Revolutionary War and the first Loyalists arriving at Oak Island. She also mentioned that there appears to be a cellar feature that she has been working on that appears to have been filled in with rocks. This seems to be a common scenario the current team and past searchers have discovered on the island. They speculate that someone was trying to hide these features or certain activity that happened on Oak Island.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We are then taken to the New Lab where the Oak Island team meets with Blacksmith Carmen Legge who is brought in to give his opinion on two recently found artifacts uncovered at the Garden Shaft. These artifacts appear to be pieces of metal that he inspects closely. He states that they appear to be nail spikes, but he is not certain due to the heavy buildup of material around them. Archeometallurgist Emma Culligan decides to put the larger piece in the XRF scanner and the smaller piece in a CT scanner. Carmen states he is not sure what they are and would like to see more details from the scans. The CT scan of the smaller piece reveals to Carmen that in his opinion it is a square nail spike that could date anywhere from the late 1400’s to the 1700’s. The XRF scan of the larger piece reveals it is also a spike but not for a structure. He speculates it could have been for a fastener for a chest or used for hanging a lantern.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
Our analysis concludes back at the southeast corner of The Swamp where the Oak Island team uncovers some wood that is speculated to have been part of a dam that has long since been thought to have existed on the southern and northern part of The Swamp. Dr. Ian Spooner is brought there the next day to give his opinion of the feature. He says that it is down far in the sediment and notices the reddish wood which looks similar to some that was found under the Stone Road feature. He speculates if the two constructions could be related. Until next week.
Good day from the Compendium!