This week on The Curse of Oak Island, the team got down and dirty as they started digging up the swamp in an attempt to force the marshy land to give up some of its secrets. The result led to more questions than answers really, but the evidence for human activity in that area is mounting up.
Yes, that’s right. The swamp is back on again. There were fears that the swamp was off-limits after the Dept. of Communities, Culture, and Heritage ordered a shut down for all archaeological work in the area. But it seems the guys are allowed to do other kinds of work instead.
In fact, it’s just a small circular area that is currently off-limits to them, which thankfully meant they’ve been granted a permit to excavate a large area of the swamp along the edge of the road.
The guys were unable to hide their glee as a massive digger with an 80-foot reach turned up on the island.
The Oak Island team are hunting the treasure ship
The team is hoping to dig up a ship that they believe is buried in the swamp. The theory postulates that the swamp was built by humans to hide an ancient Spanish, Portuguese, or pirate ship that had just deposited a big pile of treasure in the Money Pit.
The theory first came about in 2018, when a seismic survey indicated the presence of a ship-shaped object in the swamp, and since then, they keep finding maritime-type artifacts such as a ship’s railing and other items.
They didn’t find the ship in last night’s episode, but they did find more evidence of human activity in the murky depths. Billy’s new digger pulled out two large pieces of wood that clearly showed human markings. Billy thought they might be beams from a wharf, an idea that intrigued the others.
Also, on last night’s episode, expert chemist Dr. Christa Brousseau was back in the War Room to offer up her analysis of two pieces of metal found recently. One item proved to be a button from about 1726 to 1776 that Brousseau said was British in origin. This adds to the collection of British military items from the 17th and 18th centuries that they’ve found and suggests the Brits were definitely up to something on the island.
Yet more evidence points to the Portuguese on Oak island
The second item was a mysterious copper bell metal piece. Brousseau suggested that it was Portuguese in origin, and the material was often used in the construction of cannons, as well as bells.
The guys have been encountering quite a bit of evidence pointing to the Portuguese lately, which has included guns stones, which are essentially mini cannonballs. And they recently learned that the stone roadway in the swamp appeared to be Portuguese in its construction style.
To be honest, this was not the most exciting of episodes, but it felt like they made some good small finds which may add to the giant jigsaw puzzle that is the mystery of Oak Island.
And to be fair, we’ve been pretty much spoiled so far this season with some real action-packed episodes. Also, after the team ditched the archaeologists last week, they’ve had to transition to new methods, and that sometimes takes a while to yield any results.
Thankfully, there has already been a ton of progress this year despite all the setbacks. Long may that continue.
The Curse of Oak Island airs at 9/8c on History.
Thank you SO MUCH for these wonderful writings.
I have been a fan for years and is still rooting for the guys .
QUESTION: WHY ONLY EXCAVATE THE SUNKEN SHIP —NOW ??? WHY NOT YEARS AGO ?? YOU NEW FULWELL IT WAS THERE.
I seem to recall that After Eagle Canada did the seismic survey (at the END of a season!), the Oak Island Team did drill in the area of the suspected sunken ship. However, they did not come up with any wood, so digging in that area of the swamp was suspended. I am very surprised that The History Channel continues to post diagrams showing the ship shaped anomaly, as they pretty much showed us that there was nothing there.