The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
In this week’s episode, “Cone E Island”, we are first taken to the Lot 5 rectangular excavation site where Archaeologists Helen Sheldon and Moya MacDonald are joined by Marty Lagina and Jack Begley as they continue to investigate the mysterious area. Helen mentions that the site seems to be going deeper and deeper and the orangey soil has produced more pieces of creamware which indicates they are not to the subsoil or bottom yet. As Helen is working, she discovers a portion of blueish-grey hard clay that formed a solid base in the ground. It is speculated that this came from the Money Pit area or possibly from the Swamp. This would indicate that those areas and Lot 5 were connected and being used for some purpose that the team is trying to identify.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We are then taken back to The Netherlands where the Oak Island Team, along with researchers Corjan Mol and Jacquo Silvertant, are visiting Valkenburg Castle which is located in the southern portion of the country. The team is there to see the carvings in the castle and its dungeon that appear to be similar to ones on Oak Island. Among them are crosses with four dots and a goosepaw symbol, which is similar to one found in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. It is explained that this castle may have harbored refugee Knights Templar after their persecution in France and it’s speculated that this could have led them to North America and Oak Island.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The visit continues at Valkenburg Castle where the team continues to look at symbols in the ruins of the abandoned structure. This time they view an engraving which could be interpreted as a sail of a ship. It is explained that this symbol could be Viking/Norse and may indicate some relationship or coordination between them and the Knights Templar that resulted in transatlantic visitation by the Templars. Another symbol is shown that looks like a two masted ship, which is connected to the sail symbol by the team.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The scene shifted to Lot 10 where the Oak Island team gathered to investigate Cone E, which is one of the boulders that make up Nolan’s Cross and the Tree of Life that is currently being investigated. It is mentioned that the boulder has never been moved. The boulder is lifted, and Dr. Spooner mentions that everything seems normal and not out of the ordinary. Marty then surprisingly jumps in the hole and decides to search for the evidence himself. Marty finds a clump of fibrous matter and he also finds what he thought was a piece of cement. This launched speculation that this could be related to the Money Pit area, that also had this type of material found there. The sample is bagged and tagged and taken to Emma in the Lab for further analysis.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We were then taken to Nylars Church on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, where the Oak Island team is meeting with researcher Eerling Haagenson, who with Henry Lincoln, co-wrote, “The Templars Secret Island”. Lincoln was one of the co-authors of “Holy Blood, Holy Grail”. The team is meeting with Haagenson at Nylars Church, one of the famous round churches. Haagenson believes the Templars were involved with building these churches through family connections in Bornholm. Inside the church they observed a very old runestone that appeared to have similar symbols as the alleged 90-foot stone. This association implied that the Vikings/Norse may have been involved with the stone.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The scene shifted to another area on Bornholm Island called the Madsebakke Petroglyphs where the team was meeting with local historian Jeanne Cordua. Cordua said these petroglyphs are up to 3000 years old from the Bronze Age. She mentions that one of these symbols appears to function as a compass and is aligned to the sunrise and sunset of the solstices, which is similar to the recent theory regarding Nolan’s Cross. Another Petroglyph was viewed that seemed to be aligned to the Hyades, a group of five stars that are part of the constellation of Taurus. Interestingly, it appears that the five stone piles or cairns on Oak Island were aligned to this feature according to Professor Gaspani. This similarity is suggested as a possible link between the Vikings/Norse and Oak Island.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
We are then taken to Ladby Viking Museum in Kertedminde, Denmark were the Oak Island team then meets with museum curator, Ane Jepsennyborg. The museum shows many of the finds from a Viking ship burial which was discovered in 1934. Jepsennyborg was shown the recently found arrowhead that was presented to the Oak Island team by Eric Wroclawski. Jepsennyborg looked at the arrowhead and said that it is something she would expect to see among the artifacts in the area. She then shows the team a Viking/Norse arrowhead that appears somewhat similar but not the same.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
Our analysis concludes at the Lab where the Oak Island team comes together to hear the results of the analysis performed by archeometallurgist Emma Culligan on the strange cement like rock that was found under Cone E on Lot 10. They are joined by Geologist Terry Matheson who first inspects the rock for his opinion. Terry evaluates the rock and mentions it seems to have hard clay in it and chunks of rock. He isn’t quite sure what it is. Emma then gives the team the results from the XRD Scan and reveals it is quartz but also has clay composition. She said it doesn’t register as anything unusual. Laird Niven then mentions that an enhanced photo from the scan showed what appears to be a hair embedded in the rock. None of them had ever seen such a thing. It is recommended to complete a DNA test under an electron microscope to see if it is human. Compendium Investigations has heard of a similar story involving hair found on Oak Island. In Andrew Spedon’s 1863 book, “Rambles Among Bluenoses”, he mentions a story that was told to him by J.B. McCully when he visited Oak Island on the writing of his book.
Spedon writes, “Those who ventured to pay a visit to the mysterious pit beheld it with only reluctance and superstitious horror. Some of the elder grey-beards solemnly shook their heads, assuring them that the spirtis of the murdered ones were hovering around the pit, and that blood would have to be shed for blood before the treasure could be obtained. These appalling remarks, together with the appearance of hair and scalps among the logs, became so startling and terrifying, as to cause the islander to desert his island home, and the work be relinquished by them forever.”
Was this the basis for the Curse of Oak Island story? But that’s not the only report of hair being found on the island. The late researcher, Paul Wroclawski, wrote that Dan Blankenship was on record saying that he found a clump of human hair under a large rock on the south shore. Mel Chappell mentioned a quantity of burned bone under a several ton stone that was found on the island, presumably another one of Nolan’s Cross’ boulders. What in the world was going on at Oak Island? Compendium Investigations will be looking at these reports in the near future. Until next week.
Good day from the Compendium!