N.S. university students piece together mystery of Oak Island artifacts

The famous Oak Island still has a few mysteries left, and a group of Nova Scotia university students are working to uncover them by examining artifacts.

Jonathan Fowler, a professor of archaeology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, is leading his students in an examination of artifacts discovered on the island, which has been the subject of endless speculation and a TV show.

“We are looking at the collection that was given to university by Robert Young, who passed away recently,” Fowler said. “This collection comes from Lot Five on Oak Island. It’s a collection of materials (Young) gathered through treasure hunting activities.

“The pot of gold for archaeologists is often information and, especially when you’re a teacher, the additional pot of gold is sharing it with your students.”

Zea Jones is a third-year student who enjoys trying to solve the mystery of centuries-old artifacts.

“This class encapsulates a lot of what I like about the discipline,” Jones said. “It’s almost like you’re looking at a giant puzzle where you don’t have all the pieces nor do you have the box. Everything’s a mystery. It’s so fun and it’s so valuable.”

Fellow student Joanna Cochran is also thrilled to see the artifacts up close.

“When I heard there was an opportunity to study the artifacts from Oak Island, I was super excited and really interested in it,” Cochran said. “Very excited to see and actually touch the artifacts.”

Fowler said the plan is to digitize the collection and potentially put it online sometime in the future.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Valentine Nkengbeza and Crystal Garrett.

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