About This Artifact
The Iron Ship's Timber Brace was recovered during a metal-detecting search along the stone paved area toward the Eye of the Swamp on Oak Island in Season 7 Episode 14, "Burnt Offering" (February 25, 2020). The find was made by Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton, Jack Begley, and Billy Gerhardt, with Billy extracting the artifact from deep within an excavated hole. The strap was a large iron piece showing the wood grain pattern characteristic of old hand-forged iron pressed against timber.
Archaeologist Laird Niven examined the piece on site and suggested it could be reinforcing strap from a large timber or possibly from a chest. Marty Lagina, Alex Lagina, and Gary Drayton then took the strap, together with a hand-forged pickaxe and round-point spade recovered from the same area the previous week, to blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge at the Ross Farm Museum in New Ross, Nova Scotia.
Carmen Legge identified the strap as a brace from a nine-inch diameter ship's timber and dated it to 1710 to 1790. He noted clear evidence that the strap had been burned in a fierce fire, with the metal showing the characteristic discoloration and structural damage of high-heat exposure.
At the Mug and Anchor pub in Mahone Bay, the team discussed the strap's implications. Its 1710 to 1790 date range falls within the golden age of piracy, and its recovery location lies near a 200-foot ship-shaped anomaly previously identified by seismic scanning of the swamp. The combination of evidence supports the long-standing theory of the late surveyor Fred Nolan that a vessel loaded with treasure was brought into the swamp, offloaded onto the stone paved area as a working platform, and then deliberately burned and sunk to conceal the operation.
The strap has not been carbon dated through any associated organic material or independently tested for metallurgical composition beyond Carmen Legge's visual identification. The 1710 to 1790 dating rests on the forging characteristics, the typology of nine-inch ship's timber braces of the period, and the burn evidence consistent with the broader hypothesis of a scuttled vessel.
Historical Context
Season 7 Episode 14, "Burnt Offering" (February 25, 2020). Discovery by Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton, Jack Begley, Billy Gerhardt. On-site assessment by Laird Niven. Identification by Carmen Legge (Ross Farm Museum). Context discussion at Mug and Anchor pub, Mahone Bay.
Where It Was Found
Found at Season 7 Episode 14 (February 2020) — the triangle-shaped swamp on Oak Island's southeastern quadrant.
