NARRATOR: Tonight, on The Curse of Oak Island...
GARY: Wow! Look at this.
CRAIG: What do we have?
GARY: Check out that circle of stones.
JACK: Right at the spot where John Edwards theorized
we would find something.
ERIC: Here's the artifact.
DOUG: It was found on the island.
RICK: If it is as old
as we believe it is, it is quite remarkable.
CORJAN: In a castle in the Netherlands,
I found some symbols
that I recognize from the island.
I think the trip is warranted.
You're gonna find the answers in Europe.
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.
♪ ♪
-SCOTT: Morning, Roger. -RICK: Morning, Roger.
Hey, guys. How's it going?
-You tell us. -Exactly.
Well, I wish I had much better news
to tell you than, than what I have.
NARRATOR: As a new day begins on Oak Island
for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina
and their team,
they find themselves facing a daunting ordeal
in the Money Pit area
that is almost as old as the 229-year mystery itself.
Water started coming in,
around 95 feet, where that--
pretty well where that old tunnel was.
And it happened so fast
that nobody really had time to react.
It's the whole history of Oak Island, right?
Yeah.
-RICK: The water. -That's right.
Water. Water. Water.
That's-that's been problematic for everyone.
And now it's a-a big problem for advancing this agenda.
Yep.
NARRATOR: One week ago, the team had every reason to believe
that they were close to a major discovery
when representatives from Dumas Contracting Limited
began a probe-drilling operation
at a depth of 106 feet deep in the Garden Shaft
as they attempted to explore a seven-foot-high tunnel--
a tunnel that runs westward
into an area known as the Baby Blob,
where high-trace evidence of gold, silver
and other metals were recently detected
between 80 and 120 feet underground.
NARRATOR: But just hours after the drilling operation began...
NARRATOR: ...salt water suddenly rushed into the shaft
forcing the workers to flee for safety...
...and it left the team wondering if they had struck
one of the legendary man-made flood tunnels
that have thwarted the efforts of searchers
in the Money Pit for more than two centuries.
We're getting roughly about 479 gallons per minute
coming in through the bottom of the shaft.
It's a lot of water.
It's not just a... a drop in the bucket there.
-Yeah. -RICK: So, what are the--
what are the next steps?
What do you, what do you intend to do?
Um, we need to kind of sit down
and-and figure out what we want to do.
Maybe we can draw the water down low enough
-that we can perhaps get the drill out. -ROGER: Yeah.
That's what I want to do is
sit down with everybody involved and-and just
-put a good plan together. -Yep.
♪ ♪
Anything you need, Roger, let us know.
-Let Scott know. -Okay.
I'll talk to my people and I'll get back to you guys
as soon as we put something down pat.
Okey doke. We'll let you get after it.
ROGER: Sounds good.
-RICK: Thank you, Roger. -SCOTT: All right.
-ROGER: All right, thanks, guys. -RICK: See ya.
NARRATOR: Later that morning...
RICK: Here's the thing.
I think we all believe
that the previous years' research trips have
yielded benefits.
NARRATOR: ...Rick meets with his partner Craig Tester,
Doug Crowell and researchers
Corjan Mol
and Emiliano Sacchetti
who are joining via video conference.
So I think that it's important
to start the process
of researching a potential trip
to answer "who" and to confirm "when."
Yeah.
RICK: And I think,
based on Professor Gaspani's work,
we have a potential point of beginning,
a potential "when."
NARRATOR: In the past year,
Italian archaeoastronomer Professor Adriano Gaspani
has shared his scientific research
that several megalithic stone structures
on Oak Island's surface including Nolan's Cross,
five pyramid-shaped piles of stones on Lot 15,
and the stone triangle, which pointed north
toward the original Money Pit shaft...
...were all created by aligning the stones
with certain stars and the Sun during the 13th century
by members of the Knights Templar--
the Christian military order
who many researchers have speculated
transported priceless religious artifacts
from Europe and hid them on Oak Island.
I think what we need to do to support Professor Gaspani's work
is to look for cultural context back in the Old World.
You know, we've had some presentations
that maybe the Norse could have been here around 1000.
So, if you could get some tie
between the Templars, Vikings,
I think that'd be a good way to go.
Okay.
NARRATOR: Three weeks ago,
retired professor Dr. Doug Symons
presented the team with his published research
describing how members
of the Scandinavian Viking culture,
who were known to have established settlements
in Iceland, Greenland and Northern Canada
more than 1,000 years ago,
assimilated with the Templar order
during the 12th century Crusades in the Holy Land
and may have helped the Templars navigate to Oak Island
in order to hide their sacred treasures.
I would ask both of you to devote whatever resources
and the time you can to this endeavor.
And we will meet again shortly.
EMILIANO: I think you guys are right.
What I will be looking for is,
you know, religious places
that have stellar and solar targets that are close
to what we know about Nolan's Cross.
CORJAN: We have a target date now.
So that's definitely
something we should investigate.
We can certainly look for, uh,
places in Europe where we can find
any connotation with the period that we're looking for.
So, yeah, I think, I think it's a great idea.
Thank you both. We'll-we'll be in touch.
We'll certainly get this started.
Absolutely.
CRAIG: Thank you.
-RICK: Take care, guys. -EMILIANO: Okay.
NARRATOR: While Rick and Craig finish their meeting
in the research center...
GARY: Here we go. The swamp doctor will
give us a diagnosis.
NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina and geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
join other members of the team
in the northern region of the swamp
where they have made a potentially
important discovery.
Okay. What are we up to today, gentlemen?
Well, quite honestly, Marty,
I feel like we found something that's rather significant.
Steve's standing on top of this boulder,
where at the bottom,
there's definitely a disturbance here.
This is one of John Edwards',
the theorist's spots in the swamp.
The way to unlock Nolan's Cross
is built into the cross itself.
NARRATOR: One week ago,
researcher John Edwards pointed the team
to this location claiming
that based on its proximity to the boulders of Nolan's Cross,
he believed that they might find a buried treasure
connected to the Knights Templar.
-That boulder was put there. -That boulder was put there.
NARRATOR: And, incredibly,
as Billy Gerhardt excavated the area,
a massive boulder was discovered
sitting atop a potentially man-made stone formation.
So, we want to know whether that thing was moved or not?
Yep.
NARRATOR: Now the team has asked Dr. Spooner
to examine the site
in order to determine if it is merely
a natural feature
or if it really could be man-made.
So I want to roll that boulder over
and see what's underneath it.
-Mm-hmm. -MARTY: Okay.
Well, let's position ourselves over there
and get after it.
IAN: Good to go.
MARTY: I'll tell you what I find interesting
about John Edwards' presentation.
How in the world are all these unrelated theorists,
they keep focusing in on Nolan's Cross.
Are you gonna try and pick that up?
JACK: Oh, I think he is.
MARTY: If Nolan's Cross is real from a standpoint
that it was constructed by people,
that is a giant thing to me.
IAN: Really, what I want to look at carefully
is this surface right here.
Okay. So this is getting interesting here.
Here's a cobble that I just turned over.
There's a stick up here
that obviously was in between the boulder and the sediment.
So I think it's possible that boulder was moved around.
JACK (chuckles): Nice.
IAN: People were moving around boulders.
MARTY: To what end?
IAN: So I think it's possible that boulder was moved around.
And it looks like they dug down into the till
-for some reason, too. -Right.
NARRATOR: In the northern region of the Oak Island swamp,
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner has just given his assessment
that a large boulder and stone formation
that were uncovered one day ago
appears to be a man-made feature.
IAN: If you wanted to move water
through this area,
if you wanted to get drainage here,
you'd move stones, you'd move things around.
You know?
MARTY: Yeah.
It just seems like people were manipulating
or trying to change the water level in the swamp
-for whatever reason. -Yeah.
NARRATOR: If Dr. Spooner and Billy are correct,
that the area around this feature
was artificially drained in the past,
could that offer evidence to support the theory
of researcher John Edwards,
who believes it may have been created centuries ago
by members of the Knights Templar?
-IAN: Ooh. -JACK: What'd you find?
Right at the base of the swamp material,
some nice cut wood.
-JACK: Oh. -GARY: Oh, right.
IAN: Yeah, so I'll take that in,
we'll carbon-date that and see what we come up with.
-GARY: Yeah. -JACK: I think we have to continue digging around
and see if we find any other oddities...
-Yeah. -and hopefully, some metals, too.
Yep.
Okay, we'll let you do your thing.
Steve and I are gonna run, do some other stuff.
-GARY: Okay, mate. -See you, guys.
GARY: Let's keep digging, mate.
NARRATOR: The following morning...
RICK: Good morning, everyone.
I think everyone knows the issues that confront us.
Yeah. Good morning, uh, Rick, Marty and Scott.
NARRATOR: ...in the war room,
Rick and Scott Barlow meet via video conference
with Marty Lagina
and representatives from Dumas Contracting Limited
regarding the mysterious flooding
that has taken place in the Garden Shaft.
Roger has indicated to us this morning
that with the 60-horse pump, we have the ability
to maintain a continued dewatered state in the shaft.
We just cannot quantify what potential risks
that may be developing at the bottom of the shaft
as a result of that continued pumping of water,
sand and silt material out of the shaft.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Using an industrial pump
in the Garden Shaft,
representatives from Dumas believe
that they would be able to lower the water level in the shaft
all the way to the depth of 106 feet.
However, they fear that the constant pumping
of the water, sand and silt at that level
could cause the structure to become unstable,
and potentially lead to a catastrophic collapse.
JEFF: We might be able to maintain that pumping level
at a lower rate
and a-- at a higher elevation in the shaft.
And that's-that's an option,
when the drill is there and we have a pump.
So, you're not pumping it all the way down,
You're just maintaining, uh, not down at 99 or 85,
you're-you're up in the upper 40s, let's say.
-Yep. -MARTY: Yes.
JEFF: So, there's an option there to keep drilling
if it's feasible to drill or if it's where you want to drill.
Okay, so, the prime driver here is to make use of the shaft;
for our purposes, the horizontal drilling.
Absolutely correct.
MARTY: I guess I'd like to try.
You know, let's see what happens.
-Yep. -RICK: That would be interesting,
because of the offset chamber idea.
Right.
CRAIG: We've got a huge open section, right?
So, right at 55, it's like the bottom
dropped right out of 'er.
Might be a void down there.
NARRATOR: One year ago,
while conducting a core-drilling operation
just west of the Garden Shaft,
the team encountered a mysterious void
at a depth of nearly 55 feet.
LAIRD: Hello.
NARRATOR: And several weeks later,
when the team ran a test on a sample of wood
from the Garden Shaft at that same depth...
EMMA: This one,
I detected gold.
Wow.
NARRATOR: This has made the team speculate
that there could be an offset chamber
that contains valuables in that area.
Is it possible that, by drilling horizontally
at a depth of some 50 feet from inside the Garden Shaft,
the team still has a chance to make a breakthrough discovery
in the Money Pit area?
RICK: I think we have to take
what the reality on the ground is giving us.
Meaning, we still have options to drill at a higher elevation
and take advantage of what we can do.
The year is closing down.
Why would we not take advantage of what we can accomplish
rather than trying to worry ourselves
about what we're not being able to accomplish?
SCOTT: Maybe we get lucky and it's something
we can maintain with a small pump.
Yeah.
MARTY: Fair enough.
I think there are some exciting things ahead.
-Yep. -Okay, so, we have an interim plan.
Okay.
-JEFF: Thank you. -Bye-bye.
-MARTY: Thanks a lot. -RICK: Bye.
NARRATOR: While Rick and Marty
finish their meeting in the war room...
GARY: Battle plan is we're gonna find some good stuff today.
-Let's have at 'er, then. -All right.
NARRATOR: ...in the northern region of the triangle-shaped swamp,
Craig Tester, along with other members of the team,
continue excavating
a potentially man-made stone feature
where researcher John Edwards believes
something of historic value could be buried.
JACK: That's a big tree.
GARY: Really leggy, isn't it?
BILLY: That's the first tree stump
that we found up in this end.
-Yeah. -GARY: Yeah, we found two layers
of trees over there.
It was another layer of trees underneath the top one.
Mm-hmm.
So, maybe it suggests that people cleared this section off.
GARY: Yep.
That's a big stump.
NARRATOR: Several weeks ago,
while digging near the middle of the swamp,
Billy unearthed several other tree stumps.
Because trees are not able to naturally grow
in marsh environments,
these findings have suggested to Dr. Ian Spooner
that the swamp may have been artificially manipulated
hundreds of years ago.
Could that mean that the team has found
even more clues that this feature is, in fact, man-made?
If so, just what might they find as they continue to excavate it?
CRAIG: Okay, guys.
-I'll head on out. -GARY: All right, mate,
we'll give you a shout if we find more.
-Okay. -JACK: See you, Craig.
JACK: That's a big timber.
(strains): Oh, yeah.
That's a big log.
That's definitely been chopped.
Almost too straight to be growing in the swamp, right?
That's a good point. This was brought here.
JACK (strains): Oh, yeah.
That's definitely been chopped several different times.
Yeah, that was brought here for something.
I'll toss it aside.
(grunts)
NARRATOR: In the northern region of the Oak Island swamp,
Billy Gerhardt, Jack Begley
and Gary Drayton have just uncovered more evidence
of mysterious human activity...
-What's that piece there, Jack? -Oh, that one's cut, too.
NARRATOR: ...near a believed man-made stone feature
that was buried beneath the water, sludge and muck.
BILLY: You see how it's lined with rocks?
JACK: Yep. I'll walk around and take a look.
BILLY: I'll bail that out a little bit
and see if we can see a little more.
JACK: Yeah, this is definitely rocks.
Yeah.
That looks muddy there, but it's rocks just underneath.
-Mm-hmm. -Certainly looks like a rock-lined depression.
-JACK: Yeah. -So, somebody dug a pit here, I would say.
Well, let me hop down and take a look at it.
-(grunts) Ah... -But this looks very much rock-lined.
You know, I didn't go around the edges too much but...
-'cause I wanted to leave it... -Yeah, I can feel the rocks
under my feet here, and...
Yeah.
That's rocks over there.
Ah, they do go all the way around.
Yeah, it looks like somebody put the rocks here
to keep the edges from falling together.
Well, this seems purposeful.
-It-it really looks
-like it was made by humans. -Yep.
What's interesting for me is that this feature
is where John Edwards theorized we would find something.
Yep.
NARRATOR: A rock-lined depression,
in the northern region of the swamp?
If Billy Gerhardt is correct
that it may be covering a previous excavation,
might it help validate the theory
of researcher John Edwards,
who believes a priceless treasure
connected to the Knights Templar could be buried here?
Oh, wow, look at this.
Circular group of rocks.
This is crazy.
We came here because of John Edwards' theory,
and I believe we found something unique...
That is very, very cool.
...a hidden stone feature that has the potential
to be very special.
It's incredible. That's what this is.
-Lots of things to consider. -One thing for sure,
we have definitely got to stand down now,
'cause this looks really, really old.
JACK: And we need to get Rick down here,
and I think the guys need to come take a look at this.
BILLY: Agreed. Maybe they'll see
-more than we do. -GARY: Yeah.
All right, mate, let's go tell the guys.
I'll reposition.
-Yeah. Bloody good digging, Billy. -Yeah.
NARRATOR: While Billy, Gary and Jack
finish their investigation in the swamp on Oak Island...
You can't tell the Oak Island story
without all the people who have been involved over the years.
And Paul worked, uh, quite a bit with Dan Blankenship, right?
NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina and Oak Island historian Doug Crowell
have traveled some 50 miles northeast
to the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
After several months of correspondence,
Rick and Doug have arranged to meet with Eric Wroclawski,
the son of the late Oak Island researcher
Paul Wroclawski, who passed away in 2014.
Having established close ties in the 1990s
with Rick and Marty's late partner Dan Blankenship,
Paul Wroclawski conducted research
into the earliest known inhabitants on Oak Island
and also collected certain discoveries
that were made by previous searchers
who attempted to solve the treasure mystery.
-Hi, Eric. How are you? -Hey, Eric. -Good.
NARRATOR: Today, Rick and Doug
have been given permission by Paul's son, Eric,
to view one of those discoveries.
RICK: Well, first and foremost, Eric, I want to say thank you,
uh, for the invite to come down.
Your father played a big role
and was very helpful in getting us acclimated
not only to the island and the locations
he felt were very important,
but also help us developing
a further understanding of-of the mystery.
Thank you, Rick. That means a lot.
I-I was always impressed with the work of your dad
because he really took an investigative approach to it.
And he looked at every piece of minutia about the island
and that-that was really impressive.
Well, that sounds like him all right.
(laughter)
Well, here's the artifact that you've come to see.
DOUG: That's much smaller than I thought from the picture.
-Really? -DOUG: Yeah.
-RICK: Well, Doug... -DOUG: Oh, wow.
-RICK: You've wanted to see that for a long time. -DOUG: Yeah.
-You can take it out of the bag if you'd like. -DOUG: Oh, can I?
Please. Yeah.
Wow.
-Look at that. -Yeah.
ERIC: I know Robert Dunfield Jr.
was the one to give it to my father.
But, uh, I don't know much more about the backstory than that.
Mm.
I remember it was so important to your dad.
He had developed a rapport with Dunfield Jr.
The story is that the grandfather
had found the items.
Hmm.
DOUG: We don't know whether
it was found in wood that was brought up
out of, uh, Robert Dunfield's dig in the Money Pit,
or was found somewhere on the surface of the island.
Right.
NARRATOR: In November of 1965,
California geologist Robert Dunfield
conducted the largest excavation
that has ever been attempted in the Money Pit area.
Using a 70-ton crane,
he dug a massive 100-foot-diameter pit,
reaching a depth of 140 feet.
But unfortunately, due to mysterious flooding,
just like the Laginas are currently experiencing,
the pit caved in and no treasure was recovered.
That's great.
NARRATOR: However, could this artifact,
which Robert's grandson eventually gave
to Paul Wroclawski, be an important clue
that could still help solve the Oak Island mystery?
You know, when I first saw a picture of this,
it was, uh, suggested that it was a crossbow bolt.
-Oh, really? -DOUG: Yeah.
And that really was, uh, intriguing to me because
usually crossbows, you think older,
medieval-type of period of time.
DOUG: Usually crossbows, you think older
medieval-type of period of time.
NARRATOR: At the home of Eric Wroclawski
in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Rick Lagina and Doug Crowell
are examining a curious artifact
that was reportedly found on Oak Island in the 1960s
by the late treasure hunter Robert Dunfield.
Supposedly, there were three of them found on the island.
One-one was given to your father.
And we don't know where the other two are now.
RICK: If it is as old as we are being led to believe it is,
-it's quite remarkable. -Right.
NARRATOR: The crossbow is a handheld weapon
designed to shoot arrows
and was first documented in China and Greece around 500 BC.
However, nearly 1,500 years later,
crossbows revolutionized warfare across Europe
and in the Holy Land during the Crusades.
I really hoped that someday I would see this.
So, it's really cool to be sitting here
at the table with you now.
It certainly is more interesting than I even imagined.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that a discovery made by Robert Dunfield
more than 50 years ago
could help Rick, Marty, Craig and the team
identify just who may have been behind the Oak Island mystery?
RICK: It's certainly nothing similar
to any artifact we have found on the island
-at least not to date. -DOUG: No.
And that's what makes it so intriguing.
-ERIC: That's really interesting. -DOUG: Yeah.
We'd like to find a way to...
um, do some analysis of it on our own.
Obviously, it would be noninvasive, non-destructive.
Yeah. I would be very interested in that.
And I think, uh, that's what my father would've wanted.
My father was very passionate.
So, I think anything to really help, uh, tell that story
would be-- would be good.
Um, why don't we go back and-and come to an understanding
amongst ourselves and, uh, develop
some sort of strategy to take the item
-and have it looked at. -ERIC: Of course.
We always address the Oak Island mystery
with a who, what, when, where, why and how.
Maybe this will crack a couple of the W's.
Wow.
Is it okay if I take a few pictures?
Yeah. Go right ahead, Doug.
RICK: You can't but say this object is incredibly curious
because it was found on the island.
It's certainly quite old.
We have not found anything else like it
even remotely on the island.
And we have the ability to understand it further.
It's a beautiful artifact. It really is.
You know, all we can say is
thank you for being so open-minded
and we'll get back to you.
Sure thing, Rick. We'll be in touch then.
-Okay. -DOUG: That's great.
-RICK: Thank you, Eric. -ERIC: Yeah. Of course.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
-RICK: Hey, guys. -GARY: Hey, chaps.
What do we have?
Check out that circle of stones.
NARRATOR: ...having returned to Oak Island,
Rick, along with Craig Tester
and lead archaeologist Laird Niven
arrive at the northern region of the swamp
to examine the mysterious stone feature
that was uncovered earlier today.
JACK: This is just what was here
-when Billy bailed the water out. -Yeah.
So, this was in place?
You didn't pull out any rocks or anything?
Basically, I just cleaned the edges off.
We didn't really dig any.
We figured it was enough of a feature
that we needed to call you guys over
and give us a better evaluation of what this is.
BILLY: Yeah. It's almost like somebody engineered it.
You can see the one-over-two, two-over-one.
I see what's described
as a one-over-two, two-over-one construct.
And it would only reinforce to me
that this is an intentional, purposeful construct.
But we need to do more work to understand it completely.
JACK: But no metals.
No metals, but we didn't find any metals at the paved area
-or on the stone roadway. -True.
GARY: So, maybe it's an older construct.
BILLY: At face value, it just suggests to me
that people may have been on Oak Island
a little bit before what we thought.
Did you check that board?
Is that a stake there? Go get that one.
Should be a-- no, well, you can go down there.
JACK: That's definitely been cut.
Yeah. And there's-there's more in here.
It's loaded with wood all along this line.
Let's see that one.
You got a few of these?
These are-- these are kind of like what Fred found.
-The big, long strokes with an ax. -CRAIG: Mm-hmm.
Maybe this is a candidate for C-14.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: During one of his many investigations
of the triangle-shaped swamp,
Fred Nolan discovered several uniform lines of wooden stakes,
which were carbon-dated to as early as the 1500s.
Fred was convinced they were survey markers,
used centuries ago to help artificially create
the brackish bog.
Is it possible that the Oak Island team
has found a similar stake?
At a site believed to mark a location
where treasure could be buried?
But it doesn't seem natural to me.
D-Do you think this is natural, Laird?
I don't think that's natural.
-GARY: This is really cool. -RICK: What does it mean?
This might not be the only feature around here.
You know, my thought is to have Dr. Spooner come out
-and maybe try to core through it somewhere. -Yeah.
CRAIG: And see what he comes up with.
I don't think we should do anything more here physically
until Dr. Spooner comes in.
CRAIG: If people were here
and building something at John Edwards' site,
we've really got to be careful when we're examining it.
It may tell the story of who was there.
It could be a game changer.
GARY: Another thing we should do
is get Steve Guptill in here and pin some of these rocks
and see how the elevation is on this
-compared to the paved area. -CRAIG: Yep.
Let's see what the data's telling us.
There still could be something waiting for us down there.
JACK: We haven't even seen the bottom yet.
RICK: Well done, guys.
GARY: All right, Billy, I brought the cavalry.
BILLY: That's who we were waiting for, Gary.
All the answers.
(laughter)
NARRATOR: After exposing
more of what appears to be a man-made stone feature
in the northern region of the triangle-shaped swamp...
This is a unique area
with the bowl-shape rocks on the sides.
NARRATOR: ...the Oak Island team has once again invited
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner to examine it
and also collect evidence in order to determine
just when it may have been constructed.
There's an awful lot of small, flat, stackable rocks.
Like somebody would've handpicked
if they were trying to make an edge.
And it was most likely built
when it wasn't a swampy environment over here yet.
-I think almost certainly. -Mm-hmm.
-That's 1700s or earlier. -IAN: Right.
In my opinion,
this is a-a man-made feature.
Somebody cleared this area out
and constructed a ring of rocks.
Reinforces that it wasn't a swamp at that time.
But it was a place of activity.
The thing is this is unrecorded activity.
This is activity that's not in any history books.
And it may tie into the Money Pit.
CRAIG: Steve, elevation-wise, how does this compare
to the other parts of the swamp?
It is collecting fresh water really quick.
And actually that's a good point. I'm gonna grab the spot
it's coming in, just to mark
where we are getting fresh water.
NARRATOR: In an effort to determine
if this feature could match the date
of any other man-made features,
which the team has uncovered in the swamp,
surveyor Steve Guptill is using his GPS device
to plot the elevation of the flat stones
covering the topsoil.
Actually, at the base of that, we're about a foot
under sea level, which matches the paved area as well.
JACK: Oh!
NARRATOR: The stone-lined depression?
Matching the elevation of the massive paved area
that was uncovered back in 2019?
And which Dr. Spooner dated to as early as 1200 AD?
If this feature was created during the same era,
could it be covering a treasure that is connected
to the medieval order of the Knights Templar,
as suggested by researcher John Edwards?
What do you need to do?
I wouldn't disturb this pit itself.
I mean, I'd just like to take a core.
-It just, it only needs to be that long. -BOTH: Yeah.
GARY: That's great. You-you never know what's
gonna come out of the samples.
You never know.
RICK: You never know.
NARRATOR: Although Rick, Craig and the team are eager
to find out what might lie buried beneath this feature,
Dr. Spooner will first collect and analyze
a core sample of organic materials in order to verify
that it truly could date back more than eight centuries.
RICK: Not surprisingly, we have found another construct and I think
it's an important, uh, assessment.
Where do we go from here?
We're gonna have to wait and let the data gather.
As the process continues, certainly,
we will uncover it and...
we all look forward to seeing what it is.
This is very curious.
The timeline here is the most interesting thing
at this moment in time.
How long ago? How far back?
Try to determine a timeline
for this feature based on Dr. Spooner's sample.
But there's still a lot of work to do, so...
you guys stay here, do a disciplined, uh,
dig over on this area.
There's work for everyone.
So let's split up
and finish out the day strong.
Divide and conquer, mate.
RICK: There you go.
NARRATOR: While the investigation proceeds
near the stone feature in the swamp...
...later that afternoon in the war room...
-Hey, everybody. -Hello. -Hello.
-Hi. -RICK: So we...
talked about the, the opportunities
of going overseas on a historical research trip.
NARRATOR: ...Rick, Marty and Craig
have reconvened with members
of the team for a video conference with researchers
Emiliano Sacchetti, Corjan Mol
and Judi Rudebusch.
We talked with Corjan and Emiliano
and asked them to come up with some ideas
regarding the possibilities
of a trip to Europe: where we might go,
who we might see,
and what our objectives are.
So, let's hear from Corjan.
-Corjan? -CORJAN: Yeah.
After, uh, our last conversation,
I think I-I've found
something, uh, something amazing.
So we have some places here that appear
to have served as hideouts
for Knights Templar.
You know, maybe on their way
east to west through Europe
to-- who knows?-- North America.
One can be found in a stone quarry system
that has been mined from Roman times onwards.
There's tunnels 40 feet high
and there's a 14th century section
that has hundreds of charcoal drawings.
A second site is the catacomb/crypt
of a ruined castle in the Netherlands
that has a 30-meter-wide wall
that is full of Templar inscriptions.
-It's quite something. -(chuckling)
And the catacombs,
I found some symbols
that I recognized from, uh,
from our research, uh, on the island.
RICK: That's really cool.
CORJAN: In the ruined castle with the catacombs, I found
some symbols that I recognize from the island.
Excellent.
NARRATOR: In the war room,
researcher Corjan Mol
has just informed Rick,
Marty and members of the team
that a castle in the Netherlands
may contain critical clues
connecting the medieval order of the Knights Templar
to the Oak Island mystery.
What Corjan has just laid out is exceedingly interesting.
So we almost have to go there.
Exactly. It's-it's quite something.
RICK: So, Emiliano, if you'd like to weigh in
where your research has taken you.
EMILIANO: Yeah, of course.
Keeping in mind what Gaspani said
about possible European origin of the Nolan's Cross,
I found an interesting abbey.
It's called the Morimondo Abbey.
It's, uh, near Milan.
It was one of the first
that the Cistercians established in Italy.
We're talking about 1134.
And it's interesting because by the end of the 12th century,
that abbey produced over 100 manuscripts,
among which there are astronomical manuscripts.
-Oh, wow. -EMILIANO: If we want
to start from the places
where that body of knowledge was produced--
astronomy, astrology, sacred geometry--
I think we should start with a Cistercian abbey.
Absolutely.
MARTY: Aren't the Cistercians sort of fingered
as the kind of the link between...
maybe the Templars and modern-day Masons?
Yes.
There is a solid connection there.
Interesting.
NARRATOR: Founded in 1098,
the Order of Cistercians was
a group of Catholic monks and nuns
who constructed megalithic abbeys throughout Europe
and made many advancements in science,
including astronomy,
as well as agriculture,
architecture
and even hydraulic engineering,
such as underground water passages.
One of their most prolific leaders
was Bernard of Clairvaux,
who also helped establish
the order of the Knights Templar.
EMILIANO: So I just talked with Professor Gaspani today
and he confirmed me that he would be available
to meet you guys because he has some new information.
He has been studying new alignments
and he would like to share
some of his analysis with you.
RICK: I love the idea.
Professor Gaspani's work, I think is incredibly important.
And we need to affirm it.
This was all about east to west.
If there's no east to west,
there is no old-world mystery here
and in order for it to be an old-world treasure
on this tiny island in the North Atlantic,
then there had to have been
transatlantic voyages from the Old World to the New World.
-Yep. -RICK: So I think
we go to Northern Italy and then
given what Corjan has expressed
in the places to go and see.
-So, the Netherlands... -Yep.
I think that's the journey.
-Oh, that would be great. -MARTY: Yeah.
So, Rick, I think
one old guy on the trip is enough, so that'd be you.
Gee, thanks for that.
(laughter)
-You're not that far behind. -MARTY: I know.
-That's why I can say it. -Fair enough.
I mean, I think it's important to continue
the search agenda here on the island and I will do that.
But all of us here on the island
will be keenly interested in your progress.
So let's talk as it evolves.
-Let's make it so. -We will make it so.
-MARTY: Hear, hear. -RICK: Well, then,
I think we have a commitment around the table
to do this very thing.
I think there's a lot of work to do and I,
again, I thank Corjan and Emiliano and Judi and Doug
and everybody around the table
and those out back for-for believing in it.
But we've got a lot of homework to do.
And so I think we need to get after it.
Thanks, everybody. Appreciate it.
And we will be in touch.
EMILIANO: Thank you.
NARRATOR: For Rick, Marty,
Craig and their team,
a week that began with a devastating setback
has now ended with renewed hope
that they are closer to the ultimate answers
than ever before.
Could new discoveries await them in Europe
that will help prove beyond a shadow of a doubt
that something of priceless value
really does lie buried on Oak Island?
If so, then perhaps
the most critical question is...
can they evade the shadow of a deadly curse
that is believed to have protected it
for more than two centuries?
Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...
-MOYA: I found something. -MARTY: This is special.
How old does this go back?
There are examples back in medieval times.
ALEX: We were looking for connections to Oak Island here in Italy.
-Wow. -PETER: Oh, wow.
DOUG: Templars built this castle.
RICK: Those are symbols we have on Oak Island.
DOUG: This is connected to Nolan's Cross.
CORJAN: This would have been an ideal hideout.
Here we are, guys.
RICK: Wow, look at that.
They took their treasure here,
on their way up to Oak Island.
Oh, wow. That is a lot.
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