The Most Important Thing Found On Curse Of Oak Island Wasn't Treasure

In the varied and colorful realm of reality TV, perhaps no series fires the imaginations of armchair thrill-seekers quite like the ongoing quest for mysterious, possibly hexed riches being conducted on the long-running hit, "The Curse of Oak Island." Brothers Rick and Marty Lagina are joined in their search by their usual crew of experts, historical authorities, and technical consultants. Ever optimistic, they continue their dogged search for the spectacular assortment of priceless treasure, ancient relics, and literary bombshells rumored to lie deep below the sandy soil of this tiny island off the Nova Scotia coast.

Among the wonders said to reside somewhere beneath Oak Island's dunes, swampland, and forests are everything from stashed pirate booty to long-lost wealth left by the Knights Templar, Civil War loot, and even clues to the shocking truth about who really wrote Shakespeare's plays. Always hopeful that their next excavation, episode, or season will surely reward their efforts, the Lagina brothers and company remain enthusiastic despite the sometimes less-than-newsworthy discoveries of scattered coins, rotted fabric, and bits of pottery. But the truth is, some of the most exciting finds on "The Curse of Oak Island" aren't what some of us would actually call treasure.

While the vision inspiring "The Curse of Oak Island" tends to be one of ancient chests overflowing with golden doubloons and similar booty, sometimes it's the historical worth of an item that proves to be the most valuable.

In this regard, something found at the edge of a swamp in the series' eighth season sparked much heated conversation and interest among the eager members of the show's "Fellowship of the Dig." The piece of wood discovered at that site was judged to be a section of a ship's railing, possibly dating from 660 to 770 AD. 

While far from conclusively identified or dated, if its function and age prove correct, the railing would qualify as the oldest genuine artifact ever unearthed on the island so far on the series. Equally exciting is the fact that the likely owners of the supposed ship in question would have been Vikings, thus pre-dating by several hundred years the earliest evidence of Viking presence in North America, per Smithsonian Magazine.

Also priceless from a historical perspective is the small, barbed metal artifact found in Season 6. Identified by one expert as a 17th-century crossbow bolt, the piece was identified by another expert as possibly being the tip of a Roman pilum or spear. Despite not being a hidden chamber bursting with wealth beyond human imagination, these finds do hold the potential promise of major archaeological worth.