Since its debut in 2014, the History Channel reality TV series “The Curse of Oak Island” has drawn the interest of numerous fans. The series, which is in its 9th season, follows the exploits of two brothers from Michigan named Marty and Rick Lagina as they travel to Oak Island in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia in search of rumored buried treasure worth 2 million British pounds, and has garnered a loyal following of fans invested in the mystery.
However, the brothers’ search, while yet to unearth the actual treasure they set out to search, has yielded a number of other interesting finds. While the monetary value of their other finds has varied, many of them have been unexpected, drawing the attention of specialists from different fields. The exploration by the Lagina brothers has drawn the attention of other experts who would otherwise not have followed their exploits, showing how “The Curse of Oak Island” could reveal something more important than treasure.
The discoveries are shaping knowledge of the region’s history
In an interview for the University of Calgary’s alumni newsletter, Dr. Ian Spooner, the environmental geoscientist who works on the show, talked about how the discoveries made on the show can re-shape what people know about the history of Nova Scotia, and Canada.
Among the discoveries made on the show have been a chunk of coal, leaving a mystery around what it originated from and how it got there, but the biggest one has been the unearthing of what appears to be a stone road that once ran through the swamp. The team discovered it when the group encountered a large stone structure that led them to the road itself, whose presence nobody previously knew about.
Spooner went on to speculate on the purpose of the road, pointing out that sometimes roads were built to drag military boats on to land when the British, French, and Spanish military were in the region.
“Something went on there that is probably bigger than treasure.” Spooner said, “What’s there is an important part of Nova Scotia’s and likely Canada’s history.”