In today’s “Artifact Alley”, we will be discussing the Swages that were found on Oak Island. In our recent interview with Blacksmith expert, Carmen Legge, he mentioned,
“A series of artifacts has caught my attention being odd to the island. Those deal with tunneling and mining like the rock drill sharpening swage, hand point, pick axes, and another item of which I cannot say anything about yet.”
The Curse of Oak Island, The History Channel
The Swages were presented in Season 7, Episode 2 Core Values. In this episode, Gary Drayton, Rick Lagina, and Dan Henskee discovered two triangular type pieces of iron with large holes through the middle on Oak Island’s Lot 21. Gary suspected that the artifacts might be the heads of quarry hammers.
The Curse of Oak Island, The History Channel
Carmen Legge would later identify the items as swage blocks which he stated were used for sharpening rock drills and dated them from 1450-1750. Carmen said that these are rare finds, and that they suggest intensive drilling and mining operations on the island. Carmen said that they were very crude which suggested that they were older in the date range that he gave. He was surprised to see them.
The Curse of Oak Island, The History Channel
Marty Lagina stated it may be indicative of tunnel work that took place on the western side of Oak Island, as the bedrock there is composed of slate, which is very hard rock. This contrasts with the softer limestone which makes up the bedrock on the eastern side of the Island. There had been no tangible evidence to support any mining on that side of the island before, but their presence on Lot 21 is extremely intriguing.
The Curse of Oak Island, The History Channel
In Episode 3: The Eye of the Swamp, Dr. Christa Brosseau uses a file to strip away some of the rust which coats the artifacts and extracts samples of the metal. With the help of her assistant, Dr. Xiang Yang, she examined the samples under an electron microscope and finds them absent of manganese- a characteristic which, she claims, indicates that the artifacts were likely made prior to 1840.
An illustration from Die Bergknappen depicting shaft sinking.
Swages are blacksmith’s tools used to form iron into predetermined shapes. Instead of relying on natural cracks, miners realized that they could extract even more if they used an iron tool to make a narrow, deep hole with a small outer opening that could be plugged to confine the combustion gases. The first documented use of drilling and blasting for mining was by Martin Weigel in Freiberg, Germany, in 1613. Blacksmiths used all their energy and skill to keep miners supplied with sharp drills, and a constant stream of rods, sharp in and dull out. They were carried through the mines by young boys called nippers.
Courtesy of Compressed Air Magazine.
We do know that at one time a Sawmill was located on the western part of Oak Island. Were these drills associated with the mill? It doesn’t seem likely. Perhaps a former landowner was using them for some purpose? That’s unknown, but it appears that they were left on the island for some reason. Most likely because whatever work they were being used for was either done or abandoned. Look for updates on these items as they become available.
Commenti