THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (ALL PICS)
In last night’s episode, “Muon The Horizon”, there were three artifacts that were found that we will discuss. The first artifact was unearthed on the Lot 5 excavation site. Jack Begley was sifting through some of the spoils and unearthed what appears to be a part of a chain. The proposed chain link was bagged and tagged and was going to be taken to the Interpretive Center for further testing by Emma Culligan, the teams Archeometallurgist. The artifact was not discussed further in last night’s episode, so we will be updating the results as soon as they are made available.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL – (ALL PICS)
The second artifact was found near the Money Pit area in the spoils of the Garden Shaft. Gary Drayton and Charles Barkhouse were working in this area. Gary pinpointed the object that appeared to him to be a metal wedge. This piece was also on its way to Emma Culligan for further testing. No update was given during last night’s show, but we will pass on any information as soon as it is released.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (ALL PICS)
Our third artifact was found on Lot 5 in the same area as the assortment of coins that were found earlier this season. This area was identified as a hot spot and the “Coin Zone”. Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina were working in this area and unearthed what Gary thought was an ancient coin. He remarked that it was a heavy old coin and a “bit of ancientness”. The piece was bagged and tagged and sent to Emma at the Interpretive Center for testing.
THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND – THE HISTORY CHANNEL (ALL PICS)
Fortunately, this artifact was analyzed by Emma in the Interpretive Center and the results were presented. The piece was scanned, and Emma concluded that it was lead with small amounts of iron and copper. She proceeded to show an enhanced image that revealed letters on the piece. Archeologist, Laird Niven said that that it was not a coin, but a lead bag seal. This brought up the previous seal that was found on the island. Emma concluded that it was not a match for that seal that was unearthed in Season 8, Episode 24, “Silver Lining”. This was evident even without testing when comparing both seals.
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Laird elaborated on his opinion by saying that he had found a match for the bag seal. It appears that the seal was used by John Lodge cloth packers and was used for bundling cloth for the British Army. He went on to say that there was a date of 1808 for the attached listing for the company. It was noted that the letter “I” was being used for the letter “J” in the word John which was an older practice. This immediately launched speculation that the seal could have been much older than Laird’s assessment of the 1700’s. Specifically the claim of the 1500’s. Upon closer inspection the name of the company was the John Lodge & Co. Packers of London. It is noted that they were cloth packers, and the cloth was used in the making of Army uniforms for the British. The picture of the example was found in Ontario, Canada. It is also mentioned in the listing that another matching seal was found at Fort Michilimackinac in 2022.
Fort Michilimackinac, on the very northern tip of the lower peninsula of Michigan, was Initially a French fort from 1715 until 1760. In 1761 the French gave the fort to the British as part of the peace agreement of the French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Years War. In 1761 the British took possession of the fort, and it was a major trading post. The British lost the fort for about a year from 1763-1764 by an attack by the Ojibwe people but held possession of it from 1764 until 1781. This is when another fort was built to take its place on nearby Mackinac Island. It seems clear that if the bag seal on Oak Island is a match for the seal found at Fort Michilimackinac, it was from the time period of around 1761 until 1781. Most likely during the earlier period, because of the Revolutionary War. This reinforces the continued belief by Compendium Investigations that there was some sort of British Military installation and habitation on Oak Island in the late 1750’s to early 1760’s that was abandoned by the British Military. This cloth was packed for the British Army and is a clear indicator that it was being used for uniforms, which would have been necessary for a prolonged occupation by the British.
We will update these artifacts in our continuing feature called “Artifact Alley”.
Good day from the Compendium!