A human bone found during the filming of History show The Curse of Oak Island came from someone with Middle Eastern ancestry, DNA sequencing has revealed.
A second bone, discovered in the same borehole, was found to have come from a different person, of European descent. It’s believed that the rest of the humans’ remains are still buried on Oak Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia.
A bone being found to have come from someone with Middle Eastern ancestry has boosted theories that there is a link between Oak Island and that part of the world, possibly due to the Knights Templar.
The bones both underwent advanced DNA sequencing at St Mary’s University in Halifax, with Dr Timothy Frasier, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, revealing the results on last night’s episode.
He told members of The Curse of Oak Island team: “I have a little more information about lineages. So, humans are divided into different groups. Our resolution isn’t great but it looks like one of them is from what is called ‘group H’. It’s actually the most common group found among Europeans.
“And then the other bone comes from what’s called ‘group T’ which is a group that has ancestry in the Middle East. So, kind of Iran and Jordan.”
Marty Lagina, one of the two brothers at the center of the treasure-hunting efforts on Oak Island, described the discovery as “extremely interesting”. He added: “The middle-eastern thing clearly supports the Knight Templar, and things like that.”
The Knights Templar were a religious military order founded in 1119 and active until about 1312. One of the theories behind The Curse of Oak Island is that after the Templars’ reign came to a chaotic end they hid some of the treasures which they are said to have had ownership of, possibly on Oak Island.
Those treasures include everything from the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy Grail and the golden menorah from the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
The two bones were both found around 160ft under ground while the team were digging an exploratory borehole, dubbed H-8, in a bid to try and uncover the location of Oak Island’s so-called Money Pit.
It was previously revealed that one of the bones had some soft tissue and hair still attached to it.
The discovery of the bones along with other interesting artifacts including fragments of pottery and a piece of what is believed to be book binding have led the team to believe that H-8 lies above the location of the original pit.
Later episodes in the season will see them drilling down into it with a large 60in caisson in a bid to discover exactly what is down there. The equipment used for that dig was seen arriving on the island back in September.
Marty’s brother Rick Lagina has previously hinted that a strong Knights Templar link to Oak Island would emerge this season. This was reinforced by executive producer Joe Lessard in an interview he did with Monsters and Critics about the season ahead.
The Curse of Oak Island airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on History.