Oak Island

The Discovery

One summer day in 1795 Daniel McGinnis, then a teenager, was wandering about Oak Island, Nova Scotia (see Geography) when he came across a curious circular depression in the ground. Standing over this depression was a tree whose branches had been cut in a way which looked like it had been used as a pulley. Having heard tales of pirates in the area he decided to return home to get friends and return later to investigate the hole.

Over the next several days McGinnis, along with friends John Smith and Anthony Vaughan, worked the hole. What they found astonished them. Two feet below the surface they came across of layer of flagstones covering the pit. At 10 feet down they ran into a layer of oak logs spanning the pit. Again at 20 feet and 30 feet they found the same thing, a layer of logs. Not being able to continue alone from here, they went home, but with plans of returning to search more.

It took the three discoverers 8 years, but they did return. Along with The Onslow Company, formed for the purpose of the search, they began digging again. They quickly got back to 30 foot point that had been reached 8 years ago. They continued down to 90 feet, finding a layer of oak logs at every 10 foot interval. Besides the boards, at 40 feet a layer of charcoal was found, at 50 feet a layer of putty, and at 60 feet a layer of coconut fiber. At 90 feet one of the most puzzling clues was found – a stone inscribed with mysterious writing.
Note: For more information about the stone inscription and to try your hand at translating the stone’s inscription go here.

After pulling up the layer of oak at 90 feet and continuing on, water began to seep into the pit. By the next day the pit was filled with water up to the 33 foot level. Pumping didn’t work, so the next year a new pit was dug parallel to the original down to 100 feet. From there a tunnel was run over to The Money Pit. Again the water flooded in and the search was abandoned for 45 years

The Booby Trap
As it turns out, an ingenious booby trap had been sprung. The Onslow Company had inadvertently unplugged a 500 foot waterway that had been dug from the pit to nearby Smith’s Cove by the pit’s designers. As quickly as the water could be pumped out it was refilled by the sea.

This discovery however is only a small part of the intricate plan by the unknown designers to keep people away from the cache. In 1849 the next company to attempt to extract the treasure, The Truro Company, was founded and the search began again. They quickly dug down to 86 feet only to be flooded. Deciding to try to figure out what was buried before attempting to extract it, Truro switched to drilling core samples. The drilling produced some encouraging results.

First Hints of Treasure
At 98 feet the drill went through a spruce platform. Then it encountered 4 inches of oak and then 22 inches of what was characterized as “metal in pieces””; Next 8 inches of oak, another 22 inches of metal, 4 inches of oak and another layer of spruce. The conclusion was that they had drilled through 2 casks or chests filled will coins. Upon pulling out the drill they found splinters of oak and strands of what looked like coconut husk.

One account of the drilling also mentions that three small gold links, as from a chain, were brought up. Unfortunately no one knows where they have gone.
Interestingly, the earth encountered beneath the bottom spruce platform was loose indicating that the pit may have gone even deeper. A later group of searchers would find out how much deeper.

The Truro Company returned in 1850 with plans to dig another parallel hole and then tunnel over to the Money Pit. Just like before, as they tunneled over, water began to rush in. They brought in pumps to try to get rid of the water but it was impossible to keep the water out. During the pumping someone noticed that at Smith’s Cove during low tide there was water coming OUT of the beach. This find lead to an amazing discovery – the beach was artificial.

Artificial Beach
It turns out that the pit designers had created a drain system, spread over a 145 foot length of beach, which resembled the fingers of a hand. Each finger was a channel dug into the clay under the beach and lined by rocks. The channels were then filled with beach rocks, covered with several inches of eel grass, and then covered by several more inches of coconut fiber. The effect of this filtering system was that the channels remained clear of silt and sand while water was still allowed to flow along them. The fingers met at a point inland where they fed sea water into a sloping channel which eventually joined the Money Pit some 500 feet away. Later investigations showed this underground channel to have been 4 feet wide, 2 1/2 feet high, lined with stone, and meeting the Money Pit between the depths of 95 to 110 feet.

To the Truro Company, the answer was now simple – just block off the water flow from the beach and dig out the treasure. Their first attempt was to build a dam just off the beach at Smith’s Cove, drain the water, and then dismantle the drain channels. Unfortunately a storm blew up and destroyed the dam before they could finish.
An interesting note: the remains of an older dam were found when building the new one.
The next plan was to dig a pit 100 feet or so inland in the hopes of meeting with the water channel underground at which point they could plug the channel. This scheme too failed. And this was the last attempt by the Truro company to uncover the secrets of Oak Island.

The Pit’s Collapse
The next attempt at securing the treasure was made in 1861 by the Oak Island Association. First they cleared out the Money Pit down to 88 feet. Then they ran a new hole to the east of the pit hoping to intercept the channel from the sea. The new shaft was dug out to120 feet without hitting the channel and then abandoned.

A second shaft was run, this one to west, down to 118 feet. They then attempted to tunnel over to the Money Pit. Again the water started to enter this pit as well as the Money Pit. Bailing was attempted and appeared to work. And then CRASH! The bottom fell out. Water rushed into the shafts and the bottom of the Money Pit dropped over 15 feet. Everything in the Money Pit had fallen farther down the hole. The big questions were why and how far? Over the next several years different companies tried to crack the mystery unsuccessfully. They dug more shafts, tried to fill in the drain on the beach, built a new dam (which was destroyed by a storm), and drilled for more core samples. They met with little success.

The Cave-in Pit
In 1893 a man named Fred Blair along with a group called The Oak Island Treasure Company began their search. Their first task was to investigate the “Cave-in Pit”. Discovered in 1878 about 350 feet east of the Money Pit, the cave-in pit appears to have been a shaft dug out by the designers of the Money Pit perhaps as a ventilation shaft for the digging of the flood tunnel. It apparently intersected or closely passed the flood tunnel. While it was being cleared by the Treasure Company it started to flood at a depth of 55 feet and was abandoned.

Over the next several years The Oak Island Treasure Company would dig more shafts, pump more water, and still get nowhere. In 1897 they did manage to clear out the Money Pit down to 111 feet where they actually saw the entrance of the flood tunnel temporarily stopped up with rocks. However, the water worked its way through again and filled the pit.

The treasure company then decided that they would attempt to seal off the flow of water from Smith’s Cove by dynamiting the flood tunnel. Five charges were set off in holes drilled near the flood tunnel. They didn’t work. The water flowed into the Money Pit as rapidly as ever. At the same time a new set of core samples were drilled at the pit itself. The results were surprising.

Cement Vault
At 126 feet, wood was struck and then iron. This material is probably part of the material that fell during the crash of the Pit. On other drillings the wood was encountered at 122 feet and the iron was missed completely indicating that the material may be laying in a haphazard way due to the fall. Between 130 and 151 feet and also between 160 and 171 feet a blue clay was found which consisted of clay, sand, and water. This clay can be used to form a watertight seal and is probably the same “putty”; that was found at the 50 foot level of the Pit.

The major find was in the gap between the putty layers. A cement vault was discovered. The vault itself was 7 feet high with 7 inch thick walls. Inside the vault the drill first struck wood, then a void several inches high and an unknown substance. Next a layer of soft metal was reached, then almost 3 feet of metal pieces, and then more soft metal.

When the drill was brought back up another twist was added to the whole mystery. Attached to the auger was a small piece of sheepskin parchment with the letters “vi”; “ui”; or “wi”; What the parchment is a part of is still in question. More convinced than ever that a great treasure was beneath the island, The Treasure Company began sinking more shafts in the attempts to get to the cement vault. They all met with failure due to flooding

2nd Flood Tunnel
In May of 1899, yet another startling discovery was made. There was a second flood tunnel! This one was located in the South Shore Cove. The designers had been more ingenious and had done more work than previously thought. Though this find certainly strengthened the case that something valuable was buried below it didn’t bring anyone closer to actually finding the treasure.

Blair and The Oak Island Treasure Company continued to sink new shafts and drill more core samples, but no progress was made and no new information obtained.
Between 1900 and 1936 several attempts were made to obtain the treasure. All met with no success.

Stone Fragment
In 1936 Gilbert Hadden, in conjunction with Fred Blair, began a new investigation of the island. Hadden cleared some of the earlier shafts near the Pit and made plans for exploratory drilling the next summer. However, he made two discoveries away from the Pit.

The first was a fragment of a stone bearing inscriptions similar to those found on the inscribed stone discovered at the 90 foot level of the Money Pit. The second discovery was of several old timbers in Smith’s Cove. These timbers seem to have been from the original designers due to the fact that they were joined using wooden pins rather than metal. As will be seen later these timbers were only a small part of a much larger construction.

Mystery Deepens
The next treasure hunter was Erwin Hamilton. He began his search in 1938 by clearing out previous shafts and doing some exploratory drilling. In 1939 during drilling two more discoveries were made. The first was the finding of rocks and gravel at 190 feet. According to Hamilton they were foreign and therefore placed there by someone. The second finding came after clearing out an earlier shaft down to 176 feet. At this point a layer of limestone was encountered and drilled through. The drilling brought up oak splinters. Apparently there was wood BELOW the natural limestone.

Tragedy Strikes
In 1959 Bob Restall and his family began their attack on the island which ultimately proved tragic. His one discovery was made on the Smith’s Cove beach while attempting to stop the drain system. He found a rock with “1704” inscribed on it. Though others believed it was prank left by a previous search team, Restall believed it was from the time of the original construction.

In 1965 tragedy struck. While excavating a shaft Bob passed out and fell into the water at the bottom. His son, Bobbie, attempted to rescue him as did two of the workers. All four apparently were overcome by some sort of gas, perhaps carbon monoxide from a generator, passed out and drowned.

Heavy Machines
Bob Dunfield was the next to take on the island. In 1965 he attempted to solve the problem with heavy machinery – bulldozers and cranes. He attempted to block the inflow of water at Smith’s Cove, and may have succeeded. Then on the south side of the island an trench was dug in the hope of intercepting the other water tunnel and blocking it off. The flood tunnel wasn’t found, but an unknown refilled shaft was found, possible one dug by the designers of the Pit. The shaft apparently went down to 45 and stopped, its purpose is unknown.
Dunfield’s other findings were based on drilling. It was determined that at 140 feet there was a 2 foot thick layer of limestone and then a forty foot void. At the bottom of the void was bedrock. This information matched with a drilling done back in 1955. There seemed to a large, natural underground cavern, something apparently common with limestone around the world.

Recent Discoveries
Daniel Blankenship, the current searcher, began his quest in 1965. In 1966 he dug out more of the original shaft found by Bob Dunfield in 1965. It turned out that the shaft did go beyond 45 feet. Blankenship found a hand-wrought nail and a washer at 60 feet. At 90 feet he met a layer of rocks in stagnant water. He assumed this was part of the south water tunnel but couldn’t explore further because the shaft could not be stopped from caving in.

A pair of wrought-iron scissors were discovered in 1967 buried below the drains at Smith’s Cove. It was determined that the scissors were Spanish-American, probably made in Mexico, and they were up to 300 years old. Also found was a heart shaped stone. Smith’s Cove revealed some more secrets in 1970 to Triton Alliance, a group formed by Blankenship to continue the search. While Triton was building a new cofferdam they discovered the remains of what appeared to be the original builders’ cofferdam. The findings included several logs 2 feet thick and up to 65 feet long. They were marked every four feet with Roman numerals carved in them and some contained wooden pins or nails. The wood has been carbon dated to 250 years ago.

The western end of the island has also revealed several items. Two wooden structures, along with wrought-iron nails and metal straps were found at the western beach. Nine feet below the beach a pair of leather shoes were unearthed.

Borehole 10-X
The next major discoveries came in 1976 when Triton dug what is known as Borehole 10-X, a 237 foot tube of steel sunk 180 feet northeast of the Money Pit. During the digging several apparently artificial cavities were found down to 230 feet (see: drilling results).
A camera lowered down to a bedrock cavity at 230 feet returned some amazing images. At first a severed hand could be seen floating in the water. Later three chests (of the treasure type I would presume) and various tools could be made out. Finally a human body was detected.
After seeing the images, the decision was made to send divers down for a look. Several attempts were made but strong current and poor visibility made it impossible to see anything. Soon after the hole itself collapsed and has not been reopened

Today – Blankenship and Triton still continue the quest.

TREASURE HUNTERS SNIFFING HOLY GRAIL
There’s a sudden revival of interest in the Oak Island mystery and new theories about the fabled money pit that has baffled treasure hunters for more than two centuries. Two new books explore the latest speculation and one is a shocker. It suggests Oak Island might hold the lost treasure of the Knights Templar, a trove touted as so fabulous it could contain the Holy Grail.

William Crooker author of a new book on Oak Island, shifts attention away from Triton Alliance, the company that owns the land around the money pit and toward Fred Nolan, a rival treasure hunter who owns the north central part of the island. Nolan discovered a sandstone boulder and cone shaped granite rocks on his land. On a map, lines connecting the rocks create a huge Christian cross more than 250 meters long. The “headstone,” as Nolan calls the boulder, lies exactly where the lines intersect. Crooker said ‘investigators believe the cross shape is related to the Knights Templar. One theory claims that Henry Sinclair, a Scot believed to a member of the Knights, reached Nova Scotia in 1398. He built or occupied a castle at New Ross, 23 miles inland from Oak Island. His mission could have been to bury the Templar treasure or protect it. The Templars based in southern France, were an order of fighting monk-knights prominent in the Crusades who amassed great wealth. Powerful and loyal only to the Pope, the Templars became a threat to European kings. In 1307, the king of France arrested almost all the Templars. Some who escaped took refuge ‘in Scotland and Portugal. There are reports that 18 galleys took the treasure from New Rochelle, France, and were never seen again.

So begins the latest saga of the treasure of Oak Island. The history of the Knights Templar is very interesting, and includes many treasure tales. Currently the French government has banned any type of excavations around former Templar castles. To this day people still search for the treasure of the Templars. Don’t be too quick to dismiss this latest theory.”

The Knights of the Temple Mount, known as the Knights Templar, began in 1118 A.D. and ended abruptly ‘in 1307 A.D. Their name was taken from the Temple Mount which is said to be the site in Jerusalem where the original Temple of Solomon had been built. During this time thousands of Christians were making pilgrimages to the Middle East to visit the holy sites where Christ had lived and died. Many of these pilgrims became targets for bandits and there was an on going struggle between Christians and Moslems for control of these sites.

The struggle for the control of the Holy Land is what we have come to know as the Crusades. Noblemen from Europe raised armies and set off for the Middle East to seek fame and fortune. Personality conflicts and ‘m-fighting caused disunity among the Crusaders. A small group of noblemen, Knights, came together and decided to dedicate their entire lives to the service of the Holy Land. They took the monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Rather than lead a life of contemplation and prayer, the Paupers conumilitones Christi Templque Salomom’s, the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and the Temple Solomon, the Knights Templar, choose the sword to defend pilgrims and the faith. When a nobleman would join their ranks, he would surrender his castle and property to the Knights who would use revenues generated from the property to purchase weapons, war horses, armor and other military supplies.

The ranks of the Knights Templar’s grew rapidly. Other noblemen and Kings who were not members often gave them gifts of money and land. King Steven of England contributed his valuable English manor of Cress’ in Essex. He also made arrangements for high ranking members of the Knights to visit nobles of England and Scotland.

This being the time of the Holy Roman Empire, Pope Eugenius, decreed that the Knights Templar and only the Knights Templars would wear a special red cross with blunt wedge-shaped arms called the cross patee on the left breast of their white robes, so that they could be quickly recognize at any time by Christians and by other Templars on the field of battle. The white robes with red cross became their required dress. The warrior-knights fought bravely ‘in the Middle East and were highly respected by their Moslem counterparts for their strategy and bravery. Back in Europe the Templar wealth was growing. They owned over nine thousand manors and castles across Europe, all of which were tax free. Each property was farmed and produced revenues that were used to support the Templar banking system, which was the largest in Europe. The Templar wealth and power caused suspicion and jealously among some members of the European nobility. Slanderous rumors were spread of secret rituals and devil worship.

King Philip IV of France was responsible for many of these rumors. King Philip fearing the growing Templar power, went to Rome and convinced Pope Clement V that the Knights Templar were not the holy defenders of the faith but were seeking to destroy it. The Pope ordered King Philip to arrest all the Knights ‘in France and begin an inquisition. When the King’s men went to the Templar castles they found many of them abandoned and the large naval force that had been anchored at the Templar base ‘in La Rochelle was gone. Those that were arrested were tried and found guilty of sins against God. Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Knights Templar’s was burned at the stake ‘in Paris in 1314.

A contemporary English poem asked the question that many ask today, where did all Templars and their great wealth go? The brethren, the Masters of the Temple, Who were well-stocked and ample With gold and silver and riches, Where are they? How have they done? They had such power once that none Dared take from them, none was so bold; Forever they bought and never sold….

This question has plagued historians and treasure hunters for centuries. For hundreds of years there have been rumors that the Knights Templar were not only defenders of the faith, but were also the guardians of the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is said to be the most holy of religious artifacts. Different versions of the legend exist with the two most prominent being that the Holy Grail is the cup or chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper ; or a piece of the cross that he was crucified on.
The chalice version of the Holy Grail has Saint Joseph of Ariinathea bringing the cup first to France, then England, the cup was used at the Last Supper and at the crucifixion to catch some of Christ’s blood.

A Welsh version of the Grail story says Joseph of Arimathea brought the Grail to England with the word of Christ and left the holy relic at Glisten bury, from where it reached King Arthur the knights of the Round Table. The Grail was ‘in to many forms and King Arthur saw it ‘in it’s final form while receiving Commumon with hermits, a bleeding lance. What value would the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper have? What power would the owners of this cup have? The religious significance of such a relic is incalculable.

Legend has long held and recent archaeological finds prove, that many Templars settled in Scotland, after being forced out of France. It is said that the Templars fought along side Robert the Bruce and were instrumental ‘in helping him defeat the English anmies sent by King Edward. The Knights were befriended by Prince Henry St. Clair, the Third Lord of Roslin. With the help of Templars, who were expert builders, the Scottish Prince built a new castle, Roslin, meaning the Blood of Christ. The castle, which exists today has hundreds of Templar and Holy Grail symbols etched ‘in its stone work, even St. Clair’s tombstone has a Templar symbol. Andrew Sinclair a direct descendent of henry St. Clair has researched Ms ancestor extensively and says that St. Clair and the Knights Templar tried to establish a New Jerusalem in the New World, landing first in what is now Nova Scotia (New Scotland) and then in what is now New England.

Enter the mystery of Oak Island and the money pit.
The last Templar Grand Master was officially burned at the stake almost 700 years ago, yet there are so many questions that were left unanswered and new theories, the subject generates 4 to 5 books a year. Many of these books are a re-hash of what has already been written, some add to the body of knowledge and others offer wild theories with little or no documentation. When researching the Knights Templars one thing becomes clear, there are many conflicting accounts of their actions, history and demise. if you look just at the facts and actions of the Templars a picture starts to emerge of calculated actions to achieve a specific goal.

When the Templars went to Jerusalem they went directly to the site of the Temple of Solomon. Here they excavated the site and many believe that they discovered the biblical treasure known as the Treasure of King Solomon. It is also believed that the Templars located the Are of the Convanent, used by the Israelites to carry the Ten Commandments given to Mosses by God. After the inquisition a small group of Templars went Ethiopia. there they built chapels that exist to this day with Templar and grail symbols. It has long been rumored that this group brought with them the Are of the Covenant, which is highly venerated in this country which practices a combination of Catholicism and Judaism. For special events what is claimed to be the Are is paraded in the streets. While taking over existing structures and building fortresses ‘in the Holy Land, the Templars seemed to be on a secret mission to collect all religious artifacts associated with the life and death of Jesus Christ.

The lance of Longinus, which pierced the side of Christ while on the cross, was discovered by the Templar’s at Antioch. This spear or Holy Lance has long been held to have special powers, kings, emperors, dukes, generals, princes, saints and Caesar’s have all sought to own the Holy Lance. The following account of the discovery of the Holy Lance was written by Raymond of Aguilers a Templar chaplain; “At that time there were many revelations to our brothers, and we saw a miraculous sign in the heavens. A very great star stood all night above Antioch, and then divided into three parts and fell on the Turkish camp. Our people were comforted by this for a little while. Then on 15 June 1098, having made the necessary preparations, twelve of us went to the church of St. Peter with the man who had told the story of the lance. When everyone else had left the church, we began to dig. Among the Twelve present were the Bishop of Orange, Count Raymond’s chaplain who wrote this history, and the Count himself.
One of the earliest documented uses of the Holy Lance is credited to Attila the Hun, who acquired it as he cut his path of destruction through Europe. When his army was weaken from famine and pestilence ‘in Italy, he galloped his horse to the gates of Rome and hurled the lance at the feet of the officers who had been sent out to surrender the city. “Take back your Holy Lance,” he said, “it is of no use to me, since I do not know Him that made it holy.” Stories, of the power of the Holy Lance have persisted for centuries. The Holy Lance after being used by the Holy Roman Emperors was put on display ‘in the Hofburg Palace in Austria. Hitler seized the Lance in the 1930’s and held on to it until shortly before his death in 1945. From this point on the history of the Holy Lance becomes clouded with rumor and heresy. The story is told that a fake lance was constructed and returned to the museum, with the real Holy Lance being held by a secret group ‘in Germany, the Knights of the Holy Lance. This is another story for another time, back to the Knight’s Templar.

Before their destruction the Templar’s had established the largest banking system ‘in Europe, they owned thousands of castles and tracts of land. Along with this great material wealth the Templar’s has also amassed a great spiritual wealth, seeking to acquire all religious artifacts associated with the life and death of Jesus Christ. While the Arc has no connection to Christ there is no doubt that it has great religious significance. What went on behind closed doors between European royalty, church hierarchy and the Templar’s is unknown, but one thing is certain the Templar’s were a very powerful force, which no doubt threatened the rulers of Europe at that time, which eventually led to their destruction. Much of the Templar wealth was never discovered, and many of the other religious artifacts they recovered from the Holy Land remain unaccounted for.

Many of these artifacts, said to posses secret powers, may have spawned secret societies which venerate these relies. It is also rumored that the Knight Templar were not completely destroyed in 1307 AD, but rather went underground, and still exist to this day. If this is the case, the rumors of the secret Grail societies may well be true. One thing is certain; the Templar’s could not have escaped with all their wealth, and some of it no doubt has been found over the centuries, but much of it probably remains hidden to this day. Searches for the lost Templar wealth became wide spread in France, that several years ago all digging at old castle sites was banned. This is not the end of our stories on the Knight’s Templar, but just the beginning, as we explore the legends of their lost wealth and their role in history.

“Faith of our fathers, living still In spite of dungeon, fire and sword … ”

References:
” Addison, C.G., The Knights Templars History. New York; 1875
” Barber, Richard, The Knights and Chivalry. New York; 1982
” Bunnan, Edward. The Templars, Knights of God. London; 1986
” De Rosa, Peter. Vicars of Christ. New York; 1988 Gies, Frances.
” The Knight in History. New York; 1984.
” Howarth, Stephen. The Knights Templar. New York; 1982.
” Martin, Edward. The Trial of the Templars. New York; 1978.
” Partner, Peter. The Murdered Magicians. Vermont; 1987.
” Robinson, John. Dungeon, Fire and Sword. New York, 1991.
” Seward, Desmond. The Monks of War. St. Albans; 1974.

Here you’ll find summaries of some of the vital information that is known about the Oak Island mystery. Hopefully this information will help you check your facts and theories.

Drilling Results
Below you’ll find information about some of the major drillings that have occurred on the island.
” Triton – 1967-1969
” Determined that bedrock layer was at 162 10 feet
” Between 172 and 224 feet found china, oak buds, cement, wood, and metal
” Found tunnels that were cut through bedrock – under 40 feet of bedrock
” Found 40 feet rock, inches of wood, layer of blue clay, inches of wood and 6-7 foot void
” Carbon date of wood – 1575 80 years
” Depression from 172 to 222 feet (beneath Hadden shaft) – 30 foot in diameter filled with layers of blue clay with small stone spaced at 18 inches!!!
” 186 feet metal and brought up piece of brass (high impurities)
” 212 feet brick-like material found – it had been fired
” Cement found – worked by man
” 210 feet hard metal hit
” Borehole X-10
” 140 feet found a 4 foot cavity
” 160 feet found a 4 foot cavity
” Bedrock at 180 feet
” 210 feet hit a 2 foot cavity
” 230-237 feet a cavity
” Handfuls of metal found at 165 feet – low-carbon steel – prior to 1800
” Spruce found at 155 feet
” 155 feet eight pieces of steel chain – Swedish steel made prior to 1790
” Wood at 180 feet
” Metal in several places above and below bedrock
” 660 feet north-northeast of the Money Pit – 1973 – p220
” 110 feet a 2 inch piece of wire – dated to 1500s to 1800s
” A solid metal plate
” There are future plans to excavate

Artifacts Found
Below you’ll find a listing of the artifacts found, or allegedly found, on the island. Many of the artifacts have been lost and are known only through writings left by early searchers or writers.
” Copper coin, bosun’s whistle, and iron ring bolt imbedded in a rock at Smith’s Cover – 1795-1802
” Inscribed stone
” Gold links – 1849
” Remains of the old cofferdam
” Wood and end of a keg pulled out when the Pit collapsed
” Blue clay
” Parchment
” Anchor fluke of ancient design – 1931 – since disappeared
” Dump with thousands of broken pottery flasks
” Rock with “1704” inscribed on it.
” Nail, washer
” Scissors, heart stone
” Original cofferdam – logs 2 feet thick up to 65 feet long with Roman numerals marked on them.
” Nails and metal-straps
” Leather shoes
” 3 drilled rocks and ash piles analyzed to be burned bone.