Season 10 - Starts on November 15th, 2022

[goldnsilver]

Mike, thanks for the weekly updates! It's nice to see things have settled down a little on this thread.

It's ice and snow around Oak Island now. I hear at least one member of the team will be in town this week to attend a funeral. Billy Gerhardt's dad passed away.

 

[MikeN]

This week: Re-excavation of an old well near the swamp which Fred Nolan had previously uncovered; this time with a metal detector. Gary found a rosehead(hand forged) spike, an old hook from a block and tackle and part of a pickaxe. The well turns out to be of ancient construction (presumed 1600's).

Gold content on wood continues to rise the deeper they go in the Garden Shaft.

 

[gazzahk]

Thanks Mike

Gold content on wood continues to rise the deeper they go in the Garden Shaft.

Great... They must be only a few feet away from all that treasure....

 

[n2mini]

I haven't heard them question too much about that old well near the shore line other then who and how old. My questions would be why is it not very deep and why so close to the ocean. Granted 400 years ago the shore line would have been further away... I'm thinking it was used for something other then what we typically think of when talking about a well, which is fresh drinking water.. If whoever wanted ocean water to boil they could have just walked out to the ocean..

 

[BennyV]

I haven't heard them question too much about that old well near the shore line other then who and how old. My questions would be why is it not very deep and why so close to the ocean. Granted 400 years ago the shore line would have been further away... I'm thinking it was used for something other then what we typically think of when talking about a well, which is fresh drinking water.. If whoever wanted ocean water to boil they could have just walked out to the ocean..

Springs are where they are. No rhyme or reason really. I know about 5 spots where I fish off the the shore that have springs within 5-10 feet of saltwater.

 

[gjb]

Maybe it depends on how deep it is. If not a well then I wonder whether if someone was fishing then they might want a place to keep the fish until needed.

Presumably, that stretch of water to the south of the well is sea water, though it has no obvious connection with the sea. Might this have been stocked with fish if it was present at the time?

 

[MikeN]

I haven't heard them question too much about that old well near the shore line other then who and how old. My questions would be why is it not very deep and why so close to the ocean. Granted 400 years ago the shore line would have been further away... I'm thinking it was used for something other then what we typically think of when talking about a well, which is fresh drinking water.. If whoever wanted ocean water to boil they could have just walked out to the ocean..

The most interesting item was the block and tackle hook. Whether it was used in relation to the well is not clear. But it does give a picture of a nearby crane being used to hoist something ... cargo for shipping or earthworks from a dig. If I recall there is no wharf nearby.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Thanks Mike

Great... They must be only a few feet away from all that treasure....

Yep. No more than six more TV seasons and they will have another excuse. ;-)

 

[MikeN]

This week they dig into the Great Quadrilateral feature, first cited by Fred Nolan in the 1990's. They find some burnt wood and blue clay; just like the blue clay at 40 feet in the money pit. Much stewing about the quadrilateral pit and its contents, but never a mention of a possible "pine pitch kiln" this time as an explanation.
Scholarly research points to Portuguese techniques on Oak Island, as well as travel to the North Atlantic in the 15-16-17th century.

 

[MikeN]

This week they're doing some detailed side drilling off of the Garden Shaft as they descend. They receive permission from the government to dig in the swamp, and proceed to drain the swamp. They employ the services of Jeremy - a magnetometer specialist to zero in on the areas of the swamp having highest conductivity values.

They exhaust the investigation of the Great Quadrilateral and conclude that it was a mysterious structure built for non-agricultural purposes.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

So it was either an outhouse or a maple syrup boiling shed?

 

[gazzahk]

They exhaust the investigation of the Great Quadrilateral and conclude that it was a mysterious structure built for non-agricultural purposes.

What happened to the gold soaked wood that was leading them to the treasure?

 

[MikeN]

What happened to the gold soaked wood that was leading them to the treasure?

That's coming next week according to the previews, when they continue down the Garden Shaft. The gold content continue to rise until ....

 

[MikeN]

In the swamp, they unearth another sloping stone path, and wind that up after encountering an edge of undisturbed soil.
They begin to inspect a circular pit on Lot 5 - previously Robert Young's property, never studied.
Also on lot 5, Gary and Jack proceed to find everything they can. They unearth a lead object similar to a token ... Roman coin? They turn the XRF scanner on the object for 24 hours. The result: Lead similar to sample from the region of Sardinia and likely from a belt that crosses Iran / Italy / Spain / Portugal.
More research was presented about the Templars and the likelihood that they sailed to North America in the 1200's to early 1300s. Research in European original material archives will continue.
Near the bottom of the Garden Shaft they find a wooden barrel hoop which was not found anywhere else on the island. They did not yet disclose the gold content level measured on the wooden barrel hoop, or if it was measured.

 

[etex]

Lead looked like a whizzer toy not a token to me

 

[gazzahk]

They did not yet disclose the gold content level measured on the wooden barrel hoop, or if it was measured.

Maybe it was so high that they want to keep it a secret for latter episodes..

Thanks Mike.

 

[DaveVanP]

You’re almost there, but you just haven’t quite grasped it yet. You’re the one presenting argumentum ad ignorantiam.

As I’ve observed, you can’t prove that there’s no treasure on Oak Island. However, you’re actually the one telling us that because nothing has been found on Oak Island then there is nothing to be found. Your reasoning seems to be:

If something took place then there would be evidence of it.
No evidence has been found.
Therefore nothing took place.

Specifically, nobody has yet found a trace of treasure so therefore there is no treasure. This is argumentum ad ignorantiam and it’s coming from you. Surely, you must now see the errors in this.

You’re actually the one presenting the absence of evidence as evidence of absence, not me. So, you explain it!

It appears that many are of the mindset of, "If there is NO evidence, then obviously someone deliberately concealed it, therefore the mere ABSENCE of evidence is 'PROOF' evidence existed"...or something like that.

 

[gjb]

It appears that many are of the mindset of, "If there is NO evidence, then obviously someone deliberately concealed it, therefore the mere ABSENCE of evidence is 'PROOF' evidence existed"...or something like that.

A good conspiracy will leave no evidence. So, if there's no evidence of a conspiracy then it was a good one!

 

[gazzahk]

therefore the mere ABSENCE of evidence is 'PROOF' evidence existed"...or something like that.

lol.. yep seems many people these days do not want to let the total lack of evidence get in the way of something they want to believe. It seems that some\many think that all opinions are of equal validity even when there is zero evidence to support their view. This is often backed up with ' If you cannot prove I am wrong than my opinion is of equal likeyhood to be true'.

No wonder the world is in such a mess.

 

[gjb]

lol.. yep seems many people these days do not want to let the total lack of evidence get in the way of something they want to believe.

Scientists don't let a lack of evidence stand in the way of progress. They go out and look for evidence in the belief that this is the way to advance knowledge.

Electing to believe that there may be evidence in support of a hypothesis is not a failing of science, it's the essence of science. It's not a matter of wanting to believe, it's a matter of wanting to know.

The greater problem is when people decide that a current lack of evidence is reason not to bother to look for evidence. That's a personal choice, which is not to say it's necessarily the right one.

No wonder the world is in such a mess.