<P> Another theory holds that the Rosicrucians and their reported leader, Francis Bacon, organized a secret project to make Oak Island the home of its legendary vault with ingenious means to conceal ancient manuscripts and artifacts . Researchers and cryptographers such as Petter Amundsen and Daniel Ronnstam claim to have found codes hidden in Shakespeare, rock formations on the island, and clues hidden in other 16th - and 17th - century art and historical documents . According to Daniel Ronnstam, the stone found at 90 feet (27 m) contains a dual cipher created by Bacon . </P> <P> Author Joy Steele suggests that the money pit is actually a tar kiln dating to the historical period when "Oak Island served as a tar - making location as part of the British naval stores industry". When marine biologist Barry Fell attempted to have the symbols on the stone translated during the late 1970s, he said that the symbols resembled the Coptic alphabet and read: "To escape contagion of plague and winter hardships, he is to pray for an end or mitigation the Arif: The people will perish in misery if they forget the Lord, alas ." According to Fell's theory, Coptic migrants sailed from North Africa to Oak Island and constructed the pit . </P>

Who built the abandoned tunnels on skull island