The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
In this week’s episode, “THE SAGA CONTINUES”, we are first taken to the Golden Egg area where drilling operations have now started on a new drill site. The team had been working in borehole EN-13 and now have moved to EN-14, which is about 5 feet to the east. The core drilling was shown as being 69 to 79 feet and then 79 to 89 feet in depth. The core samples were examined, and it was determined that there was some soft earth but not enough to indicate that this location is a hot spot.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We are then taken to L’Anse Aux Meadows Historic Site and Visitor Experience Complex where the Oak Island team is investigating the Viking Outpost to see if they can find any evidence for the theory that the Vikings aided the Knights Templar on Oak Island. The team met Loretta Decker, the manager of the Historic Site and Archeologist Kevin Smith. Loretta Decker explains that L’Anse Aux Meadows was a base camp/outpost that was involved in the resource extraction of the area by the Norse. This is exactly what the Norse did with all of their settlements and outposts. Decker said she believed that L’Anse Aux Meadows was a winter camp and according to the Norse Saga’s, there was a fabled summer camp to the south called, Hóp. This area is speculated as being in modern New Brunswick, where butternuts are indigenous to the area. The team then speculates that the Vikings could have been to Oak Island, even though butternuts are not indigenous to Nova Scotia.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
Then the action shifted to Lot 4 where Metal detectorist, Gary Drayton and Peter Fornetti were examining the spoils from the circular depression on Lot 5. The two previously discovered a cut coin that numismatist Sandy Campbell believed to be of Roman origin. Gary has a hit on his detector and unearths another coin. He mentions that it seems to be “chunky” and that it is copper. He bags and tags the coin, and it will be sent to Emma Culligan, the team’s Archeometallurgist, for further testing and analysis.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We were then taken back to L’Anse Aux Meadows where the team met with Mark Pilgrim, the historical blacksmith presenter. The team showed him the arrowhead that was allegedly found on Oak Island in 1965 by Robert Dunfield. Pilgrim was asked about the arrowhead, and he said that he has made some that look similar, and it is possible the Vikings could have made one that looks like it. Loretta Decker then asks the team if they dated the piece and Emma stated yes, she dated it around the 1600’s and not past the 1700’s. In fact, in Season 11, Episode 25, “Worth the Weight”, Emma stated that the XRF scan revealed that it had high levels of phosphorus and iron and was British in origin. This obviously excludes it from being Viking in origin, so it confuses this writer as to why the team is inquiring about it as possibly being Viking. Pilgrim continued that the arrowhead could be Bog Ore, which originates in an iron deposit near swamps and rivers. Although this does not match Emma’s findings, she accepts a sample of the Bog Ore to add to her database to test and compare with any other samples that might be found on Oak Island.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We were then taken back to Lot 4, where Gary Drayton and Peter Fornetti continued to examine the spoils from the circular depression on Lot 5. As the pair worked, Gary had another hit on his metal detector and discovered another coin. This one is also copper but appears to be a little smaller then the one discovered earlier in the episode. Gary again bags and tags the coin, and it will be sent to Emma in the lab for further analysis.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The action then took us to the War Room where the team met to discuss their trip to L’Anse Aux Meadows. It is mentioned that there was no smoking gun regarding the Vikings on Oak Island that came from their trip. They do feel like they established that the Vikings had the motivation and ability to come to Oak Island. It was also mentioned that the Roman Catholic Church knew about North America from the Norse. Although according to documentation, the Church knew that the Norse had activity at the very edge of their realm, but whether they knew it was a completely new continent is highly speculative and doubtful. Archeologist Laird Niven mentioned that he is a big supporter of the Norse being in Nova Scotia, although there is no evidence to suggest any sort of settlement or outpost was ever there. Another concern by this writer is the pickaxe that was found in RF-1 in the Money Pit area. It is continually referred to as being Viking/Norse in origin by the show. This information seems to be misrepresented and is not entirely the whole story. In Season 11, Episode 16, “Dark and Stormy”, the team met with Geoscientist, Dr. Aaron Satkoski, who completed isotope testing on the pickaxe. His results indicated that the origin could either be Southeast France, Northern Italy, or parts of Scandinavia. Yet the show continually represents it as being Viking/Norse in origin. It should also be noted that no dendrochronology testing was ever mentioned, so the date of piece cannot be confirmed.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The scene shifted to Lot 5 and the stone foundation that the team has been excavating. Laird mentions that the soil seems burned in the area and may be natural, but it should be noted that the circular feature was a brick kiln, so fire associated with the area is to be expected. Filmmaker and researcher, Emiliano Sacchetti, mentions that he notices that there are steps going down at this feature. He states that there appears to have been a chamber and if it was constructed in the 13th century, the people there would have been religious. He then wildly speculates that this area may have been a church. He mentions that it could have been a ritual place and refers to Dr. Gaspani’s theory, which itself has severe problems, and how he believes this area was related to the Nolan Cross construction. These theories completely ignore the considerable evidence that suggests that a trading site was being conducted there from the late 1600’s to mid-1700’s. Coins, trade weights, pottery, and etc. have been discovered at the site. It appears other industrial operations were going on as well at some point.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The episode concluded back at the War Room, where the team met with Dr. Ian Spooner and Dr. Fred Michel regarding precious metal tests in the Baby Blob area. They mentioned there appears to be a persistent anomaly of high traces of precious metals at the very north and south of the Baby Blob. These are at boreholes, GN-10.5 and B 5N-11. They believe there may be a tunnel or chamber in these areas that is unique. They mention that this needs to be checked out and they suspect some kind of deposit in these areas. They also mention that they feel it is not a natural phenomenon. They have stated this previously because of the high levels being concentrated in one specific spot. Although it is very possible, in fact likely in the opinion of this writer, that these levels being detected are of natural origin, and some of the anomalies are old mining tunnels that have long since been abandoned. Unfortunately, this type of information does not fit a treasure narrative put forth by the show.
Please follow our weekly episode analyses during the season, along with our Throwback Thursday 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 the Compendium!