Narrator: Tonight on the curse of oak island...
-We've never seen that before. -No.
Oh, wow. Look at this.
It's looking like some sort of
Fairly large feature.
This could be important for the whole story.
This object is from medieval europe.
Wow. This adds validity to zena's map.
Rick: We're trying to track the gold back to a source.
Ian: The area in pink there
Would be exactly where the gold is.
Wow. That is astounding.
-Yeah. -Let's go.
(laughter)
Narrator: There is an island in the north atlantic
Where people have been looking for
An incredible treasure for more than 200 years.
So far, they have found a stone slab
With strange symbols carved into it...
...Man-made workings that date to medieval times,
And a lead cross whose origin may be connected
To the knights templar.
To date, six men have died
Trying to solve the mystery.
And according to legend, one more will have to die
Before the treasure can be found.
♪ ♪
Marty: Okay, guys, let's talk about the money pit area.
I thought maybe we should get caught up again.
Yup.
Narrator: As a new day begins
On oak island for brothers
Rick and marty lagina,
They have gathered in the research center
With their partner craig tester
And members of their team to decide their next
Course of action in the money pit area
In the hopes of finally solving
A 228-year-old mystery.
Steve: So, marty,
Our drill program this year encompassed
All the areas that we didn't drill before,
And it's given us information
In all the areas we didn't have before.
That new information suggests
The garden shaft stands
A chance at being the money pit.
Narrator: The garden shaft is an 80-foot-deep structure
Filled with water and debris
That may date to the early 18th century.
Steve: There we go.
Narrator: It is also a location
Where the team has obtained
High trace evidence of gold
During recent water testing.
Ian: We've sampled wells within the money pit area,
And we found gold in, uh, the garden shaft.
(laughter)
Narrator: Six weeks ago, the team enlisted
A mining company named dumas contracting ltd.
To begin reconstructing the garden shaft
In order to find out just what lies at the bottom.
But unfortunately,
The project is currently on hold
Due to permitting issues
That may not be resolved for several more weeks.
Show me the garden shaft.
Steve: Okay.
There we go.
Rick: My thought on this is
We have to have a short-term plan
Because once the garden shaft project restarts,
We are not going to be able to do any more work
In terms of drilling assets in the area,
So we need to gain
As much information as we can
About this area around the garden shaft.
Yeah.
I'm where I've always been this year,
Which is, uh, follow the gold.
-Yeah. -Marty: I'm focused on
Chasing that gold to where it's coming from.
I want to chase it. I want to chase it hard.
-Yes. -Marty: Actually,
We're kind of overdue to get another gold report, aren't we?
-Yeah. -Scott: Yes.
When these wells were drilled,
They wanted to give those wells
Several weeks to settle before taking another round of samples.
So, we have no new data on the gold hunt
-In the garden shaft area. -No.
So, we need to get some science down there,
Meaning water samples.
Right.
Narrator: In addition, the team has also obtained
Trace evidence of gold in various concentrations
From a number of boreholes
In close proximity to the garden shaft area.
So now, they must attempt to determine just where
The ultimate source of potential treasure may be hidden.
Rick: We did get some high gold readings
In close proximity to the garden shaft,
But we don't know where
These high gold values are coming from.
So, I think we should be
Chasing the gold back to a source.
"x" marks the spot.
So, what do you want to do next?
Um...
Ian wants to take some water samples,
I believe, elevations from the new wells
Up right by the garden shaft.
We'll go ahead and pick some locations
And make sure everybody's on board.
Okay.
We've got to follow up all these potential leads.
-Right. -Absolutely.
Marty: It's entirely possible
That the money pit
Is in or near the garden shaft.
We need to apply a lot of science there.
We need some more sampling. We need to chase the gold.
If we get a firm target near the garden shaft
By tracing the gold in the water,
We could recover this treasure.
Well, I think we're all on the same page now.
-Yup. -Yup.
Let's go get some more data, all right?
-Craig: Yeah. -Steve: Yup. -Rick: Absolutely.
Narrator: Following the meeting in the research center...
Gary: I got high hopes for today.
There is a sea of flags in there.
How m... How many are in there?
There are 42 flags, mate.
-Really? -Yeah.
Narrator: ...Rick has joined up
With metal detection expert gary drayton on lot 5,
Located near the middle of oak island.
Rick: Those flags, to me, say one thing:
Let's go find some stuff.
-Okay, mate. -You lead.
Narrator: After purchasing lot 5 just two weeks ago,
Rick, marty, craig and the team
Have already made a number of incredible discoveries,
Including tools and a musket ball
That may predate the 16th century.
However, they also found a hand-forged half coin
That could be one of the oldest finds ever made on oak island.
My thoughts, and I think
I'm, you know, pretty confident, that this is roman.
Roman, baby. (laughs) oh.
(laughter)
Okay, here's the first flag, mate.
(metal detector beeping)
Rick: Look at this. Sounds good.
Well, we'll see what it is.
Just there, mate, in that depression.
Narrator: Having already flagged a number of metal targets
Earlier this morning,
Gary drayton has now received permission
From archeologist laird niven
To dig them up.
I don't want to dig too... Too aggressive.
Gary: That is crazy deep.
I'll try pinpointing it and then grabbing it out, then.
(beeps)
That is a little screamer of a signal.
There it is.
Here we go.
What the heck is that?
It's thick and heavy.
You know what that is?
-Nope. -From the look of it,
This looks like some kind of blade-like tool.
This has got all the characteristics
Of being something really old.
Narrator: Another potentially ancient tool?
Is it possible that gary and rick have found
More evidence that people were conducting an operation
On lot 5 long before the discovery of the money pit?
Gary: Okay, we'll bag it.
Narrator: If so, who was it,
And what were they doing in the middle of oak island?
If it's a tool, why is it that deep?
-Yeah. -That makes no sense.
-Exactly, yeah. -Perfect candidate
-For an xrf. -Yeah.
It's going to be exciting finding out what it is.
Okay, mate. Let's get to the next flag.
Okay.
(metal detector beeping)
-Rick: A little jumpy, but... -Gary: Yeah.
Rick: ...Nice tone.
It's this side of this root.
Actually, it might be actually be
-Under the root. -Wow.
I'm hoping not.
Rick: Problem is,
There's more than one root there.
Gary: At least I'll be able to get my pin-pointer in there.
Enough for now.
Gary: Okay, mate. Let's see if you moved it.
I think it's under this root.
-Where the heck is this? Oh. -(beeping)
Is it that?
(beeping)
Yeah, it's this.
Some kind of old fastener, rick.
-Hey, marty. -Guys.
What's this?
Gary: My guess, it was an old fastener.
-Square shanked. -Marty: Wow.
Gary: I ain't a clue how old it is.
We're gonna bag it,
And I'll recheck the hole, mate.
Marty: Okay, good.
(metal detector beeping)
Now I'm getting another target.
Let me see if I can pin-point it.
-(beeping) -no, we're not far away.
It's somewhere in here.
It's in this little area here.
Yeah, deeper down.
Got it.
It's in my hand.
All right.
Rick: What is it?
It's in here somewhere.
Ooh.
Is that pottery?
Gary: I think it might be.
If it's pottery,
It's a... A weird design.
Rick: It's pottery. Glazed.
Brilliant.
(beeping)
Oh, my goodness.
We've never seen that before.
No. Way the hell down there.
-Yeah. -Marty: Maybe you should look around
In there for more pottery?
I'll take a look.
-Rick: There actually is. -All right.
Oh, my. Bigger pieces.
But look how degraded it is.
Gary: Yeah, it is, huh?
It's not the same as that other piece.
There's more, too.
Marty: Keep digging, rick.
Actually, there's quite a bit more.
Wow, that's some nice pieces of pottery, isn't it?
And this looks like fine stuff.
Wow, this is beautiful.
Marty: I want to know, right away, how old that is.
-Gary: Yeah. -Yeah, I think we should stop.
Let's get laird over here.
Yup, that is a great idea.
Marty: Laird will have a field day with that.
Gary: Yeah, you got that right, mate.
Marty: Hey, and there's the expert.
What an interesting spot.
Helen: Oh, my heavens.
Narrator: On lot 5,
Located on the western side of oak island,
Archeologists laird niven
And helen sheldon, along with craig tester
Join rick, marty and gary drayton
To inspect a number
Of potentially important discoveries.
Gary: We got a lot of iron,
But now we've got some fantastic pottery out of there.
-Marty: Yeah, yeah. -Gary: And I don't think
We've seen this style of pottery before.
Marty: Let's see what you come up with.
Helen: That looks like pearl ware.
There's a series of standard designs.
You can actually date the designs.
These, definitely, because of the decoration.
-Marty: Okay. -That's called "press molded,"
And this sort of press molding started in 1740.
Well, that's good.
Helen: Yeah.
The type of ceramic itself is 1720.
Wow.
Early 1700s.
-That's pretty cool. -Helen: Yeah.
-Yeah. It's english. Yes. -Gary: Oh, it's english?
Gary: Would the british military
Have this type of pottery as well?
Oh, yeah, sure. It was, um, it was common. Yeah.
Narrator: 18th-century english pottery
Dating back more than 50 years prior
To the discovery of the money pit?
Because the team has previously
Found evidence of an 18th-century
British military operation
On oak island, could it offer more evidence
That someone of english origin
Was connected to the 228-year-old mystery?
Or were they looking for something
That had been buried here centuries earlier?
Now, is this type of pottery a sign of wealth or no?
It wasn't the cheapest pottery around.
No, because of the decoration on it.
Laird: Yeah, it was highly decorated.
I mean, you're interested
In taking a further look, aren't you?
-Yeah. -Marty: That's what I thought.
We stopped in order to allow you to do your work.
Laird: I think we can find an edge.
With all those rocks, a small...
You need room to work.
...A small unit's not going to work.
Gary: There could be actually anything down there...
-Helen: Yeah. -...Because I'm using a surface metal detector.
That's fairly deep.
Well, okay, we'll turn this one over to the archeologists,
And we'll keep looking for pieces of metal.
-How's that? -Gary: Yeah.
Narrator: As laird and helen
Begin their investigation
Of the mysterious site on lot 5...
-Rick: This will be interesting. -Matt: That's right.
Narrator: ...Rick lagina joins geo-scientist dr. Ian spooner
And chemist dr. Matt lukeman
In the money pit area to begin collecting
New water samples from previously drilled
Boreholes near the garden shaft.
Water samples that they will analyze
In order to track the source of gold and silver
That has recently been detected deep underground.
Rick: So, these are the two wells
-We were speaking about. -Ian: Yup.
It's intersected wood,
So very interested in that.
Narrator: L-16 and k-15.5,
Located some 60 feet south of the garden shaft...
There's a timber right there.
Narrator: ...Are two boreholes where the team
Has encountered a wooden tunnel
Some 103 feet deep that may date back
As far as the 17th century.
Rick: This area is highly disturbed.
-We hit wood... -Ian: Right.
...At an elevation that is interesting.
So, what you intend to do here
Is to draw some samples
-For gold. -Gold.
-Yeah. -Ian: Yeah.
So, if wood's down there, somebody was doing something,
And so, what we noticed
Last year with the gold was we primarily found it
At sites that were connected or disturbed.
We sampled it already once.
We want to continue to sample to see if it changes
Hydraulic gradient.
If we can find
An isolated area with high gold,
Then it's very likely
There was some human activity that was involved.
Any information we get here, I would think
That you would both also want to take samples
From the garden shaft, right?
Ian: Absolutely. It has to be done.
So, this is k-15.5
Matt: So, we need to weight it a little bit
To get it to drop through the water.
-Good. -Matt: Yeah.
Ian: So, we'll see how this goes.
So, this hole goes to 115,
So, we'll try to get down to 110.
Narrator: To collect their water samples, the team is using
A biodegradable single-valve bailer.
As the bailer descends into the well,
It fills up through an opening at the top.
Once it reaches a desired depth,
A ball sinks into place,
Sealing the water sample inside the tube.
This will prevent contamination from other depths
While the device is brought back to the surface.
-We're about 110. This is good because -yeah.
What we just hope is we get a nice clear sample.
We'll just reel it in.
Rick: What we're trying to do
Is find the bullseye on the dartboard,
I.E., the money pit.
Marty: We know there's precious metals in the water,
And I think we can trace those concentrations
Back to wherever it's coming from.
And that somewhere could easily be our treasure.
Ian: Here we go.
Oh, that's beautiful. Nice and clear.
Yeah. That's great.
Ian: Ready?
Rick: Let's get the data off. Get some results back.
Ian: There you go, matt.
There we go.
Rick: Wouldn't it be amazing that,
After all this exhaustive work that people have put in
For 200-some years,
And the answers come from a bottle of water?
That's just remarkable.
Yeah. We just got to follow up
-And see where it leads us. -Hundred percent.
Narrator: As dr. Ian spooner and dr. Matt lukeman
Continue to collect water samples
Throughout the money pit area,
Approximately 50 miles northeast,
In the city of halifax, nova scotia...
Peter: All right, here we are.
...Peter fornetti,
Oak island historian charles barkhouse,
And archaeometallurgist emma culligan
Have arrived at st. Mary's university.
Peter: We're bringing some good artifacts,
So hopefully we can get some good information.
Emma: Thank you.
Gary: Big old log on there.
And we got a plank here, as well.
Narrator: One week ago,
The team unearthed hand-worked wood
And a large iron spike on lot 10,
Just north of the triangle-shaped swamp.
It was here that the late landowner fred nolan
Believed a wall had been installed long ago
To artificially create the swamp
In order to hide something of great value.
Incredibly, this location also matched one labeled "the dam"
On a reported 14th-century map of oak island
That the late researcher zena halpern believed
Was created by members of the knights templar.
Emma: Hi.
-Charles: Hi, dr. Brosseau. -Christa: How are you guys?
Narrator: Now, peter, emma and charles
Are meeting with chemist dr. Christa brosseau
To have her analyze, and hopefully date
Just how old the iron spike could be.
How are things going? Finding lots of things?
Yeah, we have one that's very curious for us.
-Okay. -We were digging
Right around the three, four-feet level,
And we found an iron spike, and we're hoping
That this iron artifact may give us some context
To what we're hoping to find there.
All right, awesome.
So, an object
Like this, it's too big
To go in the microscope as a whole piece,
So I'll clean off a bit of the surface,
And then I'll take a very small sample,
And then, uh,
We will see what we find.
Sounds great.
Christa: We don't need very much at all
For sem analysis.
Rick: I remain consistent in my belief
That there are answers in the swamp, and I'm hoping
This technology might reveal some of those answers.
Christa: All right.
I think the anomaly, zena's map,
And the data to date suggests something is there.
Hey, xiang.
-How are you doing today? -Hello.
Narrator: Dr. Brosseau
And her colleague dr. Xiang yang
Will examine the iron sample
Under a high-powered
Scanning electron microscope,
Or sem,
That can not only magnify objects
Up to 200,000 times their actual size,
But also determine its chemical composition.
We'll see what we find here.
So, with iron, it's a bit tricky.
There are some indicators of age.
One that we often look at is manganese.
If we see manganese, uh,
It's often a flag for a modern iron.
And here, we don't see manganese.
So, that's a good indication that you're looking at
Something that's likely older.
Okay.
Christa: We do see sulfur,
Which is quite large.
You typically see iron ores with a high sulfur content
Between 1700 and 1750.
Of course, it can come from a sulfur-rich environment.
Yeah, it's on the edge of the swamp,
-Is where we found this. -Christa: On the edge of the swamp.
Kind of deep, so there might be sulfur in that.
There's a lot of swamp... Actually, yeah.
I like to take soil samples
Anytime there's an artifact extracted.
-Right. -Emma: But yeah, the swamp,
I do remember high contents of sulfur.
So, likely, it's from a local environment.
-Yeah. -Christa: Hmm.
Peter: So, if the sulfur is in the soil
And it's not from the metal itself,
It's potentially even older than 1700?
Yes, it could be.
Peter: So, it's potentially even older than 1700?
Yes, but I would do a section to confirm.
Okay.
Narrator: At st. Mary's university
In halifax, nova scotia,
Chemists dr. Christa brosseau and dr. Xiang yang
Have just shared data
Suggesting that the iron spike found one week ago
Where a man-made dam is believed to lie buried
Just north of the swamp,
May predate the discovery of the money pit
By more than a century.
Yeah. When we see phosphorus in an iron ore,
It's called "phosphoric iron."
Typically, the phosphorus is original to the ore,
And it hasn't been removed in smelting.
Very common in, um, medieval europe.
Very common in northern britain,
Because iron ore from that region,
Historically, has been rich in phosphorus, so...
It seems like a lot of the artifacts
That we're finding on oak island
Are british
In design or manufacture.
You know, when you mention England,
I was in royston cave.
There was physical evidence
That can support the early, early activity
On the island, too.
Whoa.
Welcome to a templar initiation chamber.
Charles: Wow.
Narrator: Earlier this year,
Charles, along with marty and alex lagina,
Traveled to royston, England
Where author and researcher gretchen cornwall
Gave them a tour of royston cave,
A site that some believe was used for secret rituals
By the knights templar
Between the 12th and 14th centuries.
Although the cave walls featured a number of carvings
That may be related to the oak island mystery,
The most incredible was the number 1347.
The exact date that was written
On zena halpern's believed 14th-century templar map.
You know, not only does this add validity to fred's theory,
But also validity to zena's map.
-Yeah. -So, it's, uh, kind of like
-A double-pronged approach here. -Peter: Yeah.
Maybe some of the pieces are starting to come together
Of just what took place on oak island, so...
Yeah. Awesome. I like it.
Peter: We have so much good information
That we need to bring back to the guys.
So, thank you again,
And we're going to get out of here.
-You've got some work to do. -Peter: Yes, we do.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
Thanks for dropping by. See you.
-See you. -Bye-bye.
Narrator: As a new day begins on oak island...
Ian: Perfect. We're all done here.
Matt: All set for the next hole?
Yup.
Narrator: ...While dr. Ian spooner
And dr. Matt lukeman continue
To gather water samples in the money pit area...
Laird: Hey, helen.
-Helen: Hey, how're you doing? -Good, how are you?
-Good. -Introducing miriam
-To lot 5. -Cool.
...On lot 5,
Archaeologists laird niven
And helen sheldon welcome their colleague
Miriam amirault back to the island.
Laird: So, how are things going?
Good.
Narrator: She has come to assist the investigation
Of an area where a number of 18th-century british artifacts,
Which predate the discovery of the money pit
By half a century or more,
Were discovered just one day ago.
So, it's looking like we have
A rock-filled excavation
-Of some sort. -Laird: Yeah.
And all the artifacts are being fairly early,
Like there's no mixing of modern in with them.
-Laird: Yeah. So, that's good. -Yeah.
-This is really interesting. -Yeah.
Narrator: A rock-filled feature?
One predating the discovery of the money pit?
If so, what was its purpose,
And what else might it contain?
We're just getting a hint right now
With the artifacts and the rocks that,
Perhaps, we're into something, um,
Substantial and important.
I'm still going down, we haven't reached the bottom yet,
So maybe if miriam could jump in there...
-Sure. -...And work from that side,
-And I'll keep going here? -Laird: Okay.
And then, maybe laird
-Could screen for us? -I will screen. Yeah.
Helen: We'll work like that.
Narrator: As miriam and helen
Carefully remove soil from the feature,
Laird will sift the materials for important clues
And possible valuables.
Well, it sifts nicely.
I think I may have something here.
Just let me get it out.
Hmm.
We've never found this before.
I mean, it looks blue and white.
Tin-glazed.
-Old. -That's old. -It is old.
That's delicate stuff.
We have to be really careful.
Wow.
It's called delftware.
I'm not sure what the starting date for that...
Certainly mid-1700s.
So, it would be english.
Helen: Nice.
Yeah, so that's a first for the island.
We've never found tin-glazed before.
That's awesome.
Narrator: Delftware, dating back
At least a half century before the discovery of the money pit?
If so, could it be another clue
That lot 5 may contain critical answers
Related to something of great value
That lies hidden on oak island?
Laird: So, two ceramic types have come out of here
That we've never seen anywhere else on the island.
-Two early ceramic types. -Yeah.
-Two early ceramic types. -Helen: Nice.
-Really nice. Yeah. -That's really awesome.
-Yeah. Put that in the bag. -Yeah.
Laird: Gently. (chuckles)
The really bizarre thing to me
Is that this is a lot we know nothing about.
We certainly know of no occupation in the 1790s,
And all of a sudden we're transported
Back to the middle of the 1700s.
So, it changes the game completely
As far as I'm concerned.
Can I empty your bucket there, miriam?
Miriam: Yeah, sure.
Laird: I love it
Because it's a mystery,
And it's through archeology,
I feel, that we can solve that mystery.
Helen: Wow, look at this.
-Oh. -Oh, wow.
Laird: That's not something we find every day.
Helen: No, it isn't.
Narrator: On lot 5,
Located on the western side of oak island,
Archaeologists helen sheldon,
Miriam amirault
And laird niven have just found
Another potentially important clue
In a mysterious back-filled feature.
Helen: It's copper. It's a copper nail.
Because of all the green, right?
Because iron nails go all rusty,
So you get the rust deposit on them.
Laird: It's pretty heavy-duty, and it's really squat.
Yeah. Feel it.
It's got heft to it, too, right?
Laird: Yeah. Might get a rose head.
It'll be nice to clean that up.
It's hand-forged?
Helen: Uh, yeah. Which kind of suggests
Boat building, doesn't it, with copper nails?
Laird: Yeah, because it's, uh, it resists corrosion.
Yeah, and salt water.
Narrator: A rose-headed copper nail?
Dating back to as early as 3500 bc,
Hand-forged copper nails were first used
By the ancient egyptians and romans
For the construction of large sailing vessels
In order to ensure durability
While on long journeys at sea.
Over the past decade, the oak island team
Has unearthed a number of ship-related artifacts,
Such as wood fragments and decking spikes in the swamp,
That have ranged from as late as the 18th century
To as early as the 3rd century ad.
Could this copper nail be related to those discoveries,
As well as the evidence of a possible dam?
And if so,
Might it also be connected to the hammered coin
That was found on lot 5 two weeks ago,
Which is believed to be of roman origin?
That's a really cool find.
It is.
We're finding some really, really cool stuff
Just in this one little area, so, I think
-We need to keep going. -Miriam: Yeah, for sure.
What's going on in lot 5?
Laird (chucking): Right?
Marty: I'm convinced lot 5
Is something significant,
Either just historically,
Or maybe in our treasure hunt.
So, it makes this area
Extremely important and extremely interesting
For us to figure out.
Laird: Wow.
You can almost see a clear line,
Right where your right foot is.
-Here. Yeah. -Yeah.
Laird: I mean, it's turning out to be really something else.
Helen: It's looking like some sort of fairly large feature
That we have going on here.
-Laird: Yeah. -Helen: Yeah.
So, our current thinking is that
There was something here
Pre-1770s?
Wow.
Laird: And then, it was intentionally buried.
For whatever reason.
The fill is old, but the feature could be
-Even older. -Helen: Even older. Yeah.
Wow.
Narrator: If archaeologist laird niven
Is correct that this structure,
Which predates the money pit by several decades or more,
Was purposely buried, then what was it used for
That compelled whoever created it to hide its existence?
Any find on lot 5 at this point,
Especially anything that, again, is pre-depositional,
Yes, it's exceedingly interesting.
I think there are some very good clues
As to what may have happened on oak island
That are still underground on lot 5,
And we're nowhere near done.
I think there's more yet to be revealed.
Laird: This was, uh, not just a cabin in the woods.
-Miriam: Yeah. -This was something
A little more substantial than that.
-Really cool. -Helen: Nice.
-Really cool finds so far, huh? -Laird: Yeah.
Keep it up.
Narrator: While laird, helen and miriam
Continue their investigation on lot 5...
-Rick: Hi, emma. -Emma: Hi, hi.
-Doug: How was the road trip? -Emma: It was good
And really instructive.
Got a lot of information.
Narrator: ...Emma culligan joins
Rick lagina, tom nolan
And other members of the team at the interpretive centre
To share the report from her recent trip
To st. Mary's university.
Tom: This very well could be
A piece of what we're looking for
In the swamp, so I'm interested to see
What you can tell us about that.
Uh, yeah, so,
This iron pin, there is some phosphorous in it.
-Wow. -The phosphor content
Usually comes from England
And, kind of, northern european areas.
And there is a content
Of sulfur, which makes it old.
-Mm-hmm. -Like 1700s or earlier.
Doug: When you say, "earlier,"
Could that fit a "1200" timeframe?
Yeah.
Emma: So, I did some research,
And the phosphorous could come from bog iron.
So, bog iron is the earliest forms of iron that you use.
-Doug: Right. -Tom: Well, obviously
That's kind of the date we like to see,
-You know? -Yeah.
Because it predates everything, you know?
-Emma: Mm-hmm. -Settlement, searchers.
Then you're-you're going back to whoever did this,
Which is what we'd all like to know,
Rather we get back to 1200 or where we are,
So I think it's a really important item.
It was probably used to put something together.
Yeah.
Uh, it's starting to really look like there's something
-Along that beach. -Yup.
To me the thing is,
When you look at zena's map,
It says "dam."
And fred is saying there's a wall there.
Well, what is a dam?
Essentially, a barrier against movement of water. A dam.
So, I'm-I'm excited
About the possibilities.
My belief would be, if the structure is there,
It's original work, and that would be a real "ah-ha" moment.
It might even meet the criteria of "the one thing."
If zena's map is real,
It's the best lead we have.
-Correct. -Rick: But the very first thing
Is target a zone of interest, and then
We need a permit to dig further
Into the bog on lot 10
To investigate these targets.
And how ironic.
We went looking for a dam,
And we found a damn good find.
(laughter)
My dad wrote a book
About his exploration work on the island,
And, you know, I think
I'm going to have a look at the book
A little closer because
There could be information
Just like this, you know, possible dam
We're looking at, that may be helpful for us.
Rick: That'd be great, tom.
I think you're spot-on about that.
I love the find, but at the end of the day,
What do we always say?
The mystery won't get solved here.
So, I think everybody has something to do, let's go do it.
-Alex: Okay. -Tom: Sounds good.
Narrator: As a new day of exploration begins on oak island...
Miriam: Hello.
-Marty: Well, good morning. -Miriam: Hi.
-Rick: Good morning. -Gary: Wow, they've been busy.
Narrator: ...Rick, marty and craig,
Along with metal detection expert gary drayton,
And jack begley join archaeologists
Helen sheldon and miriam amirault
For an updated report
On the mysterious man-made structure
Recently discovered on lot 5.
-Wow, that's deep. -Yeah, it's very deep.
Narrator: A structure
Where the fellowship of the dig
Has recently unearthed a number of artifacts
Believed to pre-date the discovery of the money pit
By half a century or more.
What's going on here?
Helen: So, we have, um,
Some sort of in-filled rock depression.
-Marty: Mm-hmm. -As far as we can tell, this has been excavated out.
We're getting artifacts going all the way down.
And what are those?
We've had a piece of tin-glazed earthenware,
Which... The date range
On tin-glazed earthenware is 1650 to 1750.
-Wow. -Gary: Wow.
Helen: On this side, we had
A lovely little copper nail.
That's a ship sort of thing, isn't it?
Yeah, it's normally associated with boat building
Because they don't corrode as much in salt water.
Right. Exactly.
Who knows how far it goes in the other three directions?
We just have a glimpse of it right now.
-Okay. -Helen: Also, there's no modern stuff mixed in with it.
-Which is really cool for us. -Helen: Yeah.
-Craig: Yeah. -So, I always ask myself,
"how does this impact what we are trying to do here?"
Which, you know, we're trying to uncover a treasure mystery.
-Or some mystery. -Yeah.
And in a lot that nobody ever...
There's no record of habitation here, is that correct?
We haven't found any records. No.
That's what's most interesting for me,
It's we don't know what was going on specifically here.
-Right. Nothing. -Like, I think there's some mystery to that
And that's kind of exciting.
Right. Is this a good landing place?
I mean, if somebody was doing something here?
Yeah. It's pre-discovery of the money pit.
-Yes, by a long ways. -Helen: Yeah.
Problem is, it's quite a ways from the money pit.
Yeah.
Yeah, but you know what, if you're...
If you're trying to do things clandestinely,
You don't want to camp your guys over there.
No.
Marty: The more we look into it,
The more lot 5 might mean.
I'd like to know what that thing is.
It could have had something to do with the original
Depositors on oak island. It very well could have.
-Well, it's interesting as heck. -Craig: Yeah.
It sounds typical oak island to me.
(laughs) what the heck is it?
Okay, so we're going to hop back in and dig.
Okay, sounds good.
Marty: Excellent job, guys.
Find some cool stuff.
Narrator: Two days later...
-Scott: Hey, guys. -Rick: Hi, guys.
-Ian: Hello. -Marty: Good day.
This is the war room I've been waiting for.
Narrator: ...Rick and marty lagina
Have gathered members of the team in the war room
For a meeting with dr. Ian spooner,
Dr. Matt lukeman
And their colleague, hydrogeologist dr. Fred michel.
I am all ears. I want to know about the gold.
Narrator: After analyzing
The recent water samples that were collected from boreholes
Near the garden shaft in the money pit area,
Dr. Spooner, dr. Lukeman and dr. Michel
Are ready to present their findings
Regarding the possible location
Of the legendary oak island treasure.
I'll turn it over to you, dr. Spooner.
Ian: Thank you very much.
Yeah, so right now, we're looking at
The money pit area,
But what we're really interested in
Is in what's happening in the garden shaft,
Because we're trying to find a source
To where this gold is coming from.
Right.
Ian: We sent in a few samples
From the monitoring wells,
And those have been from two depths:
Around the 110,
-And then around the 150 intervals. -Mm-hmm.
Next slide, please.
This is really fred's work,
So, fred, you're here.
Why don't you talk a little bit about this?
Okay. Uh, well,
The dashed black line that you see there
Is dividing two groups of water.
The ones to the east,
Those, for the most part, we're not seeing
Any gold or silver.
-Okay. -Michel: But we also
Do have samples that go north
Of where the grid is showing in the garden shaft,
And we're seeing gold and silver in that area.
So, we believe from looking at the chemistry,
That area is the area
That we'd be most interested in.
Ian: Yep.
The next slide, steve.
So, this is the last slide,
And perhaps the one we should think about.
To cut to the chase,
The area in pink there
Would be exactly where the gold is.
Marty: Wow.
Fantastic.
Ian: So, the area in pink there,
Is the area that is most of interest to us.
Now it's time to chase down the gold.
Exactly.
That is just really interesting and great.
Yeah.
Narrator: In the war room,
The oak island team
Has just been informed
By hydrogeologist dr. Fred michel
That, according to water sample testing,
The source of silver and gold
They have been trying to
Pinpoint in the money pit area
Appears to be in a location
Very close to the garden shaft.
Most of our gold and silver values,
We're seeing in the shallow
Monitoring wells.
The 80 to 110 foot area
Is the area that this is coming from.
That's right.
Marty: Can we reach that conclusion,
That wherever this is coming from, it's shallow?
That's certainly what we're seeing in the data right now.
That is astoundingly good news
For our search at this point.
I mean, it's a lot easier to chase it
-Shallow, too, right? -Yes.
That's kind of interesting
Because these are levels that match
-The 90 foot stone. -Yeah.
Narrator: In 1804,
When members of the onslow company
Removed the legendary 90 foot stone
From the ninth oak platform in the money pit,
They probed the soil beneath it,
And struck a flat,
Wooden surface some ten feet below.
The discovery made them certain
That they were about to recover
A vault packed with untold riches.
But unfortunately, their hopes were dashed
As the pit suddenly filled with seawater
From the believed man-made flood tunnel
Originating at nearby smith's cove.
Is it possible that the oak island team
Is narrowing in on what those searchers
Could not reach more than two centuries ago?
Rick: The findings of the highest gold values
Between 80 and 110 feet,
It replicates the old story of the money pit.
They were absolutely convinced
There was treasure at that depth.
How do we find what they thought they found long ago?
That's yet to come.
I mean, look, I'm all for this. We should chase that.
Onward and into that blob area we go.
Steve: So, just for reference,
We're 10, 15 feet just west of the garden shaft.
I'm going to put my cursor so everybody can see
What marty's calling the "blob" area
Is essentially this area here.
It might go a little farther west.
The blob is the likeliest spot where the gold is coming from,
The origination of the gold.
I am extremely excited.
Everything that is presented in the war room
Seems to indicate that we're closing in
On where the treasure could be.
This is something that absolutely
Has to be followed up.
Rick, unless there's something I'm missing something,
Is there any other reason we couldn't drill this right away?
No, we need to get on this asap
And get the best data possible.
-Yup. -Rick: Marty, we'll, uh,
We'll get this project underway.
Good. Good. Let's go, let's do it.
Onward and into the blob.
(laughter)
Rick: All righty, we'll see you.
-We'll let you know. -Marty: Yeah.
-Thank you. -Rick: See you, guys.
-Ian: See you. -Rick: Bye-bye.
Narrator: After more than a decade of faithful searching,
And thanks to their team of diverse experts,
Rick, marty, and craig
May now be closing in on
What the oak island money pit
Has kept secret for more than two centuries.
But now, as they move forward
To reveal what lies deep below ground,
Will it lead to the ultimate reward?
Or will it lead
To their greatest challenge yet?
Next time on the curse of oak island...
Marty: We are drilling in the blob
Where the gold is coming from.
Terry: Ho. Look at this.
Oh, my god.
Rick, you've been looking for this for a long time.
Jack: Oh, yeah.
Corjan: That is the mark of the masons
-For the knights templar. -Charles: Oh, wow.
Could be from a medieval templar church.
The date I got was 1028 to 1172.
Jack: Oh, no way.
That is really cool. 12th century, right?
-Even earlier. -Doug: Yeah. -Yup.
Templars, baby.
(laughter)
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