SEASON 12, EPISODE 21, “THE SOLUTION SOLUTION” EPISODE ANALYSIS
- Daniel Spino
- 14 hours ago
- 6 min read
In this week’s episode, “THE SOLUTION SOLUTION”, the show began in the WAR ROOM where the Oak Island team assembled to discuss their next move in the Money Pit area. It was mentioned that the narrative of a collapse in the Money Pit was proven correct, although there’s no reason to think it wasn’t because it was documented to have happened. The team feels that treasure fell into the Solution Channel some 160 to 230 feet below the surface. It was stated that the Solution Channel can accept massive amounts of material. A new location was chosen for the next caisson to be called, TOT or The One Thing. It will be seven feet south of the TB 1 Caisson, which collapsed earlier in the season. The team will need several weeks to backfill and stabilize the area before attempting another effort to find the mythical treasure.
The action then took us to the NORTH SWAMP area, where the Oak Island team continued their work near the shore of Joudrey’s Cove. The team is continuing to explore the area that appears to conceal a wall that was constructed there at some point. Metal detectorist, Gary Drayton, began scanning the area and detected a hit. He uncovered a piece of metal that he speculated was a ram rod guide for a musket. He mentioned it was old but did not guess its age. Another old-style brick was discovered and Tom Nolan mentioned that it looked similar to the bricks used in the square feature just a short distance away. What’s interesting to this author is that Tom knew that his father, Fred, found the remnants of a Brick Factory not far from this location, so it’s puzzling why this hasn’t been mentioned on the show.
The action shifted to LOT 5, where the Oak Island team continued their excavation of the foundation near the circular feature. Archaeologist Fiona Steele was working in Test Pit 35. She mentioned that most of the artifacts come from a consistent time frame, which appears to be from 1750 to 1800. This is consistent with British settlement of the area. She said there are outliers where they are finding older items which suggest an earlier occupation of the site. This would be by the French, British and Indigenous people in this author’s opinion. While sifting through spoils, Fiona discovered what appeared to be a nail that was described as tapered with a square head. She mentioned that there was a bubbling effect on it which suggests that it is older in age. Another glass bead was then discovered but appeared to be different than the others that have been found in the area. Fiona stated it appeared to be a wound bead which was different than the other beads. She speculated it could be from the 1400’s to 1700’s. It will be sent to the Lab for further testing and analysis.
We were then taken to the LAB, where the Oak Island team assembled to discuss the glass bead found on Lot 5. Archeologist Laird Niven and Archeometallurgist Emma Culligan told the team that the bead was a wound bead and was different from the other beads that were found, which were drawn beads. The difference was in the manufacturing process. It appears that this bead is older than the others. Emma mentioned that according to her testing, the bead had a high potassium content and lacks sodium. This suggested to her that it was Forest glass or Waldglass and was made in Northwestern and Central Europe from the medieval period to the 1700’s. Laird mentioned that this type of bead is rarer than the other ones found. It suggests that there were two building/occupation phases at this Lot 5 feature. The mentioning of possible medieval dating triggered the obligatory speculation that the bead was tied to the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta. Please see the ANALYSIS for more information.
We were then taken back to the NORTH SWAMP area where the Oak Island Team continued their work near the wall feature. This area was referred to as NBS, or North Bog South. Peter Fornetti began the process of scanning the area with an OK-M 3D Scanner. Petter was trained to use the equipment which sent electromagnetic pulses underground to detect structures. Peter detected a structure that was 4 feet down and 14 feet long. This appeared to match a structure that Fred Nolan found in his excavation in the area. The team will attempt to excavate the feature but will need to be careful due to the potential of water intrusion and flooding.
The episode concluded back at the WAR ROOM, where the Oak Island team assembled to discuss the idea of taking a trip to Malta. Filmmaker/Researcher Emiliano Sacchetti and Researcher Corjan Mol joined the team to discuss the proposed trip. It was mentioned that the Knights of Malta had a proven presence in Nova Scotia. This is true but it was because early naval explorers belonged to the order. It was a common occurrence and did not denote any sort of clandestine activity. The books previously shown and discussed were used to justify the trip by suggesting that they were tied to the Knights of Malta. Although it seems very clear that the books are tied to Freemasonry. Emiliano mentioned that they had done some scouting of Malta, and he came across a book from 1630 regarding treasure in Canada and Holy Relics. This book was compared to the doodles of holy relics in the books, thus justifying the trip in their minds. It was stated that the team could get answers if they went to Malta. It was stated that the Knights of Malta still existed, and they could just ask them about their involvement with Oak Island. It appears that this is the standard yearly trip taken by the team to add some intrigue to the show in this author’s opinion. It’s reminiscent of the old television sitcoms that used the same idea, like the “Brady Bunch” goes to Hawaii.
ANALYSIS: It was suggested by the show that the wound bead found on Lot 5 was in some way tied to the Knights Templar or Knights of Malta. While such a suggestion sounds very mysterious and evokes intrigue, it is far from the factual historical story that surrounds such an artifact. Trade beads were used by Europeans in trade with indigenous cultures from the 1400’s to the 1800’s. Columbus carried beads with him for trade and European fisherman also had these items for trading purposes. In Nova Scotia, trade with the Mi’kmaq consisted of them providing Europeans with beaver, otter, fox, timber wolf, racoon, muskrat, lynx and bear furs as well as meat. Also popular were seal skins and moose and caribou hides. In exchange some of the items included copper, iron pots, iron tools such as knives, axe heads, arrowheads and fishhooks. Woolen blankets, linens and the most popular item, decorative beads, were in high demand. The lead bag seal previously found on the island was for linens and most certainly was related to this type of bartering.
It was suggested that the bead found on Lot 5 was rarer than the other beads found previously. This is correct but should be clarified and explained. For example, from archeological investigation at Fort Vancouver, trading with the indigenous people consisted of several different kinds of beads. Drawn Venetian beads, like the ones found on Lot 5, consisted of 97.6% of the beads discovered. Wound beads, like the one that was most recently found, accounted for just over 2% of the beads discovered. It’s clear that these beads, that were manufactured in Bohemia and Britain, were not as plentiful in supply to traders as the Venetian style. It does not suggest that the Knights Templar and Knights of Malta were on Oak Island and conducting covert operations burying or retrieving holy relics. While that may be a popular genre that creates interest for television, movies or books, it is far from the real history of Oak Island in this author’s opinion.
Please follow our weekly episode analyses during the season, along with articles from the original “Compendium/Blockhouse Blog”, and special investigations and features involving Oak Island. Feel free to reach out to us for questions, comments, information and any theories to our email, theoakislandcompendium@gmail.com
Good day from Daniel of the Compendium!