History Channel - Oak Island mini series January 5, 2014

[Dave Rishar]

Were Vikings even in the area? In the area, yes. On Oak Island, maybe. It's plausible. I personally believe that they made it a lot further south than what most historians outside of Iceland give them credit for. Hard evidence is lacking, but the theory makes sense.

They would not have been bringing treasure with them, though; they didn't make that trip to haul treasure there, although they were certainly happy enough to haul treasure back with them. (In this case, "treasure" refers to lumber and furs, but I doubt that they would have passed up some gold if it crossed their path.) They also wouldn't have buried a ship vertically. We may not precisely know all the places that they made it to, but we do know how they typically acted both at home and abroad. This doesn't fit.

Also, timeline. McGinnis noticed something in the latter part of the 18th century, maybe early 19th century. (1795 is anything but proved, but it's probably close.) Vikings were neither burying nor recovering treasure then, and there is that pesky matter of the block and tackle, the cleared area, and the depression. We can take or leave any of those "facts" as we like, the story being as bad as it is, but McGinnis apparently saw something that convinced him to dig. It couldn't have been all that old when he saw it, or he wouldn't have seen it. In fact, if we discard the "torches at night" part of the story in order to not have to explain people on the island the night before he went there, we find that he had no reason to look in the first place.

As I said before, it's a fundamentally flawed story. Any theories crafted to support it will be fundamentally flawed by design.

 

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[uzzard]

I watched the video, in part, and while I know others see it as a plausible theory, I can't see it being a vertical viking ship. As HenryWaltonJonesjr stated, where is the hull? The only items found in the pit were the log platforms every ten feet. It would seem likely that if it were a viking long ship, the various searchers would have found items in the pit belonging to the viking period. So far the metal items found in the pit have been dated to pre-1750. The only thing that's been found from an earlier period, according to the History Channel's Curse of Oak Island, is the coconut fiber on the beach which has been dated to between the years 1260 and 1400.

It's unfortunate that the original pit collapsed. If it were still in it's original state prior to the collapse, modern technology might have been able to explore theories like this and either confirm or refute them.

They did

An anchor was found less then 50" from the original hole that dates back to the Viking age............I can't remember for sure how deep it was but for some reason 30' deep comes to mind.

There is not one solid piece of evidence that supports a treasure ever being in the money pit.All logic points to it being an inverted longship.

The theory that it was dug up years ago is plain silly......they dug it up .......put back the wooden platform while backfilling the hole with dirt.....all while avoiding the booby traps that the next diggers couldn't....and doing this quickly because the Templars needed to move this treasure to the huge castle nearby.

I myself can not buy this theory

I also gave up on the show when their camera failed in the first show........I would have fixed it or sent another one down the hole.I knew the show was for production and entertainment value only from that point .

 

[uzzard]

There have found all kinds of stuff .......pieces of dishes,the anchor.All kinds of Viking age personal items have been found in the general area of the money pit.

There are stories of a necklace coming up on the end of a drill bit.

As for the hull it will be found if you make the hole bigger...........they started digging where the depression was......which is where the dirt settled between the rows of seats.Widen the original hole out and that is when you will find the hull

 

[ex nihilo]

As for the hull it will be found if you make the hole bigger...........they started digging where the depression was......which is where the dirt settled between the rows of seats.Widen the original hole out and that is when you will find the hull

This part -- whenever the show shows us viewers a graphic of the shaft as a cross-section -- they always show the embedded/buried planks at 10-foot intervals going far beyond the shaft hole, as if they were layers of floors. Much larger than the Borehole sunk under the tree -- you're right.

If dug up as an archaeological excavation, I wonder if those layers of logs would be more like levels/floors of a building or ship.

 

[dieselram94]

I highly doubt it's a ship...why on earth would they go through all that effort?

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[xrunndonex]

I highly doubt it's a ship...why on earth would they go through all that effort?

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What else did they have to do? Maybe they had a crazy homicidal capt. If they didn't listen they would get shot with the cannon

 

[ex nihilo]

Not sure why they would bury a ship, but if it ran aground and had too much, too heavy or too valuable of a cargo to move or abandon, they could bury the entire ship. With lots of forced help, of course. And, that would mean the ship ran aground right next to a mature tree...so probably not, unless Oak Island had a vastly different shape way-back then.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Not sure why they would bury a ship, but if it ran aground and had too much, too heavy or too valuable of a cargo to move or abandon, they could bury the entire ship. With lots of forced help, of course. And, that would mean the ship ran aground right next to a mature tree...so probably not, unless Oak Island had a vastly different shape way-back then.

this makes absolutely no sense what-so-ever.

 

[dieselram94]

What else did they have to do? Maybe they had a crazy homicidal capt. If they didn't listen they would get shot with the cannon

That could be a plausible theory, especially if there was lots of alcohol involved. Still hard to fathom how they would be able to stand the ship up...

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[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Gentlemen please clear up a small point for me. If the Vikings used the block and tackle in the 1400's and the block and tackle was still on the tree some 3-400 years later just how old is that tree? hmmmm

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. as for stnding the ship up on its end, that was solved many years ago by the Egyptians with their Obelisks.

 

[dieselram94]

Gentlemen please clear up a small point for me. If the Vikings used the block and tackle in the 1400's and the block and tackle was still on the tree some 3-400 years later just how old is that tree? hmmmm

Don Jose de La Mancha

p.s. as for stnding the ship up on its end, that was solved many years ago by the Egyptians with their Obelisks.

If I went to the trouble of buring something to hide it and protect it I sure wouldn't leave the block and tackle/pulley hanging directly over the spot...

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[burlbark]

How in the world anyone could even consider this to be a buried ship is beyond the realm of reality.

Do people realize that the pit was widened by 100 feet and dug to a depth of 134 feet in an open pit. There was nothing found....nothing. No masts, no planks, no rigging, no coconut fibers.....nothing and the material was screened. There is no ship buried there. In fact its lunacy to think that there is a ship there once you have the facts.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

Okay, where are the facts that a hole that deep and wide was ever cut? Which expedition? Who dug it out in what year? Where are the photos of the 13 story 100 foot wide skyscraper of dirt they screened? Because yeah if so this whole thing is a waste of time.


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[jeff of pa]

How in the world anyone could even consider this to be a buried ship is beyond the realm of reality.

Do people realize that the pit was widened by 100 feet and dug to a depth of 134 feet in an open pit. There was nothing found....nothing. No masts, no planks, no rigging, no coconut fibers.....nothing and the material was screened. There is no ship buried there. In fact its lunacy to think that there is a ship there once you have the facts.

only ways I could imagine would be by way of an un-naturally strong Whirlpool ,
or if there was a Natural Pit there,
& the boat went over a Falls into the pit, so long ago time covered it over.

even today, people don't dig pits like that, because they cant.

You need roads winding or circling in for heavy equipment
to get in & most importantly, Out.





now if the belief was Aliens had a Base down there
Millions of years ago, I'm all for believing it

 

[burlbark]

Okay, where are the facts that a hole that deep and wide was ever cut? Which expedition? Who dug it out in what year? Where are the photos of the 13 story 100 foot wide skyscraper of dirt they screened? Because yeah if so this whole thing is a waste of time.


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Straight from wiki..... and you probably wont believe it so I will dig a little more to put this to rest.

In 1965, Robert Dunfield leased the island and, using a 70-ton digging crane with a clam bucket, dug out the pit area to a depth of 134 feet (41 m) and width of 100 feet (30 m). The removed soil was carefully inspected for artifacts. Transportation of the crane to the island required the construction of a causeway (which still exists) from the western end of the island to Crandall's Point on the mainland two hundred metres away.[SUP][11]


[/SUP]

 

[burlbark]

Here are some pretty good pics of nothing found. Unless you want to count a piece of pottery, a single piece that was more than likely contamination.

Oak Island Treasure - the world's greatest treasure hunt - Robert Dunfield excavations gallery

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

So if the entire area was already excavated what is the entire point of the show, further investigations and 10X? They think there are tunnels down there to find still?

 

[jeff of pa]

So if the entire area was already excavated what is the entire point of the show, further investigations and 10X? They think there are tunnels down there to find still?

a Money pit , is a money pit.
Even when the money comes from speculators, viewers & advertisers

 

[TraceyS]

Well, last night's episode was another disappointment. Spent most of the hour discussing draining a swamp. Seems like these guys have no real plan and fly by the seat of their pants. You would think if these two are wealthy enough to buy an island they are wealthy and intelligent enough to hire real scientist and archeologist...or at least consult with one. At this point the only interesting factor are the etched stones. I come closer to buying the viking ship theory rather than someone building wooden platforms every 10 feet. I thought the presentation made by Sukhwant Singh made theoretical and scientific sense. At any rate, the "Curse of Oak Island" has become very disappointing.

 

[Leila]

Last night's episode, the third in the series was interesting, starting out with the plan to drain the swamp, something that evidently hasn't been done before. In an obvious bid to give background on why they were going to drain the swamp, they brought in Lee Lamb, the daughter of Robert Restall and sister of Bobbie Restall, who both died on August 17, 1965 along with two other workers while working on the money pit. Lee Lamb was accompanied by Andrew Demont who was working with the Restalls at the time of the accident and who described what happened that day. He was the only member of the Restall search group who survived.

Lee Lamb said she believed her father was on the verge of a discovery and described his experiences working in the swamp. That was interesting. But, I found the whole sequence alluding to paranormal activity on Oak Island unnecessary. I think the producers brought that element into the program to explain the title of the program, The Curse of Oak Island. As I've stated before, I think the human imagination can sometimes get the better of an individual, especially an individual alone at night on an island with a mysterious past.

The previews of next week's episode show the searchers working in the swamp and it appears they found something. While I don't expect this series to end with the mystery of Oak Island solved, I think they will find something that will be a clue that will lead to further searching and possibly a follow-up series, The Curse of Oaks Island, Part 2.