Season 10 of The Curse of Oak Island continues to show new discoveries and theories. They are wandering all over the island as they investigate different locations.
This week on Oak Island they first showed the latest developments in the Garden Shaft and the Swamp.
In the Garden Shaft they continued clearing out the final ten feet so they could finish the reconstruction. They talked about the plans for investigation from the final platform.
In the swamp they did some more digging, but the area was too wet. The plan is to drain some more of the water before preceding.
The item found while metal detecting on Lot 5 last week was looked at by a numismatist. He was surprised to see it and believes that it may come from as early as the 5th century.
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.
The item that they found on lot five with metal detecting is very much like an item that the numismatist cataloged in a dig of a 5th century Roman encampment in England. The encampment was near Cambridge and Royston. See: Oak Island – A Cave in England
It was mentioned that the item may have been a trade token, but I still believe it was used as a weight of some type. Perhaps a hem weight to hold a uniform or garment in place.
On Lot 5 they also looked at a round depression that seems to be lined with stones. They set up a square and uncovered rows of stones radiating out from the edge, showing it to me more substantial than was thought. They also made a measurement of the structure and found it to be 13 feet in diameter. The same as was reported for the original Money Pit.
In the swamp they moved to a drier location and in the first scoop full of dirt they found an old horse shoe. The shoe was shown to Carmen Legge and he said it was the oldest horse shoe he had ever seen, possibly from the 14th century. It also would not have been from a draft horse, but rather from a horse used for riding.
This was found to be interesting as it would have been deposited several centuries before horses were known to be in Nova Scotia. Could this change the understanding of the history of the area?
Back at the Garden Shaft they ran into some structural issues in the original shaft. They will need to mitigate the issues for safety reasons which will delay the completion of the rehabilitation of the shaft.
The researcher from Italy showed some more information, including a map of a cave system related to the Templars that showed a portion of the cave shaped exactly like (As a visual thinker it is difficult for me to process the terms exactly, like or similar when they are misused) the lead cross found on Oak Island. There was a discussion of the items found that have a possible connection to Italy. Because of the delays in the Garden Shaft a trip is planned to visit the cave system in Italy as well as conduct other research in person.
In the preview of the next episode, which was shown during the season premier of another show, they showed continued work in the swamp where they seem to have found the interface between the stone structure and the ramp. They also showed them arriving at the cave complex in Italy and a few images of what they are seeing related to the Templars.
The name of the episode tonight was Roman Around, which explains the title I chose for this post.
Steven
When it comes to identifying the lead disc, I do not believe it to be a Roman token, the closet items that it could relate to (if Roman) would be as you say a lead weight, but those do not usually have a cerated shape like that.
This may seem a little strange, but no-one has looked at the medieval whirligigs, these maybe children’s toys but they are also a perfect match for what we see on Oak Island, I have been a metal detectorist for may year and have a few at home.
I have no idea if there was ever a child on Oak Island, but there is no reason not to believe there may have been
Interesting thought about the whirligigs. Makes me think of the spinners from several years ago. A lot of adults used them. As to cerated shape, may have been ornamental if used as an external hem weight. Lead as a token doesn’t make sense to me either.