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Swordgate Third Anniversary Super Terrific Happy Hour Celebration

12/16/2018

8 Comments

 
Three years ago today, I was cleaning the kitchen floor in anticipation of the arrival of relatives for the holidays. Through Facebook I became aware of J. Hutton Pulitzer's ludicrous claim that a ""100% confirmed" Roman sword had been recovered from a shipwreck off of Oak Island. The debacle that followed remains, in my opinion, a great example of how facts, logic, and reality can triumph over lies, nonsense, and fantasy in real time. Swordgate remains the most fun I've ever had dealing with pseudoarchaeology online. I can't imagine it will ever be repeated, which is why it's worth remembering and celebrating.

​The final chapter on Swordgate remains to be written. There are still a few swords that we're aware of that we don't have many details about, and we're still missing the real "smoking gun" to nail down exactly when and where these Fake Hercules Swords were first produced. Without a doubt, however, they are all modern creations. There is and never was a "Naples Museum sword." The sword purportedly found on Oak Island didn't come from a shipwreck, was not covered in gold, did not have magical navigational powers, and it is not made using Roman-era metallurgical methods. The sword will never appear in history books. There will never be a "White Paper," and you will probably never get an admission from the principal proponent of the sword that the whole thing was a big pile of baloney.  C'est la vie.​
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To celebrate this year's anniversary, the hearty band of sword researchers on the Fake Hercules Sword group on Facebook is having a contest to create a new cover image for the group. I made this trophy for the winner. The "100% Mightier" award for 2018 is a pen holder made from two roofing nails, the flange from a garbage disposal, a piece of chromed tubing, and a Hercules action figure I bought on eBay for $5.​ Pen not included.
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Note: it's not that we're snobs, but we've intentionally kept the membership of the Facebook group limited to those who have taken a more-or-less active interest in investigating the swords. It's a public group, so you can see what's in it if you're interested. But we're not looking for new members unless you've got something to contribute. It's a pretty small club.
Other than keeping our eyes open . . . there's not a whole lot going on with the swords these days. New facts have been few this year. There are still die-hards out there who maintain, for whatever reason, that the poorly-cast cheap brass souvenir trinket sword with blurred features, dull edges, obvious filing marks, a fake patina probably created by urination is an actual Roman artifact that will rewrite history. I don't know what to say to those people. They're probably still watching The Curse of Oak Island and still convinced that a Roman Legion sailed there and buried something important that the government doesn't want them to know about. Enjoy the humbug this holiday season, I suppose. And add this piece of an old frog gig to your pile of "evidence."

If you're at all into this nonsense (and you're reading this blog post, so I like my chances), check out this Third Anniversary video by Peter Geuzen:
I solemnly pledge that by the fourth anniversary I'll finally get the database and everything else in the archives tidied up and up-to-date. Maybe I'll even get a draft of the Swordgate paper going. 

​In the spirit of remembrance for those of us who live in reality, here are some important retrospective posts from previous years. Enjoy!
​
  • "Ten Great Moments in Swordgate History: A Look Back" (6/11/2016)
  • "Swordgate Year One: 365 Days of Thimblerigging" (12/16/2016)
  • ​"And a Very Merry Swordgate to You!" (12/26/2016) 
8 Comments
Peter
12/16/2018 11:45:43 am

Shameless I know, but here's the Third Anniversary video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU5EqXO546I

A couple minor rabbit holes to still look down, and a few questions that could still be answered, but "The sword will never appear in history books." ...pretty much sums things up right now..

Reply
Andy White
12/17/2018 05:34:48 am

I have linked it in the post. Thank you for your service.

Reply
Dr. Philip
12/27/2018 12:55:15 am

Man you need to get over this sword. It's like a bad break up. You are now obsessed. Just because of one bad apple (lets put aside for a moment that it could also still be real) there are lot of other Roman artifacts found in and near the island, and also around North & South America. I'm curious what standard you would need to be applied before you would be satisfied of ancient European vs North America contact. Before you would eat crow to your academic peers and students?

Walt Scolter
12/27/2018 06:39:07 am

Trolling, the art of fishing but fishing can also be done with a spear, a spear called a fake Roman pilum, but what is a big fake fishing spear if not a sword, a fake Roman sword that will forever define the stink of a fish, thus the stink of this troll.

Andy White
12/28/2018 06:18:36 am

Dr. Phil,

Here is the standard: a real archaeological site with real artifacts in real context. That means something that can't be faked. There are millions of actual archaeological sites in North America that date to the Roman period, and NOT A SINGLE ONE has produced a Roman artifact in context. All you need is single actual site -- no big deal, right? With all these Romans running around dropping coins and swords and pilums you'd think it would be a simple matter to find a Roman fire hearth, or house foundation, of piece of broken Roman pottery in a Native American feature dating to the Woodland period . . . let me know when you come across any of those things and then I'm all ears. Until then it's a joke!

Dr. Philip
12/24/2018 12:29:03 pm

Guys, perhaps the sword is not real, but please don't ignore the other Roman artifacts found on the island. Just two weeks ago the Curse of Oak Island show announced and confirmed another Roman artifact. Here is a news article featuring the discovery. What do you all think?

"Metal detection expert Gary Drayton, who lived in Spilsby and Boston before moving to the US, discovered what was initially believed to be an old ‘Templar’ iron crossbow bolt on the island’s south-west shore. This has since been examined by antiquities expert Gabriel Vandervort, who states the object is actually a Roman ‘pilum’ - the metal tip of a throwing spear. He says this was used by the Romans as much as 2,000 years ago, ‘between the the first century BC to the fifth century AD’. After unearthing the pilum about 10 inches under the surface, Gary said: “Wow - that is unbelievable! This is very, very old!” before kissing it.

As reported by the Standard back in December 2015, this weapon piece is part of a growing body of evidence that Romans did indeed travel to the New World long before Colombus made landfall in 1492. Although a sword allegedly found off the coast of Oak Island was initially believed to be Roman, but later deemed to be a Victorian-era replica, there are numerous other artefacts and clues which point to the theory Romans sailed to the New World in antiquity."

Read more at: https://www.bostonstandard.co.uk/whats-on/arts/lincolnshire-treasure-hunter-finds-roman-artefact-on-oak-island-which-could-rewrite-history-1-8729530

Reply
Saluki
2/9/2019 06:24:44 pm

Calling Vandervort an antiques expert is a big stretch. No relevant credentials and a dubious reputation.

http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2010/06/more-secretive-dealings-in-antiquities.html

Reply
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