SEASON 13, EPISODE 13, “TESTING THEIR METAL” EPISODE ANALYSIS BY DANIEL SPINO

Daniel Spino
2 hours ago
7 min read

The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel

In this week’s episode, “TESTING THEIR METAL”, the show began at LOT 8, where the Oak Island team continued their excavation around the Boulder and surrounding feature. The team mentioned that it appears a trench may be below the boulder. This required a huge effort from whoever completed the work. Marty Lagina suggested it may be functioning as a plug to hide something underneath it. Archaeologist Fiona Steele mentioned that the soil stains on the rocks suggest they have been there a very long time. It was stated that no one has ever mentioned this stone in the past. Marty would like to move the boulder to see what’s under it. The Archeologists are concerned that this could damage the site. They believe they can investigate underneath it without lifting up the boulder. Three rocks are blocking their way, and it is decided to get the backhoe and move them so further excavation could continue.

The action then took us to the MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island Team began drilling in a new Borehole called H-5.9. The team has reached a depth of 168 to 178 Feet. The team appears to have hit the bedrock plateau with is made of gypsum. This area is suspected to be the location of the original Money Pit between the Chappell and Hedden Shafts. This area is where they found the iron drill rod . A core sample was brought up from 210-218 Feet and it was inspected, and there was a metal hit. After moving the core and rescanning, the hit could not be found. Metal Detectorist Katya Drayton is brought over and she scanned the core with her metal detector and pinpointer. Katya detects metal and describes it as very small flakes, but she can’t tell what exactly it was. A sample is taken and sent to the lab for further testing.

We were then taken back to the LOT 8 where the Oak Island Archeological Team continued its excavation of the Boulder area. Marty Lagina comes back with the backhoe. Marty then proceeds to move the three boulders out of the way. The operation is successful, which will now allow the Oak Island Archeological team to continue its work in clearing more material out from the boulder so that they can determine what might be beneath it.

We were then taken to the NORTHERN SWAMP, where the Oak Island team continued its exploration of this area. After digging more soil, Property Owner, Tom Nolan, noticed what he believed was a brick. Metal Detectorist, Gary Drayton, went over and found the artifact was indeed a brick. It was then noticed that more cobble is in this area and it appeared that pieces of brick were mixed with the cobble. It was also noted that this seemed to line up to the square feature near Anthony Graves old foundation, that the team has speculated was a vault. Tom Nolan mentioned that it appears that in this vicinity, there are four areas of cobble and it was wondered if this was once a path or road.

The scene shifted back to LOT 8, where the Oak Island Archeological team continued to excavate the area around and under the Boulder. The feature had become more exposed and revealed that it was cut in the subsoil, a clean cut. It appeared that this trench acted as a cradle and it was pondered if the cradle was made first then the boulder was placed on it. The site definitely appears to have been worked by man. Craig Tester was going over material that was under on the rocks that Marty moved and found what appeared to be a piece of a textile. It appeared there was red coloring to part of it. Laird mentioned that it could have be used by the British or French military for uniforms but also could have been used by other people. He suggested that it be sent to the Lab and put under a microscope and an XRF completed to learn more about the artifact’s composition.

The action shifted to the LAB, where the Oak Island Team met to discuss the testing results on the piece of material found on LOT 8. Archeometallurgist Emma Culligan completed CT and XRF scans which revealed that the fabric appeared to have an inward and outward knitting in a loop design. She was not sure if it was done by hand or machine. She suggested doing a burn test on the material to figure out what it was made from. This could include Polyester, Cotton, Silk, or Wool. A piece was then burned, cooled and crushed and it was determined to be wool. It was then speculated that it could be related to the lead bag seal that was found nearby on Lot 8 which was used by wool merchant in Leeds, Great Britain. It was also determined that the red dye used was not modern. Emma then suggested that a Knitting and Dye expert review the artifact to get more precise information about it.

The action then took us back to THE MONEY PIT AREA, where the Oak Island Team began to drill in a new Borehole called J.5-7.5. The drilling reached a depth of 158 to 166 Feet where they hit bedrock from the ledge. This was solid gypsum and a core was brought up. Upon inspection a metal hit was registered. A sample of the core would be sent for further testing. Drilling continued to a depth of 183 Feet when another core was brought up which produced loose material. When using the pinpointer, another metal hit was registered. It was mentioned that Dr. Ian Spooner would be briefing the team on results from some of the testing he has completed on these core samples.

The episode concluded in the WAR ROOM, where the Oak Island Team met to discuss the testing results on the core samples from the drilling operations in the Money Pit. Dr. Ian Spooner, Archeometallurgist Emma Culligan, and Scientific Assistant, Jillian Parson conducted the testing. It was mentioned that in Boreholes I-9.5 and K-9.5 there were significant concentrations of silver. Elemental Silver that was attached to clay that the Dr. Spooner didn’t believe was natural. It was then speculated that this could be related to the Portuguese coin that was allegedly found in the Money Pit area. It was suggested that a caisson be put down in this area and SPC Canada and Roc Drilling be contacted to make the arrangements. Until Next Week….

DANIEL’S ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY:

During this week’s episode, the work continued on the boulder area on Lot 8. The team stated that they weren't aware that this boulder was specifically mentioned in the record by any past searchers. This author then investigated to see if there was any associated information and found two interesting reports alluding to perhaps similar features, or maybe the same feature on Lot 8.

The first account came from a progress report made by Dan Blankenship dated May 17, 1979. Dan records the following,

“Near this area another suspicious area was found. There is a large gra(n)ite stone, which I would guess weighs about one ton. Through this granite stone runs a straight white line of quartz (natural). This line when sighted seems to pretty much line up with the 5 stones that Mallon found and 10-X. He (Dan Henskee) dug around this stone and found several other large stones which are placed to look this stone in place. These stones are definitely placed there by man, as voids can be clearly seen under some of the joints. Other than exposing these stones by digging and taking photos of them they haven’t been touched. In digging under one was found some old bright yellow china, which we have saved.”

Although this area was located near the Cave-In Pit closer to the Money Pit, it sounds very similar to the feature on Lot 8. The appearance of quartz is also interesting, because quartz can contain natural gold. Were people looking for natural gold on Oak Island?

The second account came from a letter that Mel Chappell wrote to Clayton-Stanke Explorations in response to an inquiry they had sent to Chappell. He wrote

“Do you know anything about a very large stone several ton weight under which was a quantity of burned bones? Do you know anything about a very large boulder about 10 feet in diameter and as high? And where these items are located.”

Chappell is referencing two separate stone/boulders. One having burned bones or ash under them. This would indicate some sort of cremation happened and was put under a rock. Also, a very large boulder that matches the general size of the Lot 8 boulder. Was it the Lot 8 boulder or another one located on the island? This is a mystery, but it establishes that past searches have found items under large rocks and boulders, which may have some relation to each other. Further research and examinations are needed.

Please follow our weekly episode analyses during Season 13, along with articles from the original “Compendium/Blockhouse Blog”, and special investigations and features involving Oak Island. Feel free to reach out to us for questions, comments, information and any theories to our email, theoakislandcompendium@gmail.com

Good day from the Compendium!

Daniel Spino