Damn, I wish they had found more this year. A few intriguing things were dug up the best of which was the bone fragments from the 1700s from two different people. And supposedly they were below the searcher’s depth in that location, but I think that is speculation.
But the thing I have a factual question about is shown in the teaser for next week’s “Digging Deeper” (I think, maybe it is just for next year). They exposed a previous shaft that had been buried, and decided not to feature it on the show this season since it was outside the areas they were exploring.
Quite a large shaft, 10’ x 6’ or thereabouts. Very nicely preserved including a ladder still sticking out the top. There are numerous photos online taken over the years and it conforms to those structures. I think from the detailed maps that previous people have made that they can identify who dug the shaft. It might be this shaft:
But back to that ladder. They claimed in was from the 1800s. It seem to be constructed the same way that modern wooden ladders are made: round rungs inserted into bored holes on the side rails.
Where they making ladders that way that long ago? Seems more likely they would have been just slats nailed on the front of the rails.
Dennis
I imagine that rungs into holes is more safe than nails, and the ladder stays together longer. Nails would have been flat and triangular in the 1800s, I believe.
IANA woodworker, but a mortise and tenon joint? Those are probably thousands of years old. Nailing slats might be cheaper and less labor intensive, but you don’t need metal to make them.
As for the unasked question, Oak Island has very little signal in a lot of noise. Whatever truths are well hidden in urban legend.
I have a drill that my Daddy got from his Father. It has been in the family along with an old planer, for a very long time. We had it appraised. It’s not worth much but they told us it’s probably from the early 1800s. So they definately could make holes.
I wonder though. Presumably these early visitors to Oak Island would’ve been seaman. Why wouldn’t they use rope ladders?
Holy crap, Cecils words in '86, are nearly identical to some I’ve heard Rick or Marty say on the show. Except, of course the fact that it’s a lost cause. They didn’t need to spend all that money. They should’ve discussed it with Cecil first.
I don’t understand the beliefs in Oak Island. Think about it for a second. Pirates stole money and gold for the same reason modern bank robbers do - to live extravagant life styles.
What would possibly be the point of going to state of the art engineering to bury some plunder that you would want to spend on mead and winches next month. It’s crazy. Back in those days you could stash your loot virtually anywhere at a depth of 2 or 3 feet and keep it undetected.
Honestly, it would have cost more to bury the gold in deep pits with flooding chambers than the gold itself was worth. The whole idea is ridiculous and has always been about fleecing the gullible.
They say on the show it may be the Knights Templar treasure, the holy grail or some crap about Shakespeares lost notebooks. Historically significant if true.
They have built a museum on the Island.
Nails would also have been quite a bit more expensive in the 1800’s. Compared to making holes in wood, which costs little. And nails would have had to have been shipped in from elsewhere, since I don’t know of any iron mines, or metal forges, on Oak island.
At this point, there really is something interesting to be found in the Oak Island Hole-in-the-Ground. But it’s not the treasure; it’s the remains of all of the other attempts to find the treasure, over the years.
