The Curse of Oak Island: Historic Documents Uncovered in the Money Pit (Season 5) | History

Alex Lagina and Jack Begley have
traveled 60 miles north to the Dawson
print shop at the Nova Scotia School of
Art and Design in the city of Halifax.
They are meeting with Joe Landry, an
expert in medieval bookbinding who
specializes in the study and restoration
of ancient manuscripts.

“So, we have what we think is parchment
and what we think is leather from possibly
a book finding. Okay, where should we start?”

“The parchment?”

“Not sure… so there you go.”

“Yes, yes, this would be parchment.”

“Yeah, this is Lucas. This is some of the
leather we found.”

“So this is quite typical on the vegetable-tanned leather.
Especially cover or hide. This material lasts and lasts.
I mean, one of the suppliers I used when I’m restoring
medieval books sort of guarantees his Valentine skins for 2,000 years.”

“We actually brought one more piece though,
and we’re wondering if you could give us
any information. This might be kind of a long shot.”

“Yeah, it’s a purple piece of wood.”

“This? This is also… the color is very similar to an ink
used in parchment.”

“Wow, this is from Egypt.”

“How old is this scroll?”

“About 2,000 years.”

“The blue is the materiality. The royal blue that the
church and the aristocracy would use,
it was quite literally worth its weight in gold.
It wasn’t commonly used, but it’s amazing how simple
the colors here… although I feel it might be more like this from though,
you’re a vegetable source, like a rich red wine.”

“I think… how often was this color purple used?”

“Who? Just important church documents in royal… you know,
documents?”

“Say, you’re kidding, right? Only for important church
and royal documents.”

“That’s right. Dating back over 3,500 years to the
ancient Phoenicians, the production of purple dye was so
time-consuming and costly that it was reserved for
and became synonymous with royalty. In fact, in the Middle Ages,
so-called sanctuary laws restricted the use of purple dyes
to those in the aristocracy.”

“Could the presence of this purple wood, along with
parchment and leather bookbinding, be evidence that
important historical or religious documents are buried deep in
the Money Pit?”

“If this was a book board, and it was covered with,
it has to go purple leather… go wet. There could be staining.”

“So wait, hold on. That seems important.”

“This… there’s leather that’s dyed this color?”

“There is.”

“Yeah, and we have leather, wood, and parchment.”

“You said that there’s leather stain that colors it?
Is it possible that this wood is an analog for this wood here?”

“The thickness is about right. Durable.”

“Oh boy.”

“In combination, this is the most exciting.”

“That is true because, yeah, without this, that could be a shoe,
and without these, this isn’t gonna tell us as much as
we want to know.”

“Of course, things just keep getting more interesting.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the nature of the game.
You never know what’s going to show up.”

“Next week, we’ll get out of your hair.
Thank you guys very much. Bye-bye now.”