Arrrrr, hands off me booty, mate!
Posted on 08/09/2007 6:51:33 AM PDT by oaster
Oak Island News Release
NEW READING OF MYSTERIOUS OAK ISLAND INSCRIPTION
Theory points to possible connection with nearby Birch Island
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Wednesday, July 12th, 2006 - - For the past two centuries, the tunnels of Nova Scotia’s Oak Island have piqued the imagination of historians and treasure hunters alike. Now, a new theory by First Nations researcher Keith Ranville may add fresh speculation to the mystery. Based on a unique reading of an inscription once found in the “Money Pit,” Mr. Ranville believes that the answer to the riddle may be found on nearby Birch Island.
Oak Island, located on the scenic Mahone Bay about an hour’s drive south of the provincial capital of Halifax, has been associated with buried treasure since the late 18th century. Local settlers reportedly found a ship’s tackle block hanging from a tree branch, overhanging a large depression in the ground. Early efforts to dig down failed when the diggers encountered layers of timber every 10 feet. In the ensuing generations, several organized excavation attempts have drilled down nearly 200 feet, en route encountering some artifacts within the staggered layers of logs, clay, putty, charcoal, flagstones and most perplexingly, coconut husks. Among the scores of enthusiastic treasure hunters was a young Franklin Roosevelt, one of the investors in a 1909 excavation attempt.
During the earlier diggings of 1800’s, the tunnel had become flooded by seawater – which many believed was the result booby trap being sprung – thus complicating further digging since then. A drilling effort in the mid 1800’s was said to have uncovered fragments of a gold chain. In 1971, a camera was lowered into the pit and reportedly captured images of wooden chests and human remains.
One of the most fascinating artifacts from the pit was said to be a flat stone recovered at the 90 foot depth, carrying a mysterious inscription. A fragment of stone with similar symbols was found nearby in Smith’s Cove in the 1930’s. The stone tablet itself has gone missing, but a record of its symbols remains. Until now, the consensus is that the symbols are a code translated as “forty feet below two million pounds are buried.” However, Keith Ranville’s theory offers a different interpretation as to the stone’s symbols, which could lead to a new explanation of the Oak Island mystery.
“I believe these symbols have been incorrectly assumed to stand for something else. In the First Nations tradition that I’m a part of, we believe symbols should simply be looked at in and of themselves, rather than thinking of them as codes that have to be cracked,” Mr. Ranville explained. “In the pictograms of Cree Salavics, for example, the images are meant to be descriptive, not abstract.” Using this approach, Mr. Ranville examined the Oak Island symbols and found what may be a set of instructions about a tunnel system involving both Oak Island and nearby Birch Island.
For example, the stone inscription begins with a triangle symbol, which is repeated throughout. Mr. Ranville believes that this represents nearby Birch Island, which has a distinctly triangular clearing on its north shore. Likewise, a symbol showing a circle divided into two hemispheres can be thought of as representing north/south directional markers. A series of dots in singles, pairs and triplets may be quantitative symbols.
Examining all the symbols in this way, Mr. Ranville believes that the symbols on the Money Pit’s stone tablet are actually technical instructions describing the location and layout of a possible underground network involving both Oak Island and Birch Island. “There was a fragment of another stone tablet that was found on Oak Island’s Smith Cove in the 1930’s,” Mr. Ranville explained. “It too has these types of symbols, but one in particular appears to be a Greek symbol designating ‘underwater door’. In conjunction with the other symbols, I believe this points to underwater doors and additional shafts on Birch Island itself.” Smith’s Cove is on the part of Oak Island that is closest to Birch Island, and is said to have yielded several artifacts itself over the years.
“Based on the inscribed symbols, I think we should be looking at Oak Island and Birch Island together in order to solve the mystery. If Birch Island proves to have underwater doors and tunnels around its triangular clearing, then it would be a huge step forward in our understanding of what Oak Island is all about.”
There have been many, occasionally bizarre, theories as to what the Oak Island tunnels may contain: a Masonic vault containing the Holy Grail, Viking or Pirate booty, Inca treasure, the French Royal Crown Jewels, payroll for colonial British soldiers or even the secret writings of Francis Bacon. Mr. Ranville prefers not to speculate. “Those are interesting and sometimes funny theories, but I’d rather just look at the evidence that we do have, and go from there.”
Mr. Ranville is a self-taught researcher born in Manitoba. While living in Vancouver, he became acquainted with the Oak Island mystery and began studying it. In October 2005, he relocated to Nova Scotia to further research and advance his theories on the subject.
Both Oak Island and Birch Island are private property, and access must be sought by permission of the landowners.
# # #
For further information, please contact:
Keith Ranville
http://www.canadaka.net/blog/oakster
It’s a strange thing. I could see an eccentric billionaire buying it one day and digging up half the island.
I recall reading about this when I was a kid, in Popular Science. Since then, I have figured out how to safely reach the bottom of the hole, but it would cost millions, depending on geology and depth to solid bedrok.
Fascinating story.
It’s held my imagination since I was a kid. I can’t say I would be happy if all the questions were someday answered. It’s nice to have some mysteries that just stay that way, mysterious. Something to ponder with a nice brandy and a full pipe. Besides nothing I read about what this guy has to say seems any more logical then the other theories.
Ping.
Note: this topic is from 8/09/2007. Thanks oaster.I don't believe for a second that there's treasure buried on Oak Island; however, there are or were a number of odd, non-English inscriptions (contrary to claims, PreColumbian and found in a good number of places throughout the Americas) and deliberately placed stones with no apparent purpose. Nolan's Cross was discovered (by Nolan) in 1981, and under the "marks-the-spot" stone Nolan dug (figuring, this must be the right place) and instead of treasure found a stone that had been sculpted into a human likeness and buried there.
One of the stones forming Nolan's Cross: Foundation cone -- There is a theory that Nolan's Cross, which lies on a 60° axis, points to Jerusalem. This alone would exclude colonial-era settlers and pirates as its builders. Measuring of longitude wasn't an exact science until the invention of chronometer in the late 1700s. By then, Nolan's Cross was already in existence. To get to the Money Pit, you have to walk along the South Shore Cove (formerly Smith Cove or Old Smith Cove). Unlike the rest of the island's coast, this cove is free of large boulders so typical for Nova Scotia. Its crescent shape suggests it could have been altered by human hand.
Oak Island keyword:
I remember very vividly the excitement I felt when I read the Reader’s Digest article that motivated the guys who are currently seeking the answer to the Oak Island mystery.
I hope they find SOMETHING
I don’t think those two brothers with a reality show on History channel that features all the digging by them and others are billionaires, but it seems that just about everyone who lives there spends time treasure hunting, and has for about the last 200 years-and everyone has a different theory about what the treasure is and who put it there-Knights Templars/Masons, Aztecs escaping from the Spanish, 17th-18th century pirates, etc.
Since there has been no real treasure, in the sense of substantial gold, silver or precious gems found in all that time, maybe if anything was put there for safekeeping, someone came and retrieved it shortly thereafter-or maybe it is just a story made up to explain the historical artifacts there-I think those are “real” treasure, but that is just my opinion...
A simple casement would solve the problem - Bridge building technology known for at least a thousand years... If, as they assume, the water problem is the result of a booby trap... If they are wrong, and the water is coming up from the bottom (actual water table), then they are screwed - but then, if that is true, then the shaft can be no deeper (the original builders would have run into the same issue).
The brother Legina that are funding the current effort on OI have already talking and a cryo excavation. Which of the six or so holes are you thinking of?
In this week’s episode the brothers drilled and then excavated a spot Nolan claimed to have had a drill train go slack in a slate layer decades ago. The find was a piece if wood that had a point cut on the end.
Nah. Case the hole and backfill it with mortar. cheap, effective, and permanent. If it is welling up from the bottom, you're screwed anyway, but otherwise, the casement fixes it... at least to the point that a pump can keep up with it.
Cryo... Freezing? I would think that would be extremely expensive to maintain.
Pointed stick? As long as they don’t find a bunch of loganberries, I’m fine with that.
“The bill is to amend the Oak Island Treasure Act.”
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C96/house_14oct22/#HPage1344
I’m thinking the money pit is a very elaborate red herring intended to draw attention away from the real burial site somewhere else on the island.
I find Oak Island to be fascinating.
SOMEONE dug a deep deep hole there and buried stuff layers upon layers deep.
Why the heck would they do that???
M4L oak island
“SOMEONE dug a deep deep hole there and buried stuff layers upon layers deep.”
Maybe an old military training ground?
“Take this shovel and dig a hole”.
.
.
“Great - now fill it up.”
Agreed though - that same Reader’s Digest article caught my fancy as a kid. I used to read it from the stack left up at our old family cabin. I was disappointed to see the stack of smelly and torn magazines was gone the last trip there.
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