About This Structure
A believed slipway on the shore where Lots 4 and 5 meet: a sloped ramp for bringing boats in, cleared through the beach boulders a short distance below the Lot 5 round feature. Alex Lagina observed that the boulders had been moved out and around the ramp and not up the shore, which suggested to him that the work was done by hand in the water.
The team excavated the slipway at the start of Season 14. Archaeologist Laird Niven's permit covered the ground from the high-water mark inland, and Billy Gerhardt dug up to that line through unexpectedly deep sand. The dig produced a sherd of creamware, a large wrought iron spike that may be a cribbing spike from a lost wooden structure, and a square-shanked iron nail. Archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan dated the iron to the mid-1600s to mid-1700s and reported its composition as the closest match so far to ironwork from the Maine homestead of Sir William Phips.
Niven tied the slipway to the round feature on the strength of the creamware, the most common pottery at both. Craig Tester concluded that the slipway was in use in the 1700s, when Lot 5 was active, and could have been used earlier. Older material may lie farther out, below the tide line, where the permit does not allow digging.
Historical Context
Laird Niven; Emma Culligan; Craig Tester; Alex Lagina; The Curse of Oak Island Season 14 Episode 1
Where It Was Found
Found at Shoreline on the border of Lots 4 and 5, below the Lot 5 round feature. Location: the shoreline areas of Oak Island.
