Coconut fibre (Smith's Cove)

About This Material

Coconut fibre excavated from just below low tide level within Smith's Cove on 27 July 1995. The sample was recovered by Dan Henske - who knew the fibre's location from prior experience - in the presence of D. Aubrey and others from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). Henske dug down approximately 8 inches to reach the fibre after the site was dewatered. The WHOI NOSAMS AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) facility dated this sample at 1140 ±30 years before present (receipt 10167, sample ID OI-5-CF3). This places the fibre at approximately 810 AD, with a date range of 780-840 AD - making it significantly older than the three other coconut fibre samples tested from the island, which clustered around 1130-1220 AD (a difference of approximately 330 years). This age discrepancy is notable. The WHOI researchers hypothesized that they may have dated a subsample of the same material previously tested by Beta Analytic (receipt 10168 / OI-3-CF2, which dated to 765 ±35 BP / ~1185 AD), as the ages are indistinguishable from the Beta Analytic results for the other sample provided by Blankenship. However, the Smith's Cove beach sample (OI-5-CF3) is distinctly older. The fibre was heavily decomposed, consisting of only about 5% carbon by weight - a low percentage for most vegetative materials. Despite this decomposition, AMS technology (which requires only very small samples) enabled accurate dating. The WHOI team conducted Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis through the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. The SEM photo-micrographs were sent to two palm experts for identification: • Dr. Scott Zona of the Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami suggested the fibres might be husk fibres of a coconut, but noted his comparison with modern fibres was inconclusive. • Prof. (Emeritus) Natalie Uhl of Cornell University concluded that the SEM photo-micrographs resemble fibrous bundle sheaths in palm stems. However, without the full bundle (including the xylem vessel structure), she could not make a conclusive genus and species identification. She is working with a colleague, Dr. Francisco Guanchez from Venezuela, a specialist on the genus Leopoldinia, which has long been exploited for fibre. For comparison, the WHOI team also obtained SEM photo-micrographs of mesocarp coconut fibre from Cocos nucifera, a coconut commonly found in the tropics. Notable similarities exist between the Oak Island fibre and the reference coconut fibre, though final confirmation from palm and coconut specialists was still pending at the time of the April 1996 draft report. The WHOI report identified four possible pathways by which coconut fibre may have reached Oak Island: (1) planted by previous searchers, (2) natural transport by Gulf Stream and inshore currents, (3) dunnage discharged at Oak Island by a previous ship involved in the oak wood trade, or (4) brought and used by ancient voyagers for flood tunnel filtration purposes. The researchers noted that Triton Associates' claim of finding the fibre could not be discounted, and that the possibility of previous searchers or others planting the material also could not be excluded. They were actively researching Gulf Stream transport with Natalie Uhl and her colleagues.

Recent research by David H. Neisen, Robert W. Cook, and Christopher L. Boze has proposed a specific identification for the fibre. Based on micro and macro botanical examination, their analysis concludes the material is trunk fibre from the Judean Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera), specifically the mesh and sheath material that surrounds the trunk, rather than coconut coir. This aligns with the caution expressed by both Zona and Uhl in the original WHOI study, where neither expert could make a conclusive coconut identification. The C14 dates remain valid regardless of species, and the pre-Columbian age of the material is not in dispute. If the revised identification is correct, it points directly to the Levant, where the Knights Templar cultivated date palms near Jericho from 1116 until the Battle of Hattin in 1187.