Season 10 of The Curse of Oak Island continues to show new discoveries and theories.
This week on Oak Island they first talked about the situation in the Money Pit area. Is the Garden Shaft possibly the original Money Pit? Where should they take more water samples to follow the gold? They need to determine where they may want to drill additional bore holes as that project will soon be on hold once they receive the permits to start rehabilitation the Garden Shaft.
Of course, one thing to remember is that the dig season is already over. They have taken the time to determine how to present things each week to build suspense and keep viewers tuned in.
More metal detecting was done on the newly purchased lot and they found a possible tool and fastener. They also found some pottery shards that date from the 18th century. It was decided to further investigate the area by conducting a controlled dig. In the dig they found a tin glazed fragment of delft ware which also could be from about 50 years before the Money Pit was found. They also found a handmade copper nail, which brought up discussion of it possibly have a maritime use, but for me it is difficult to see the connection at this time. It may have simply been used for a land based purpose as it was the only type of nail that they had available.
It is good to see them use good archaeological techniques as they look for items. It is also good to again see more diversity on the team as the two ladies investigate the square.
A team took the iron spike found while investigating the potential dam to the lab in Halifax and found that the it was from the 1700’s or earlier. One question is whether sulfur in the iron comes from the local environment. They also found phosphorus which would date it even earlier. They are now deciding where they want to have a more extensive search for evidence of a dam, and they will then get the required permits.
They took some more water samples from recent boreholes so they could test for gold residue. They have been trying to chase the gold to the source.
At the end of the episode they had a war room meeting to discuss just returned findings from the water samples. The data points to the gold source being adjacent to the Garden Shaft. The decision must now be made as to what the next step in the investigation will be. They are calling this area west of the Garden Shaft the ‘Blob’.
In the preview of the next episode they showed the sinking of a bore hole in the blob area with some excitement of what is being brought up. The also showed the controlled dig area with some talk about a mason’s mark and discussion of a date back the the time of the Templars. What are these new finds? Does this push back the date of deposition?
It looks like it will be interesting next week.
How long before they resume the Garden Shaft project? Especially now that it looks like the gold source is centered just to the west of the shaft.
What will happen next?
Steven