Season 9 of The Curse of Oak Island is starting to get exciting.
In the episode tonight they showed items removed from the large can using the hammer grab tool.
The spoils coming from the can included a lot of wood beams at the depths they were expected to be at. They also pulled up a large boulder that had previously been bored through by a small shaft that was drilled earlier.
Probably the most interesting item that was found was a boot from the early 1900’s that was possibly worn by a member of the team that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was part of. It will be interesting to see further evaluations of some of the finds and wether they find out more about the boot.
The episode ended with the oscillator shutting down for the night and some talk about how much deeper to go and what they might find.
Early in the episode they provided more information on the lead seal. They did some laser ablation analysis and found that the lead had come from a mine in France. They did not give an exact location, but of course they then tied this to the lead cross, which was made from lead that also came from France. This then lead to more speculation that the lead seal was tied to the Templars. They were surprised that the source of the lead was not from somewhere in England.
However, this is where I tend to disagree. I don’t believe that in this case the origin of the lead matters, but where the lead was used.
Early lead mining in England was mostly in the western part of the of England and in Wales.
The early textile centers of England were mainly in the east, most notably in Norwich, which is in Norfolk.
There is some evidence that the markings on the lead seal show that it came from Norwich.
The ports near Norwich had a lot of commerce with ports on the continent and the main items traded were wool, wool fells, leather, lead and tin. Wool and leather would have been exports and the metals would have been imports.
It is very possible that finished goods were sent to the continent and lead was brought back. With the weight of lead it would have been easier to move lead by sea than overland from the western part of England or Wales. It would also have been a shorter journey by sea from the continent than from the western part of England or Wales.
Many of the weavers in Norwich and the surrounding area were religious refugees from the continent and could have also brought lead items with them that were then re-used for the material for the seals.
Bottom line, look for where the lead was used, not where it was mined from. Look at the supply chains from the time period.
The preview for the next episode shows more work with the hammer grab, including it stalling out as it tries to pull something very heavy from the can. It will be interesting to see what it is, or whether they could remove it.
Will we see them continue to push the Templar theory next week?
Steven
Braman's Wanderings 