'The Curse Of Oak Island' Season 7 Recap: Here are all the intriguing discoveries so far that have fans hooked
Sorry Oak Island and fellow treasure-hunting fans, your favorite dose of entertainment — 'The Curse Of Oak Island' Season 7 — is coming to an end this week and it's going to be a couple of months till we see the Lagina brothers with their faithful squad digging around the mysterious island again.
So a few days before the finale, we take a quick recap of what exactly happened during the season. The cynical ones will say that there was a lot of mud and wood, and to be fair they are not entirely wrong. However, there were a couple of interesting finds. Most of the time, apart from investigating the swamp, the team was also trying to intercept the flood tunnels, which are believed to have been a booby trap for the mysterious treasure. The team found coconut fiber, which is not indigenous to the island. That's another strong speculation right there that the coconut fiber was used to cover the flood tunnels.
The swamp
For a good chunk of the season, the team wanted to investigate the swamp as they were sure that it could provide many answers to the mysteries on the island. There was some anomaly (a word you hear A LOT on this show) at the bottom of the swamp, and at first they were sure it was a ship. Yet, there was much confusion about whether it was actually a ship. But there is something 55 feet below in the swamp. So what is it?
The team kept going back and forth with their theories of the ship-based anomaly at the bottom of the swamp. And then after a lot of hard work, they unearthed evidence that the swamp was artificially made. This doesn't provide any answers either. In fact, it gives rise to more questions than answers. They then come to the conclusion that significant human activity had taken place at the swamp in the 17th century, owing to the rocky formations around the swamp. The team discovered some unusual iron artifacts from the swamp, which they are sure belong to a ship from centuries ago. It had sustained a fire. Could the anomaly be a pirate ship that offloaded treasure and then was blown up?
They find a piece of lead and there is more speculation whether it is connected to the lead cross they found earlier. With more effort, they find several boulders and they are unsure whether its placement was instigated by nature or man. Another intriguing discovery is that of mercury and lead in the swamp. There's a little history lesson behind this. English philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon in 'Nova Organa' had detailed methods of preserving documents by placing them in sealed containers filled with mercury. Could this be somehow related?
Artifacts and other items
No treasure but the team found scores of tiny items that could prove useful in their investigation. They discovered a silver button, a brooch, a ring that they are sure is from the 1730s and an iron hinge that just might be from a treasure chest. Apart from this, we got to see a lot of wooden spikes that the team believes is from a ship. And they found a pickaxe and an old tunneling tool as well during their searches.
Smith's Cove
In one of the episodes, they roped in Chipp Reid, a naval historian in their team who presents them with 'evidence' that the wooden structures found on Smith's Cove could be pieces from a French military fortification from the 1700s. There's a bit of interesting history behind this research.
The city of Louisbourg was established in 1713 by the French, but by 1720 it became one of the richest ports between Europe, Canada and the West Indies for the French. This led the French to build a massive fortress, which was completed in 1720, and was an extensive military stronghold in America. The fortress also had a series of tunnels beneath it. In 1745, an English colonel launched a campaign to seize control of the French fort. However, the English could not find the gold as the French knew they were coming and hid the treasure. So, as Reid ominously says, "My guess... is that you're looking for some French treasure." A small mishap occurred, which included the collapse of the wooden structure at Smith's Cove. However, it led to one conclusion — that it was connected to the stone box drains that had fed the flood tunnels.
The 90 feet stone
This has got to be one of the most entertaining episodes. The team is eager to find the mysterious 90 feet stone that has strange markings on it and comes to the conclusion that it is buried at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum, in the backyard. Yes, you read that right. So, Rick Lagina and squad spend most of the episode on their hands and knees, digging up a Rhodendron bush. Unfortunately, it wasn't found.
Nicolas Poussin's paintings
As far as theories go, this one was one of the strangest episodes on the show. The team meets researcher and theorist Corian Mol, who like many historians, believes that a French artist named Nicolas Poussin left clues to the Oak Island treasure in his paintings. The theory gets more incredulous. Using anagrams and geometric diagrams and Poussin's famous paintings, Mol shows that a geometric shape in one of the paintings could be pointing to the location of the treasure. In short, his paintings serve as a possible treasure map. This was actually quite fascinating and made sitting through men digging up endless pits of mud and dirt worth it.
The original trio's work
The team begins to believe that Daniel McGinnis's discovery of the 13 ft depression near the oak tree, back in 1795, was not an accident and that they were actually looking for something. So, they begin to search the McGinnis Foundation. Could he have found something and hidden it on the island?
What is the real story behind Samuel Ball, a simple cabbage farmer on the island, who became wealthy a little too quickly? What did he find?
Meanwhile, the team tried digging up a new shaft site with unsatisfactory results. What could happen in the finale? Tune into 'The Curse Of Oak Island' Tuesdays at 9pm to find out.