OAK ISLAND

[Pete e]

Going back in history, tunnels and shafts are a thing...There is no need to dig a cone shaped hole as the shaft can be shuttered as you go down. Where the ground is suitable, shafts are dug with out shuttering...I have been down a prehistoric flint mine, which was essentially a bell pit...The mine complex consisted for hundreds of these bell pits sunk down (IIRC) twenty or thirty feet to get to the flint nodule layer. Why bell pits? Because they had not mastered tunnelling as yet...

Roll forward to the Bronze Age, and they now have tunneling sorted and are infact able to tunnel through (softish) rock and do so to get to copper ore deposits...There is a Bronze Age copper mine not far from me with miles of such tunnelling and more is being discovered.

So by medieval times, tunnelling to hide a treasure would not be out of the question. But why? You can find the entrance to a tunnel just as easily as the top of a shaft...

Once into the tunnel, you follow it to the treasure...it could be hidden in a concealed side chamber, but the same goes for a shaft....In either case, unless you fill all the working in with spoil again, neither are particularly secure....

Now I can understand that a treasure buried 20feet deep is going to be harder to locate and take much more effort to locate than one buried 2ft deep, but to go beyond that and dig a 75' deep tunnel system makes no sense...Then add to that a high water table and the associated flooding problems and it really makes no sense at all...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Going back in history, tunnels and shafts are a thing.....

Your post made me think of an md'ing forum debate about O.I. years ago. And whenever skeptics would push back on the supposed insane depth and engineering and manpower needed, some O.I.-Faithful would come along with an answer like yours. Eg.: 1) "Well they built the great pyramids of Egypt, didn't they ?" , or 2) "Well Cornish miners were known, by this time, to have elaborate tunneling systems", etc....

But here's the only problem with this logic ^ ^ Just because some fabulous feat of engineering COULD be done, does NOT equate to : Proof-of-fabulous treasure. At *best* it would only be a defeater, to a single point , that a skeptic brings up. But on the other hand, it doesn't prove treasure either. And it still doesn't answer the question of : Why would anyone, in-their-right mind go to all the trouble ? (Ie.: even if granting that the technology existed, given enough months and manpower)

 

[Coin-Saver]

Maybe when they're done at Oak island they can start a new show. "The curse of finding Jimmy Hoffa"

 

[Pete e]

Your post made me think of an md'ing forum debate about O.I. years ago. And whenever skeptics would push back on the supposed insane depth and engineering and manpower needed, some O.I.-Faithful would come along with an answer like yours. Eg.: 1) "Well they built the great pyramids of Egypt, didn't they ?" , or 2) "Well Cornish miners were known, by this time, to have elaborate tunneling systems", etc....

But here's the only problem with this logic ^ ^ Just because some fabulous feat of engineering COULD be done, does NOT equate to : Proof-of-fabulous treasure. At *best* it would only be a defeater, to a single point , that a skeptic brings up. But on the other hand, it doesn't prove treasure either. And it still doesn't answer the question of : Why would anyone, in-their-right mind go to all the trouble ? (Ie.: even if granting that the technology existed, given enough months and manpower)

I never said it proves treasure was there or not...My point was that digging a deep and elaborate tunnel system to supposedly hide a treasure doesn't really make sense and because of the flooding issue, was not practical in this case...

It's a bit like the ship that's supposedly been sunk/hidden in the swamp after delivering the supposed treasure to the island...wouldn't it have been easier to off load the supposed treasure, and sail it half a mile off shore and sink it there??

Now there may well be remains of a ship under the swamp, and if there is, I doubt it has anything at all to do with supposed treasure, probably just a derelict hulk that rotted away after being abandoned.....

 

[Pete e]

Just thinking on a bit, I have heard of lots of "treasures" being found here in the UK....

I am thinking of things that vary from collections of bronze, silver and/r gold object deposited in wetlands, springs and rivers back in the Bronze Age, to pots of Roman bronze an/ or silver coins, through to jars of post Medieval coins hidden in various places...Add to that the various graves that have been found containing amazing amounts of treasure that we could only dream of finding such as the Sutton Hoo ship burial, or the fabulous gold Mold Cape now in the British Museum..

In the vast majority of these cases, the items were simply buried, mostly within a few feet of the surface, or simply chucked into a body of water as an offering. I can think of one or two instances where a small cache of coins has been found inside a mine or cave, but I don't recall any instances where treasure was found in a purpose built tunnel system...

 

[Connecticut Danny]

Yes, I believe the story, and not believe that Tom will tell us why a group dug tunnels that took a very long time. But they buried no treasure. Remember many treasure hunters dug many holes including a former president. Tom, please response.

 

[Connecticut Danny]

I never said it proves treasure was there or not...My point was that digging a deep and elaborate tunnel system to supposedly hide a treasure doesn't really make sense and because of the flooding issue, was not practical in this case...

It's a bit like the ship that's supposedly been sunk/hidden in the swamp after delivering the supposed treasure to the island...wouldn't it have been easier to off load the supposed treasure, and sail it half a mile off shore and sink it there??

Now there may well be remains of a ship under the swamp, and if there is, I doubt it has anything at all to do with supposed treasure, probably just a derelict hulk that rotted away after being abandoned.....

You wrote great interesting comments that I agree with.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Yes, I believe the story, and not believe that Tom will tell us why a group dug tunnels that took a very long time. But they buried no treasure. Remember many treasure hunters dug many holes including a former president. Tom, please response.

When you are referring to "tunnels" (or supposed shafts or whatever), I believe you are referring to the original legend of 150 to 200 yrs. ago (ie.: even all the way back to the "little boy" story). Right ? Then if so, then be aware, that the moment those earlier digs started filling in with water, they deduced "flood tunnels" ! (booby traps) Right ?

But why couldn't that have simply been the water table seeking to fill-a-void ? For example : I can go to any place on earth, and go 50 yards inland from the ocean, and start digging a pit. I guarantee you that it will fill-in-with water. And the reason is not shafts & tunnels. It's simple water-table geology. Which yes, can have naturally occurring capillaries.

So by asking "what about the tunnels" is to simply offer a proof, of pointing back to the legend itself, as proof of itself. Ie.: Whenever someone asks "says who ?", and you point back to the original story itself, as proof of itself, that is simply "begging the question".

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Yes, I believe the story, and not believe that Tom will tell us why a group dug tunnels that took a very long time. But they buried no treasure. Remember many treasure hunters dug many holes including a former president. Tom, please response.

Here's an article that went to examine the history, the claims, and shows the more-plausible explanations, for the supposed "salacious details" :

https://web.archive.org/web/20161103221316/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/secrets_of_oak_island

 

[Coin-Saver]

I think until there IS a treasure, there is NO treasure. Which makes it easy to claim there IS a treasure. As long as no treasure is found some can take the easy path of Well "They just haven't found it yet" Really?......200 years? A coin. a ring, a brooch? I've found more then that on tot lots and was only using a metal detector. The good thing is no one had to die.

Please don't tell me the moral of the story is if you can't find it in 200 years then rent millions of dollars of equipment to keep looking

If I was an investor and this was the best the Lagina's could do with my money they'd be fired. At some point you have to know when to take it behind the barn and you know it.

 

[Cfmct]

Tom_in_CA.....Since you mentioned franklin, he is the one that discovered the space-time portal to Mars located in the "money pit".

I think until there IS a treasure, there is NO treasure. Which makes it easy to claim there IS a treasure. As long as no treasure is found some can take the easy path of Well "They just haven't found it yet" Really?......200 years? A coin. a ring, a brooch? I've found more then that on tot lots and was only using a metal detector. The good thing is no one had to die.

Please don't tell me the moral of the story is if you can't find it in 200 years then rent millions of dollars of equipment to keep looking

If I was an investor and this was the best the Lagina's could do with my money they'd be fired. At some point you have to know when to take it behind the barn and you know it.

Its not about treasure... its a fake reality TV show... this is how they are making money off gullible people...

This entire treasure story based on rumors... its a form of playing telephone.. the story starts rather blandly and people embellish it along the way...

 

[SeabeeRon]

Its not about treasure... its a fake reality TV show... this is how they are making money off gullible people...

This entire treasure story based on rumors... its a form of playing telephone.. the story starts rather blandly and people embellish it along the way...

Exactly! Not telling anyone to not read and enjoy these "legends", but keep grounded in reality.
Oak Island and Dent's Run are just tales that might be fun to watch, but someone is getting rich off of other's gullibility.

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

Joke Island!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I think until there IS a treasure, there is NO treasure. ....

Yeah, isn't that kind of ironic that that people say : the "the treasure". As if it is just a default GIVEN that there's a treasure there. So even though no one has seen a single red cent. Yet : There is a fabulous treasure there. What strange logic started this ?

 

[Rudy]

As far as reality TV shows go, I'd rather watch The Girls Next Door.

 

[SS_Wonder]

It was always hilarious when the narrator of the show as well as the show’s actors used the words, “original depositors”.

 

[Coin-Saver]

My favorite part was always "Could it be"? Then enter anything after that such as but not limited to anything that makes someones mind wonder even more about a treasure that never will be. "Could it be a symbol? a sign? Or could it be more B.S. to sell ratings. I'll put my money on the latter.

I'm going to go with that no one really knows what the tunnels, shafts or holes were dug for. My thought is that the people that found them didn't know either. And it's only human nature to make up a reason for something we don't understand. Something like
"Look Bob I found a tunnel".
"Oh S@#^ Delbert it's filling up with water".
"Now Bob, what on earth do you think someone did all this for"?
Then Bob and Delbert gaze into each others eyes (which could only mean two things, a treasure or Bob and Delbert have been alone on an island too long).
Then just as Delbert starts to wink at Bob, Bob yells TREASURE and Delbert quickly rubbing his eye says yes Bob a TREASURE. And a buried treasure story was born.

 

[SS_Wonder]

The only shafts and tunnels ever dug on the island were dug by the “searchers”.

Holes on an island flood, not because of “flood tunnel traps” but due to the small island sitting in the middle of water.

 

[Connecticut Danny]

I firmly believe that there are flood tunnel traps make with items found by the pirates.

 

[Coin-Saver]

The only shafts and tunnels ever dug on the island were dug by the “searchers”.

Holes on an island flood, not because of “flood tunnel traps” but due to the small island sitting in the middle of water.

I agree. Even if it was possible, why would anyone go to such lengths to stop someone from getting a treasure that stopped Them from recovering it? The only treasure there is in the tour business and the show. On that they are doing well.