The Lot 8 Boulder Feature: Evidence of a Seventeenth–Eighteenth Century Maritime Drainage Structure on Oak Island

Abstract A multi-ton boulder feature on Lot 8 of Oak Island exhibits elevated lead concentrations (140 ppm compared to an island baseline of ~12 ppm), ash deposits, and a structured rock-lined intake channel oriented downslope toward a proposed transport corridor. This paper evaluates the feature as a deliberately engineered drainage control point associated with seventeenth–eighteenth century maritime maintenance activity. Elevated lead concentrations are consistent with pre-copper hull sheathing and plumbing practices used in European naval yards prior to widespread copper adoption in the late eighteenth century. Spatial alignment with nearby stone infrastructure on Lots 26 and 5 suggests coordinated shoreline industrial use rather than isolated anomaly. The feature is interpreted as functional infrastructure within a temporary maritime operations site. ⸻