About This Artifact
A small handwrought iron hinge recovered from the spoils of borehole 8-A at a depth of approximately 114 feet during Season 7. Jack Begley and Steve Guptill found the hinge at the wash table while processing material brought up by the hammergrab during the excavation of the eight-foot-wide caisson. Archaeologist Laird Niven examined the piece and identified it as non-mining-related, concluding it was possibly from a chest.
Borehole 8-A targeted the Shaft Six tunnel, which according to archival records connected directly to the original Money Pit. At roughly 103 feet, oscillator pressure had risen to 2,500 pounds per square inch, suggesting the caisson was cutting through a structure, and loads of hand-hewn, axe-cut wood soon followed. At approximately 114 feet, a massive oak timber emerged, consistent with the oak-log platforms described during the original 1804 excavation. The hinge was found alongside fragments of leather resembling the bookbinding material recovered two years earlier from borehole H8, and a pointed metal object of unknown purpose.
Despite these finds, the shaft produced only water and clastic sediments below 140 feet, and the team terminated 8-A without locating the full collapse zone or treasure. In the season review, Craig Tester noted that the excavation had confirmed evidence of a collapse zone and the Shaft Six tunnel itself, and Rick Lagina concluded they had been close to but not within the Money Pit's core. The hinge was one of several similar artifacts recovered across the island over multiple seasons; comparable chest-type hinges were found on the Samuel Ball property on Lot 25, at the Lot 12 dump site, and at the rounded stone feature on Lot 5.
Historical Context
Lagina team
Where It Was Found
Found at Oak Island.
