J. Hutton Pulitzer: The Boy Who Cried "Smoking Gun Artifact"

12/16/2015

Note (1/8/2016): J. Hutton Pulitzer just emailed me to ask me to take down my image of the "Roman sword." I have replaced it with a link to a YouTube video. I think he really wants people to see the sword since the image I had placed in the post has appeared in about 45 bazillion places online now. I guess he just doesn't like me very much. The rest of the post remains the same as it was as originally posted on December 16, aka Day 1 of #Swordgate.

It's Wednesday, so it must be time for J. Hutton Pulitzer to make yet another claim for a "smoking gun artifact" that will rewrite history. This time it's an alleged Roman sword found in waters near Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Here is what the article says:

"Now lead researcher and historic investigator J. Hutton Pulitzer, who also stars in the show, has put a large white paper together with a group of academics from the AAPS (Ancient Artifact Preservation Society).
The main discoveries include a Roman sword found submerged just off Oak Island - and what is believed to be a Roman shipwreck.
Pulitzer says this sword is ‘100 per cent confirmed’ and described it as the ‘smoking gun’ to his theory."

There are two clear points there that are worth noting: (1) Pulitzer claims to have absolute, certain proof that the sword is an authentic Roman artifact; and (2) he's going to give us that proof in a "white paper."

So I guess we can look forward to the "white paper" to tell us how we can be sure this is a Roman artifact. If anyone sees it, please let me know.

Without seeing the "white paper," two main things about this story cause me to immediately raise my eyebrows.

First is the provenience. It's kind of a shaggy dog story, not unlike that associated with Cinmar biface:

"Pulitzer explained: “Some years ago, a man and his son were scalloping off Oak Island, which sees them hang rake-like object off the back of their boat. When they brought this up, the sword came up with it.
They thought they were going to get into trouble due to restrictions in Nova Scotia which made all private shipwreck diving for treasure outlawed. So they freaked out about it.
The father kept it for decades, and when he died it went to his wife, then his daughter. Then when she died many years later it went to her husband. It was he who came forward to the island and said ‘I think you should know about this and where it was found.'"”

So best case scenario it changed hands four times. When was it actually found? By whom? Where?

Second is the sword itself. I have zero expertise in the area of metal weaponry, so I'm not qualified to make a credible judgement just by looking at the photo. The sword is apparently bronze or brass, which strikes me as odd for the Romans. And look at the hilt (there's a close-up in the original article). It doesn't look what I would expect a functional military sword to look like (why would you cast the hilt in the shape of a human figure?), and it appears to have been handled frequently in the recent past (the patina is worn from high spots such as the knees). Again, I'm no expert so I'm prepared to be corrected. I would love the opinion of someone who specializes in Roman weaponry. Have you ever seen anything like this?

I'm glad Pulitzer has promised us a comprehensive "white paper" for this new "smoking gun." I'm still waiting on the results of his analysis of copper artifacts he claims were associated with the Minoans. And I think at one point he said he was going to do a bunch of DNA tests. But, you know.

76 Comments

Gina Torresso

12/16/2015 12:04:54 pm

I would be very interested in reading this so called "white paper".

Hris

12/17/2015 08:57:11 am

first it's not a so called white paper . IT IS A WHITE PAPER secondly the metallurgy matches a ceremonial sword from roman time. THIRDLY it's a fact Colombia wasn't first to the Americas and his whole journey was based off old Roman naval expeditions.. so Maybe for once be an optimist not always the pessimist.

Brian Wilkins

12/17/2015 09:16:27 am

Columbus certainly wasn't the first European to visit North America. The Norse were here 500 years before Columbus and their original settlement is available to visit in NFLD

Jan P

12/17/2015 09:18:14 am

Which ceremonial sword from roman time? (while we're at it, what "roman time"?)
Do you understand what a metallurgical analysis does and what information it can offer?
How do they match?
In percentage of metals in the alloy? Are those metals traceable to specific locations?
You realize this doesn't mean much, right? You could still get metals from that location and make a brand new sword that would (gasp) match the other ones.

It's easy to throw these claims around, but it means nothing unless they're actually based on something. (which so far they aren't)

His Shadow

12/17/2015 02:22:47 pm

Thanks for dropping by, Pulitzer.

Brad

12/18/2015 06:16:59 pm

Jan P. I don't know much about the analysis used but I do know that even taking materials from the same place will not give you the same results unless the refining methods are the same. I would hope that would have improved on our metal refining techniques since that time. But hey... what do I know?

Tamara Hurtado

1/22/2016 04:29:51 pm

Pulitzer.... Columbia is a country... It cannot travel anywhere to discover anything!

Rose McDonald

2/1/2016 08:47:44 am

Hris:Do you have any facts to back up your claims?

Biz

2/23/2016 07:44:27 pm

Did you know you can buy that exact "artifact" on eBay out of China with the same forced patina I welcome you to look for yourself perhaps you can find more "artifacts" for the island

The Ducketh Quacketh

3/7/2016 07:31:03 am

Dude... Are you going to change your name again since you got the Pulitzer name rekt?

Nick Milne

2/4/2017 05:09:18 pm

It's a 'fact that Columbus's journey was based off old Roman naval expeditions'. Hahaha hilarious Hris. Did you make that up yourself because it's as good a load of bullshit as the story of the sword. Tell you what Hris show us just one Roman era history that mentions naval expeditions to North America and I'll eat my hat. Now try doing some research on the period and that way you wouldn't look like suck a complete fool.

Rickk wright

1/14/2016 11:01:37 am

This smoking sword is very sad puzzle. I don't see any real proof of any real Roman shipwrecks near oak island that I can see....just someone declaring a sword on tv that that particular sword was from a Roman wreck. Where is the proof this occurred? Show me or anyone else photographic evidence anyone has been down on this wreck....
You can't because it never happened.....

Bob Jase

12/16/2015 12:12:38 pm

Well I'm no expert either but I do know that the standard Roman gladius was made of hammered steel so it could actually be used (bronze or brass would be too soft), tapered to a point (which this does not) and had a hilt that was occassionally decorated but was always functional (which this has not).

it's as 'real' as all those 'viking' axe heads that were common in the 19th century.

Doug Crowell

12/16/2015 12:21:48 pm

Hi Andy. There appears to be another antique sword of its ilk, on this site: http://romanofficer.com/PermcolC.html

Which states it is a Roman gladiator ceremonial (or votive) gladius.

Andy White

12/16/2015 12:30:41 pm

Indeed - that's a match! Thanks for the link. I wonder if one could tell from the photograph if these two swords were actually made from the exact same mold.

The page says the provenience of the sword is "An Art Dealer from the Netherlands, purported to have originated from a German Collection." So I'm not sure how strong the evidence is that it comes from the specified time period or that it had something to do with gladiators. Or maybe it's a relatively recent reproduction. The plot thickens.

Galen

12/19/2015 01:58:50 am

It says it's made from the lost wax method. They make the sword out of wax, then cover it in clay or plaster, then they melt the wax to create the mould. It's a single use process. Although maybe they have a way to reproduce the wax, I have no idea

Jan P

12/19/2015 02:11:09 am

Galen, if you first make a mould of the wax model, you can cast more wax models later.

And if it was done in a contemporary workshop, there are even ways to 3D print wax models these days. (though usually one prints a plastic mould and casts the wax, that's more cost effective)

Greg Little

12/16/2015 01:07:35 pm

Interesting, but I doubt--and that's not a strong enough word--that anything bronze, brass, or steel would look like that after spending a couple thousand years in saltwater. Over 25 weeks of exploring in the Bahamas and off the coast of Florida, using scuba and various underwater cameras and sidescan, we found a lot of crashed planes (31) and the remains of about a dozen ships, including 4-5 that were littered with 1600's brass nails and other metal. We explored them all. Things corrode badly and fast. We found coins in crashed planes. The copper in the coins is essentially totally corroded away to nothing after about 15 years. Even stainless steel corrodes badly, keep in mind it is "stain less" and not stain proof. Aluminum is about all that fares well. It's a nice sword. It wasn't in salt water long.

Andy White

12/16/2015 01:56:27 pm

Do you think it could have been in salt water for 100-200 years?

Greg Little

12/16/2015 02:02:56 pm

No, it would be badly corroded and much of it would simply be gone. It would not be this intact, especially after "cleaning it up."

Dan Diffendale

12/16/2015 04:40:29 pm

Iron is one thing, copper alloys quite another. I don't believe this sword is Roman or ancient in the least, but it's worth being clear that copper alloys are quite capable of surviving underwater for thousands of years.

see e.g. http://nautarch.tamu.edu/CRL/conservationmanual/File12.htm
"The cupreous metals are relatively noble metals that frequently survive adverse conditions, including long submersions in salt water that will often completely oxidize iron."

and also e.g. http://www.machuproject.eu/news/news-55.htm

Rick wright

1/14/2016 11:16:37 am

Baloney, metal outside of gold or aluminum would dissolve in the acidic. Salt water unless it was completely covered keeping out. The water....... Would dissolve the metal Look closely at the sword it just looks too new to be old. Fake

Odessious

12/28/2015 08:18:32 pm

Just a little FYI but metal would decay a lot faster in Florida waters than in Nova Scotia. The warmer it is the faster the little things eat it away.

jesse

1/12/2016 07:33:22 pm

What about that bronze calendar they found in the Mediterranean its been in salt water for over two thousand years.

Rick wright

1/14/2016 11:08:13 am

I agree with you. The sword is in too pristine shape to be on a shipwreck....the story that anyone could rake the ocean and find a sword is far fetched.... The story is inbelievable.... Someone is just trying to get their 15 minutes of fame.

p j evans

3/6/2018 09:55:35 am

Bronze statues have survived hundreds of years in salt water. Copper is very good in those conditions - it's why they used copper nails and cladding on wood and iron ships. Metals generally will be covered with critters, though, and require a lot of careful cleaning to find out what they actually looked like. (Iron also can survive- it does better if it's away from oxygen. See, for example, the cannons from 16th through 18th century wrecks.)

Doug Crowell

12/16/2015 01:42:46 pm

Even if proven to be from the Roman era, this sword could have easily found its way to Nova Scotia as a keepsake of an 19th or 20th century sailor, returning from a port of call in Europe or other regions. People of that age collected items, just as we do. I would hazard to guess it was subsequently lost in the water during the late 1700s or early 1800s, as this is the time period in Nova Scotia in which personal effects would have been transported by sea.

Greg Little

12/16/2015 02:19:29 pm

I'm not piling criticism on Hutton here. I don't know him and the others in the Oak Island affair. I would surmise that he and some others believe it's a Roman sword and they may well have been told that it was pulled from water. And it might be a Roman sword. As stated above in other terminology, there is a real chain of custody issue with it. But it just hasn't been in saltwater very long--if ever. I am aware of many underwater finds along the eastern seaboard (including South America) where all sorts of artifacts (mainly pottery) said to be Roman or Phoenician were recovered. What that means is debatable. Sadly, we never found anything we could attribute to the Mediterranean in our ventures. And we looked.

Tamara Hurtado

1/22/2016 04:34:51 pm

You needn't worry about bashing Pulitzer... He's a dirt ball. And... He is now banned from the island. Once busted out on his lie he went off on the brothers, the production crew, and the persons from Prometheus. I don't see him being on History channel again after his tyrant. Lol.

Doug Crowell

12/16/2015 02:42:51 pm

Greg, how quickly would a bronze sword like this one deteriorate in salt water along the Atlantic coast? Are we talking noticeable breakdown in just a few years, decades, or 100 years, based on comparable items you may have found?

Peter Geuzen

12/16/2015 03:17:46 pm

I find it just a little too coincidental that the teaser trailer for Curse of Oak Island Season 3 (the current Season) that has been playing for several weeks shows the Laginas handling what appears to be the exact same model sword.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTyYVF-9RA
at 52 seconds

I guess Hutton felt the need to pull his sword out first, because the episode with the Laginas sword has yet to air.

Greg Little

12/16/2015 03:25:19 pm

I'm not an expert in this, I only know what I've observed, been told, know about boats, and seen in lots of museums. We have seen the large 6-8 inch long, square head brass nails be corroded on their heads (exposed to seawater, but fairly well preserved) when embedded in wood covered by sand. The brass nails that are completely exposed get so badly corroded that they tend to fall apart. That's from ships dated to the Spanish galleons. In a plane that crashed into the sea some 25 years ago, we found a bunch of coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters) in the pockets of the pilot's shorts. Yeah, don't ask. All of the copper was totally gone and everything in the plane except the aluminum was totally corroded (meaning gone). I have no idea why the "pockets" were preserved. Oddly, the pilot's passport picture page was pristine. From an underwater DC-3 that crashed in 1948, we pulled out a lot of stainless steel parts. They were badly corroded and fused together in clumps and we spent hours scraping. We finally used muratic acid to get to metal because the film crews didn't have time. Most stainless steel starts rusting and corroding within a week or two of exposure to saltwater. Our then "new" boat, with stainless fittings, started rusting after 2 weeks exposure. You clean the rust, and put on a preservative that lasts a few more weeks then do it again. Modern bronze is used in various boat parts and it "resists" corrosion--but eventually corrodes: http://www.copper.org/applications/marine/seawater/seawater_corrossion.html

Roman bronze wasn't what I'd call boat-grade bronze fittings. But bronze corrodes at known levels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_disease

What I'm saying is that the sword shown in the photo, if it is Roman, certainly was not in saltwater for decades. Actually, I can't find a single incidence of a Roman sword found in a saltwater shipwreck. (Let me know if anyone identifies one.) Some have been found in rivers and streams. As to the precise time it takes for corrosion to "eat away" large parts of a sword, I can't say or even guess. But the process would start as soon as it hit the water.

Doug Crowell

12/16/2015 03:44:09 pm

Thanks Greg. Sounds like you have participated in some interesting dives.

This sword hasn't been aired in an episode of The Curse of Oak Island as of yet, but I an eager to see what they have to say about it. It seems as some information has leaked out, which has enabled certain parties to "scoop" the TV show. As viewers, we are waiting to see if the show brings in an expert to speak to the artifact.

Joe Scales link

12/16/2015 07:41:57 pm

The Curse of Oak Island only needs to bring in one researcher; Richard Joltes. Week after week that show presents myth, folklore and outright lies as fact. But what can you expect from Prometheus Entertainment (Ancient Aliens!). Sorry to spoil the show, but if you go to Mr. Joltes' site, the fairy tale ends.

http://www.criticalenquiry.com/

Derek Phillips

1/13/2016 01:02:28 am

The Lagina's nor the show have said any of the folklore or tales are fact or true. The show very clearly allows them to tell their story for the audience to make their own conclusions. I believe they are doing a very good job of methodically exploring the island and eliminating leafs. I do wish the show would lead to more actual discoveries but I still enjoy watching it every week.

skate_08

12/18/2015 07:19:31 pm

I would suspect that it's a preemptive attempt to discredit whatever might be said about it on the show, considering that Pulitzer is apparently persona non grata on Oak Island after his last violation of the nondisclosure agreement. You never know though - Prometheus may have forced his inclusion again. If he is trying to scoop the show, you'd better believe their lawyers will be after him for doing it twice!

skate_08

12/18/2015 07:28:56 pm

Not that the show is known for being a paragon of legitimacy and crackpot theory debunking... just that the Laginas really, really don't like Pulitzer.

Greg Little

12/16/2015 03:44:28 pm

Well, maybe I'm wrong. I see two swords were recovered from the Bronze Age shipwreck of the Uluburun. You can see a photo of one by clicking on the description about 90% of the way down: http://sara.theellisschool.org/shipwreck/artifacts.html

From the reports it appears that the swords were covered by deep coatings of silt and sand.

TOM WILCOX

1/13/2016 08:18:38 am

roman gladius swords were made from carbon steel, not bronze. the hilts were fully functional made of wood or bone. not ungrippable carvings flat on one side like this fake. this appears to be a cheap, modern repo that could be hung on a wall. this is the final straw in an already laughable 'treasure' hunt show.

Derek Phillips

1/13/2016 01:59:26 pm

The article said "Ceremonial Sword" that is different than a sword used for Battle. It is a sword made to look good. Read all the words before commenting. I'm not sure if they had such a thing in Roman times but they most certainly do in modern times.

Jan P.

12/17/2015 03:50:21 am

How curious that it's always swords being found that point to ancient sailors visiting the Americas!

http://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-other-artifacts/chinese-votive-sword-found-georgia-suggests-pre-columbian-chinese-travel-020406

(this one is a very obvious modern Chinese fake as well, eBay is full of these too.)

Ron H.

12/17/2015 08:20:38 am

I grew up in Nova Scotia only about 50 miles from Oak Island, and this is the first time I've seen or heard about anything connected to the Romans. One thing I will say is that the idea of a local fisherman hiding this find from the local government is completely plausible - he would have had to find a new place to drag if the government restricted fishing in his fishing hole in order to protect the wreck. My uncle is a lobster fisherman...if he pulled up something in one of his traps that could potentially mean that the government wouldn't allow him to set traps there any longer, he would probably keep his mouth shut.

Ron H.

12/17/2015 08:39:49 am

Another thing to note is that if this sword was found on a shipwreck in 25 feet of water, then it was found very close to the shoreline, Oak Island, or one of the many other islands nearby. And the coastine around Mahone Bay is extremely well sheltered by hundreds of islands - if you've seen episodes of the show you may have noticed how calm the waters are. A shipwreck here wouldn't be dashed against the rocks and destroyed by wave action. It might not even suffer in the winter, if this part of the bay freezes over like a lake, and the wreck is deep enough to avoid ice.

Rick wright

1/14/2016 11:21:46 am

Sword too pristine to in water over 2000 years.. Sword would have oxidized and rust into nothing if exposed to salt water ....

Doug Crowell

12/17/2015 09:51:27 am

That is true Ron. There is a documented case of a ship sinking in Mahone Bay. I am not claiming that the wreck is this ship, but it is a possibility.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Teazer

Ron H.

12/18/2015 04:12:30 am

Yeah, this is one of the more famous ones because of the explosion that scuttled it. But it appears that quite a lot was salvaged before she went down, and no one from Mahone Bay would say "near Oak Island" if the wreck was at Mason Island, because of how many islands there are between the two. Of course, "near Oak Island" might be the only reference point the current family members have, if they don't live in the area any longer, or if they aren't fishermen with knowledge of the islands.

Troy Beals

2/29/2016 06:29:02 am

That wiki page doesn't exist anymore. Too bad, I wanted to check it out 😀

John Shewey

12/17/2015 12:09:35 pm

The deeper problem with this entire issue is that these kinds of dubious claims quickly disseminate across social media and the internet and that rapidity, combined with the demonstrably shrunken human attention span, contributes to the American anti-intellectual climate. We no longer do we effectively teach kids in school what the scientific method entails, so very few laymen are apt to recognize that at worst this is fraudulent and at best it is a prime example of confirmation bias undermining scientific process. Far too few people understand that Pulitzer's findings mean very little until they withstand the scientific process that includes full disclosure (including replicable methodology that yields identical results) and compete published peer review by myriad unassociated archaeologists. In all scientific investigations, Hume's Maxim remains a critical part of the process, and Pulitzer fails miserably....yet I, and no doubt many of you, receive emails from friends, otherwise intelligent, saying, "Wow! did you hear about the Roman sword they found....?" followed by a link. Andy's site was the first skeptical evaluation of this subject I found in a quick google search--buried beneath dozens of "news" links essentially presenting Pulitzer's findings as if they were paradigm-busting facts. It's a sad state of affairs, reflecting poorly on the American education system and our ever-expanding idiocracy--and while I only discovered Andy White's web presence today, intellectuals like White who actively and aggressively promote skeptical thinking skills are more critical than ever before if we are ever to turn the tide of American anti-intellectualism.

Rick wright

1/14/2016 11:31:46 am

I won't take nothing at face value until others in the scientific world can varify this guy's claim and seen the actual wreck first hand. Sometimes nothing is what it seems to be. The sword may be genuine but to say that it was in the salt water over 2000 years without any oxidation ect is far fetched in itself ... He could have found it elsewhere... If it is such a great find where are the other scientist to verify this fact. Looking left then right, don't see any. Do you?

Mike Jones

12/17/2015 04:59:36 pm

This sword is obviously fake but MANY Roman bronze artifacts have been pulled out of the ocean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riace_bronzes

Lance

12/18/2015 02:09:12 am

It must be real, it looks JUST LIKE this replica:

http://www.ebay.it/itm/PARTICOLARE-SCULTURA-COMMEMORATIVA-SPADA-BRONZEA-ROMANA-CON-IMPUGNATURA-STATUA-/301746768453

/sarcasm

Ron H.

12/18/2015 03:48:51 am

What's still interesting is that this sword - in the seller's own words - is a rare vintage replica. Which means it wasn't made yesterday. This raises the possibility that a local sailor - many of whom travelled the world for work - picked it up while in Italy some time ago.
It will be interesting to see if the family who says that they discovered it comes forward, or if they have some old photos of it showing it hanging on a wall. At least then you could eliminate the possibility of a complete hoax. No one here has accused Hutton of being a hoaxer, just a want-to-believer.

Bob Jase

12/18/2015 05:04:06 am

Definition of rare as used on Ebay - not more than a dozen for sale at any one time.

Ron H.

12/18/2015 04:03:38 am

And yet another possibility is that the sailor who passed away pranked someone in his family! Wow, the tall tales my grandfathers would tell. I could totally imagine my father - who served in the Canadian Navy - coming back from Europe with a sword and telling gullible five-year-old me with a completely straight face that he had found it in the water near home (with all the adults smirking in the background).

Jaime S

12/18/2015 10:49:25 am

That is most believable, given the number of times I told my grandchildren that the wind turbine farms were what kept the earth spinning. I can easily see some one telling their children tall tales about a sword :)

David H

12/18/2015 02:36:54 pm

Get your authentic bronze Roman swords here!
Buy a few. Bury them in your yard, call the media and, Voila! Rewrite history! Hurry! Supplies are limited!

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Toscano-Gladiators-Sword-Pompeii/dp/B009QU8BDI

Doug

12/18/2015 07:17:06 pm

The Boston Standard significantly edited their original story last night. While the story is still posted and gaining a bit of traction, some of the original statements like "100% verified" have been removed. I did not know a "mainstream media" entity would edit out the disproven parts of a story and let the rest of the story stand.

Mike Morgan

12/19/2015 12:36:21 pm

I'm sorry, but as of 2PM CT today, the sixth paragraph still states "Pulitzer says this sword is ‘100 per cent confirmed’ and described it as the ‘smoking gun’ to his theory."

The only significant amendment I noticed was in the third paragraph where he was down graded from incorrectly being a ".. who also stars in the show ...", to the more correct "... who previously featured on the show, ...".

William MacDonald

12/19/2015 05:42:46 am

http://gnosticwarrior.com/roman-and-jewish-artifacts-tuscon-arizona.html#more-29243

Kathryn

12/21/2015 05:58:35 pm

Its Revival not Roman. Style is wrong and shows more Greek influence that would have been present in Roman types. Second, the piece is out of context meaning any "story" that is associated with the object is just that, a story. Furthermore for his claim that there is a "Roman" shipwreck being found of the coast of the island, I find it highly suspious that the evidence he lists for it being "Roman" have very little to do with an actual wreck and more to do with other items found out of context in the early 19th-20th Century. It is quiet possible that these or any items found in this location that confuse people are most likely associated with the island's history being that a notorious pirate was said to have hidden his treasure nearby. Which could easily explain why is has things that people of that time period would pay money to have and would make it more valuable to steal.

William B

12/22/2015 09:59:20 am

And it's available on eBay:

http://m.ebay.it/itm/301746768453?_mwBanner=1

Bobby B

12/22/2015 01:58:44 pm

I'm not sure if how he can call himself a professional anything , Normally any academic worth there salt spends years researching and fact checking just to get to the point where they can release a theory .This bloke decided to release the story himself to local news claiming that tests show it's 100% authentic because they didn't give the sword enough time on Oak island .

Rick Wright

1/14/2016 11:44:49 am

Who confirmed this sword. ? Sword looks Greek to me....

jesse

1/12/2016 07:44:13 pm

Just here me out. We know that the northmen were in the area. They had a vast network of trade and they did trade with Romans and Germans and celts that traded with the Romans. Where are most of the northmen artifacts found? Water, most are found in fresh water by many have been found in salt water.

Jan

1/13/2016 03:01:28 am

What "northmen"? If you're referring to the "L'Anse aux Meadows" settlement, that's over a thousand kilometers north east of Oak Island.

Also, the "northmen" settled there cca in the 10-11th century, which is nearly a 1000 years too late to be relevant. (at the time there were no Romans in the sense you speak of, nor the "Celts" nor "Germans" - Europe was full of their descendants, but almost all of them were Christian at this point and their swords looked entirely different. And obviously, nobody used bronze for swords.)

The idea that a viking settler dropped a Roman sword (which he presumably kept as a souvenir for some reason, all the way to America) all the way down south is equally implausible.

David

1/14/2016 08:24:59 pm

The comments on corrosion are correct. This site http://outreach.eurosites.info/outreach/gallery/album.php?id_album=8 shows what happens to metal in sea water, after one year it is almost completely eaten away and it was made of steel which is much more durable than bronze. I specialize in selling ancient coins since 2002 and occasionally come across authentic swords and spear heads, and theirs is an obvious fake. Just look up gladius on the British Museums web site to see real examples. Mind you those were all found in soil.

Brad

1/20/2016 08:11:54 am

The episode of "Curse of Oak Island" put this sword to rest last night. It was tested and shown to be a modern replica. The Zinc content was too high to be even a several hundred year old replica, let alone a 2000 year old replica.

Keith

1/22/2016 01:11:31 pm

I am not an expert on Roman crossbows but a quick google search will bring up several images of both crossbow and ballista (large artillery type crossbow) points. They all are hollow so that the shaft fits inside the point. The exact opposite of the ones supposedly found on Oak Island.

I see the work of a pathological liar in some of this.

Keith

The Ducketh Quacketh

3/7/2016 05:56:53 am

No no no you all have it wrong. This is an authentic Roman sword confirming Pulitzer's theory, you just have to fill in the other pieces of the puzzle.

His theory all works out because it involves time-travel where a replica of the zinc containing sword was purchased on eBay and then taken back to Roman time where it was brought across the Atlantic by Romans. It wasn't brought over by the technologically superior time-traveler because he/she wouldn't have sunk off of Oak Island in an old rickety Roman ship.

You people need to stop bashing Pulitzer for his amazing theory or throwing random tidbits that actually confirm his theories. Pulitzer deserves a Pulitzer Award, or even better, a Congressional Medal of Freedom for the free speech coming out of his myriad orifices.

I believe in Pulitzer 100% and you'll all be sorry when they also discover the ancient roman selfie stick and smartphone combo off the Halifax coast. You'll be sorry!!!

ken

3/19/2016 10:51:45 pm

ladies and gentleman I have the exact match of that sword . I tried to contact the show but got no answer ( I wonder why). I purchased the sword some 35 years ago in a roman flee market in rome. I took it to the metropolitan museum of modern art to be examined buy the curator of the museum in new York .he said it wasn't a real roman sword that was possibly made for a cecil b demill movie. I have it hanging on my wall where it will problely be for a long time . like the man said that show is all show and no go.iam posting my email address I have nothing to hide all you suckers excuse me believers can contact me if you whish. 3/20/16

Peter Geuzen

3/20/2016 08:54:59 am

Ken,

If you see this reply please note that there is a whole blog sub-section with more current posts than this one that you added to (right up to the present):

http://www.andywhiteanthropology.com/blog/category/swordgate

Please consider forwarding pictures and any other details of your find to Andy and we can add it to the data base that has been created. If you read through, there are over ten of these that have been documented (with one model, the Design Toscano version, still widely for sale today).

Andy White

3/20/2016 10:55:45 am

It's the legendary 13th sword! The curse will be lifted!

Seriously - I'll send you an email.

ken

2/19/2017 06:42:11 am

sword is brass or bronze.i was told 40 years ago by the curator of the metropolitan museum of modern art the sword was possibly made for a movie. there is a cast mark on the back of the handle the sides also seam to be two pieces combined together.i bought the sword in rome at a flee market.the sword might be a collectors item if your into old movies.

fred

3/20/2017 07:00:41 pm

From WIKI:
The CueCat was invented by J. Jovan Philyaw, who changed his name to J. Hutton Pulitzer.[3][4] Belo Corporation, then parent company of the Dallas Morning News and owner of many TV stations, invested US$37.5 million in Digital Convergence, Radio Shack $30 million, Young & Rubicam $28 million and Coca-Cola $10 million.[5] The total amount invested was $185 million.[6]

Starting in late 2000 and continuing for over a year, advertisements, special web editions and editorial content containing CueCat barcodes appeared in many U.S. periodicals, including Parade magazine, Forbes magazine and Wired magazine. The Dallas Morning News and other Belo-owned newspapers added the barcodes next to major articles and regular features like stocks and weather. Commercial publications such as AdWeek, BrandWeek and MediaWeek also employed the technology. The CueCat bar codes also appeared in select Verizon Yellow Pages, providing advertisers a link to additional information. For a time, RadioShack included these barcodes in its product catalogs and distributed CueCat devices through its retail chain to customers at no charge. CueCats were also bulk mailed (unsolicited) to certain mailing lists, such as subscribers of Forbes and Wired magazines.

In the Wall Street Journal, Walter Mossberg criticized CueCat: "In order to scan in codes from magazines and newspapers, you have to be reading them in front of your PC. That's unnatural and ridiculous." Mossberg wrote that the device "fails miserably. Using it is just unnatural." He concluded that the CueCat "isn't worth installing and using, even though it's available free of charge".[7] Joel Spolsky, a computer technology reviewer, also criticized the device as "not solving a problem" and characterized the venture as a "feeble business idea".[8]

The data format was proprietary, and was scrambled so the barcode data could not be read as plain text. However, the barcode itself is closely related to Code 128, and the scanner was also capable of reading EAN/UPC and other symbologies. Because of the weak obfuscation of the data, meant only to protect the company under DMCA guidelines (like the DVD protection Content Scramble System), the software for decoding the CueCat's output quickly appeared on the Internet, followed by a plethora of unofficial applications

The CueCat is widely described as a commercial failure. It was listed as one of "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time" by PC World magazine.[10] The CueCat's critics said the device was ultimately of little use: Jeff Salkowski of the Chicago Tribune wrote "You have to wonder about a business plan based on the notion that people want to interact with a soda can," while Debbie Barham of the Evening Standard quipped that the CueCat "fails to solve a problem which never existed."[11] In December 2009, the popular gadget blog Gizmodo voted the CueCat the #1 worst invention of the "2000s" decade.[12] A CBS News piece describing RadioShack's 2015 Chapter 11 bankruptcy lists the CueCat as just one of a long string of marketing failures[13] which contributed to the chain's demise.[14]

p j evans

3/6/2018 10:00:30 am

Irrelevant comment is irrelevant.

cindy

10/3/2017 01:42:07 pm

I got tired of reading all the comments but as a "friend" on Huttons FB, I saw some of his other friends offering suggestions about what stories would be good for the next years series. I suppose it is considered entertainment but many people think it is suppose to be true. So the sword could be real but most likely is not from the Oak Island area. Hutton also is pushing that liberal teachers are teaching "Hate America" and has a wealth of off shoot media blogs with crazy news to try and prove his point. I imagine this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have removed his posts.

J. Hutton Pulitzer: The Boy Who Cried "Smoking Gun Artifact"

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