Oak Island: Pottery sherds (northern swamp, Tom Nolan's property)

Pottery sherds (northern swamp, Tom Nolan's property), Colonial Material found at The Swamp, Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Dated: Transfer-printed pearlware of the 1840s; one coarse sherd possibly North Devon gravel-tempered ware of the 1600s to 1700s (Laird Niven) — Pottery sherds (northern swamp, Tom Nolan's property), Transfer-printed pearlware of the 1840s; one coarse sherd possibly North Devon gravel-tempered ware of the 1600s to 1700s (Laird Niven)

Location Northern swamp, Tom Nolan's property, cobblestone pathway dig

Discovered Season 13, Episode 12 (2026)

Date Range 1600 AD – 1850 AD

Category Material

Era Colonial

About This Material

Bags of pottery recovered by Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton, Craig Tester and Tom Nolan while digging for more of the cobblestone pathway on Tom Nolan's property in the northern swamp. Archaeologist Laird Niven identifies most of it as transfer-printed pearlware, a refined earthenware of about the 1840s, with coarse redware among it.

One gritty sherd, glazed on one side only and taken from the darker, deeper layer, could be North Devon gravel-tempered ware, which would date it to the 1600s or 1700s. Rick connects a date that early to Isaac de Razilly and the Knights of Malta. The pottery went to the Oak Island lab for cleaning.