About This Artifact
Two small pieces of bone and a periwinkle shell recovered during sieving of material from Borehole 10X in February 1971. The shell came up in the week of 8 to 15 February, and the bone fragments the following week, when the hole stood at 134 feet with casing to 126 feet. Martin Pickford's report of 22 February 1971 lists them among several pieces of wood, glass, metal and shells recovered in the sieving, together with grass roots, two pieces of bottle cap, and plastic binding tape from dynamiting that Dan Blankenship had carried out the previous year at a much lower level. Pickford read the tape as strong evidence that water rising up Hole 10 can carry materials upward, and he noted that an opaque light green glass in the batch matched glass observed during work at Smith's Cove, supporting in his view a connection between 10X and Smith's Cove. The recovery context is therefore mixed, containing modern searcher debris alongside possibly transported older material. No species identification or dating of the bone appears in the published record.
Historical Context
Sources: Martin Pickford, Oak Island Exploration Report no. 17, February 15 to 22, 1971 (bone fragments; sieving inventory; dynamite tape transport argument; Smith's Cove glass comparison); Pickford weekly report, February 8 to 15, 1971 (periwinkle shell). In: "Reports by Martin Pickford for Triton Alliance and Related Correspondence, 1970 and 1971", compiled by Les MacPhie, October 2014.
Where It Was Found
Found at Borehole 10X, sieved from recovered material at about 134 ft drilling depth — the original 1795 excavation shaft on Oak Island, Nova Scotia.
