ILLUSTRATES Felipe Cachopa
SUGGESTION Bruna Leme de Araújo, Mogi Mirim, SP
1. A oak island (“Oak Island”) is located in Nova Scotia, Canada, and has 570,000 m2 (about 60 soccer fields). In 1795 rumors began to circulate that, prompted by strange lights, three landowners in the southeast of the island excavated for about 10 m, finding strangely inscribed stones every 3 m. In 1803, a shipping company acquired the plot and restarted work.
two. At a depth of 27 m, the company found a large stone with inscriptions and symbols. The following day, the excavation was flooded to a level of 10 m, with no apparent explanation. The writings received several different “translations” over the years, and, adding to the mystery, in 1910 or 1911 the rock disappeared from the museum in Halifax City where it was on display.
3. The press began to pay attention to the case in 1856. Five years later, the first deaths. Five workers died when the ground gave way on the job, shortly after supposedly spotting treasure chests. Suspicions arose that the place had a trap and a curse – the secret of Oak Island would only be revealed when seven people died
4. For decades, the excavations continued to bankrupt companies and entrepreneurs. By 1967, the place had already gone through nine different owners. The maximum depth reached at that time was 55 m. No millionaire treasure: what else was found, supposedly, were old tools and decaying bodies
5. Actors John Wayne and Errol Flynn and even President Franklin Roosevelt took a risk by investing in the mystery. In 2006, after years of legal battles, most of the island was owned by brothers Marty and Rick Lagina. They star in the investigative reality show The Curse of Oak Islandfrom the History Channel, currently in its third season
6. But, after all, what is buried there? Theories are of the most varied, almost always based on rumours. One says it is the money saved by Spanish sailors from a sunken galleon or a British ship. Another says that French military engineers hid the treasure of the fortress of Louisbourg before it was taken over by the British in the Seven Years’ War
7. There are also legends involving the booty of pirates Captain Kidd or Edward Teach, the Black beard. The latter said that his fortune was so well hidden that it would only be found by him or by the devil. An even more surreal story is that one of Marie Antoinette’s nurses took the queen’s jewels there before the invasion of Versailles during the French Revolution.
8. The 16th-century British scientist and philosopher Francis Bacon appears in two theories. According to a 1953 book, Oak Island was home to the lost manuscripts of Shakespeare, actually written by Bacon. Or else there would be a hidden room on the island built by him and members of the Rosicrucian secret society, filled with works of art, valuables and historical documents.
9. Another book, Oak Island Secrets by Mark Finnan, points to another closed society: Freemasonry. Encrypted markings discovered in the excavations would make references to rituals of this group. And, if all this seems small to you, there is even a theory that, in underground tunnels connected to the sea, there is nothing less than a drácar – a Viking boat
ON THE OTHER HAND…
The «curse» may just be a mix of geological weakness and pop culture obsession
– Experts point out that the island is full of water table chambers, which give way when they are excavated. And they can even have branches through underground caverns that connect fresh water from the sheets with sea water coming from the coast.
– The alleged archaeological objects found may be tools and workers from previous excavations
– With the popularity of the legend, Oak Island has motivated several books. But most are fiction and their “theories” have a mere narrative function, with almost no scientific basis.
– Much of the alleged evidence, such as the marked stones and the large missing monolith, was never properly analyzed or proven legitimate
– Clues found in the first two seasons of the History show have never been evaluated by experts outside of the series
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SOURCES Books The Oak Island Mystery, Solvedby Joy A. Steele, and The Secret Treasure of Oak Island: The Amazing True Story of a Centuries-Old Treasure Hunt, by D’arcy O’Connor; documentaries A&E Treasure: The Money Pit of Oak IslandIt is Top Documentary Films: Mysterious Treasure on Oak Island; and websitesOak Island Treasure,oak island money pit, UN Museum, CSICop, Straight Dope It is CBC Radio Canada