About This Artifact
An iron adze head unearthed on Lot 4 during metal detection by Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina in 2021 (Season 9). An adze is a wood-finishing tool with roots dating back to ancient Egypt, used to shape timber into smooth, flat surfaces - particularly ship decks and planking.
Blacksmith expert Carmen Legge examined the artifact and identified it as an old English design, the kind used specifically for shaping wood into decks and planking. In his opinion, the tool was forged sometime between 1620 and 1740, placing it firmly in the pre-discovery era.
The find is notable for both its age and its location. Lot 4 sits in a zone that Zena Halpern's purported Templar map marks as "The Hole under the Hatch" - an area the team has investigated for possible underground features. The presence of a shipwright's tool on this lot suggests skilled woodworking took place on Oak Island centuries before the Money Pit was discovered in 1795.
The adze head gained renewed significance during the Season 10 premiere, when wood fragments recovered from borehole K15.5 at a depth of over 100 feet in the Money Pit area showed what appeared to be adze marks - cut patterns consistent with the very type of tool found on Lot 4. Carbon dating on those timbers returned dates ranging from 1640 to 1806, overlapping with the estimated age of the adze itself.
Historical Context
Season 9 (2021 dig season). Referenced in Season 10, Episode 1: "On Their Marks" (November 15, 2022). Analysis by blacksmith expert Carmen Legge. History Channel interactive map description.
Where It Was Found
Found at Lot 4, near area marked on Zena Halpern's map as "The Hole under the Hatch" — Oak Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
