Tonight, on The Curse of Oak Island...
HOLD IT! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!
Another feature in the swamp.
What in the world is happening?
This feature could help us unwrap the whole mystery.
Something this small has fallen to
the bottom of the solution channel.
- Here it is right there. - It could be a chunk of a coin.
It's got some sort of design on it.
If it's a silver coin, that's treasure.
It's what we're looking for. -Yeah.
Be prepared to be gobstruck.
This is gonna be special.
- This is quite pure? - Yes, absolutely.
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.
As the sun rises above Oak Island...
How deep is this one?
- 240 again? - Yep.
Well, guys, I know we're pretty excited
about starting this next hole.
This is F-5.5.
I think we're on a really important site
- right now. - Right.
...brothers Rick and Marty Lagina and their team
are drilling deeper than ever in the Money Pit area,
in search of the answers to a 230-year-old mystery.
Because of the collapse last year, we were never able to
really see what was, what was down there.
- Yeah. - I think that
the grid that we have laid out here right now to explore
deep down in the solution channel,
we're gonna find it if it's there.
That's right.
Today, the team has broken ground
on a borehole known as F-5.5.
It is on target to reach a massive cavity underground
known as the "solution channel."
They believe it's possible the legendary Money Pit treasure
fell here after two centuries of failed digging operations.
We're only about seven feet away from F-4,
and F-4 had the highest levels
of gold and silver in the, in the water.
Yeah, makes this a really interesting hole because
we're so close to the precious metal finds in the water.
I mean, that's one of the confirming factors
we have in front of us to show that there is, uh,
a buried, uh, treasure here someplace.
Yeah.
That brings to mind the Portuguese coin.
The team recently learned
that a 14th century silver coin
was reportedly found in the original Money Pit in 1849.
And markings on the coin bear a direct connection
to a Portuguese sect of the Knights Templar.
This has given them fresh hope
that the solution channel could now hold the treasure,
and may explain the high traces of precious metals
they've previously detected in this area through water testing.
The fact that the solution channel could be
the culprit in this whole long saga,
and the fact that the gold and silver in the water
still indicate the treasure still exists,
you put those two things together,
along with this Portuguese coin,
it speaks very loudly that there was something
very valuable buried deep in the Money Pit a long time ago.
We're gonna explore this area thoroughly
with the sonic drill rig and hopefully
bring up what we could not with the TB-1 caisson.
Anything that's fallen
to that deeper level, we're gonna be able to find it
- and put it right on the money. - Yeah.
For sure. Yep.
While the core drilling operation proceeds
in the Money Pit area...
Come this way and dig that.
- Yeah. - Let's find something old.
Yep.
...over at the western region of the swamp,
Rick, Gary Drayton and Billy Gerhardt
search for new clues and evidence of valuables.
HOLD IT! WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!
Don't move it.
It's a stake.
Great condition. The swamp really preserves wood.
It should preserve iron, gold and silver, if we can find it.
If we can find it.
Yeah. There's another one.
- It was right there. - Yep.
Does that look like an oldie, Rick?
It is tough to tell.
- It's eight sides, isn't it? - Yep.
Why are all these stakes in here?
I have no idea.
The number of stakes in a 50-by-50-foot area,
it's almost overwhelming.
- There's another one. - Geez. They're coming up.
What in the world is happening?
I would have expected them to be linear.
These are very erratic.
- We got something going on here. - Oh, yeah.
Yeah, there shouldn't be this many in such a tight space.
And they're-they're big, big stakes.
Maybe there's a construction that yet awaits us somewhere
that is very well-defined, very accurate but we are
- currently unaware of it. - Yeah.
In recent years, the team has found
similar wooden stakes in other areas of the swamp.
Some lined portions of a cobblestone path
that led to an empty vault-like structure.
So, could the numerous wooden stakes they're finding here
lead them toward another discovery?
I think here is sand.
With rocks sort of under it.
Yeah.
Billy's observation of a sand layer indicates
that this is an intentional man-made structure.
It was developed for some purpose.
It's going somewhere.
We need to find out where and why.
On the edge, it looks very similar to the stone road.
It looks very similar.
Uh, either the stone road or the paved area.
- Yeah. - Kind of up-y down-y.
- Yeah. - More like the paved area.
They're stacked.
- They're level. - Yep.
A rock feature here similar to the stone road
or massive paved area that were previously found in the swamp?
It seems like it goes back along there, yeah.
See, there's rock, rock, rock.
Is it possible the team has uncovered
another man-made feature?
Another interesting area in the swamp.
If this is a built rock something, that's a lot of work.
This construction is eerily similar to the paved area.
You can't dismiss it.
Was it done by the same party or group?
It's still a puzzle.
Maybe we can get ahold of Dr. Spooner and have him
- come out and take a look. - Yeah.
The plan for the swamp,
really succinctly, is to keep digging,
find something that points to, you know,
Rick's who, what, when, where, why and how,
or a clue that helps us unwrap the whole mystery.
And this feature could help us do that.
Well, again, dig the sand, be as least destructive
as possible to this, whatever this is,
wash this as best we can,
- see what it tells us. - Yeah.
Yeah, we need to get all of these stakes tested.
Well, you know, it's pure Oak Island:
more questions than answers, but...
Typical.
Okay. We'll keep looking.
Later that afternoon...
You know, we find ourselves back at the lab again.
We have an interesting item in front of us,
and I-I really hope to learn more things today.
...Rick, Gary and Charles join Laird and Emma
in the Oak Island Laboratory to hear a scientific report
on a lead artifact that was discovered while searching
near the border of Lot 5 one week ago.
Charles, I believe you were with Gary when this was found.
Yeah, I was with Gary.
We were kind of opposite where the rectangular feature is.
I dug it, and he pulled it out.
And, uh, I think the way
you described it was decorative lead.
Yeah. It's decorated, as in the end.
Those beveled edges, it kind of reminds me of an arm of a cross.
We found decorative pieces of lead before.
We found a really cool scalloped disc on Lot 5.
And let's not forget the magnificent medieval cross
from Smith's Cove.
I've got high hopes that this is gonna match
one of those older pieces of lead.
This lead artifact was found just a few yards
from the stone foundation on Lot 5 where the team
previously discovered a lead barter token
that was scientifically matched to the 14th century lead cross,
and both of which may be connected
to the Knights Templar.
So, Emma, what more can you tell us about this piece of lead?
Uh, well, first off, I did do
a bunch of map scans on the surface.
There are no intentional designs.
There's striations that I think that's more from usage
rather than, like, a decorative, uh, intent.
Yeah.
Prior to their meeting,
Emma scanned the lead artifact
using an X-Ray fluorescence spectrometer, or XRF,
a device that uses nondestructive radiation
that can identify an object's composition,
as well as potentially help determine its age.
Compositionally, it's a really clean lead.
There is a consistent amount of tin in it.
But there's nothing in here that indicates modernity, as in,
there's nothing that indicates it's more recent lead alloys.
So, it has a good potential to be 1700s and older.
Brilliant!
So, it has potential to be
- 1700s and older. - Told you, mate.
Told you this was gonna be an old piece.
You said that when we were out there. Yeah. -Yeah.
- So, it is a curious piece. - Yeah.
In the Oak Island Laboratory, Emma has just shared
a scientific report that suggests the lead artifact
found one week ago may predate the discovery
of the Money Pit by more than a century.
That notch at the top is strange.
- Yeah, it is. - Yeah. It looks like
- an attempt at angular holes... - Yeah.
...that didn't go all the way through.
- Yeah. - It wasn't recycled,
so it's a fresh source of lead.
It has high potential not being locally sourced.
So, these are all great candidates to send off
for laser ablation analysis.
Brilliant! 'Cause I've got high hopes for this.
Laser ablation is a testing method that removes
microscopic samples from the surface
of lead artifacts using a high-powered laser.
These samples are then analyzed
to identify the exact isotope values contained in the lead,
which can help determine the time period
and geographic region where such artifacts originated.
It gives you the ore source, so it's a good thing.
- Yeah. - And it will tell us if there's
- a relationship to the cross. - Yeah.
Using laser ablation testing,
the team was able to determine
that the lead cross and the lead barter token
both dated to the 14th century
and were from an area of Southern France that served as
a stronghold for the Knights Templar.
We're always looking for friends of the cross,
and it maybe helps you guys
say what's going on in the rectangular feature.
'Cause it really was-- it was dead opposite there
- just across the tracks. - Right.
Given what you've said that this is quite pure,
perfect candidate for laser ablation. -Mm-hmm.
So, do you want to carry the ball on that?
- Yes, absolutely. - And the three of us will go
- try to find more. - Yeah. -Absolutely.
But one more thing. Be prepared to be gobstruck.
This is gonna be special.
Thank you, Laird. Thank you, Emma.
See you later.
The following morning,
as borehole F-5.5 continues to make
its descent towards the solution channel...
So, this is the feature,
but one thing you need to recognize is
that all of this cobble
- came from here as well. - Yes.
...Rick and other members of the team
are eager to have geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
examine the mysterious stone feature that they uncovered
in the western region of the swamp.
Well, you can see in front of you
rocks stacked on rocks and the smaller ones packed in
around the big ones to make it smooth.
The other thing that we did find were stakes.
Okay.
Interesting because if these stakes
rot off the top like that,
then that tends to suggest further back in time.
What gets me excited is these rocks here
are exactly like we see in the cobble path, stone road.
What this reminds me of, too,
along the side of the cobble path, we had piles of stone,
sometimes with a cut stake underneath,
suggesting that somebody put a stake there to tell workers
where to put the cobbles to build that feature.
Yeah.
So why were people here? What were they doing?
This might have been a pathway right through here.
Right.
You always take
what you have learned in your past experiences
on the island and try to apply them to the current effort.
Last year, the cobble path led us to the most curious thing
we found in the north end of the bog, the so-called vault.
Might there be another construction like that here?
That's the hope.
Just keep digging.
- Right. - I would certainly,
if you have the time, see if this is isolated.
It would be really interesting to see if we came across
another feature that might be similar.
But it's interesting.
Well, our permits are under review.
- Right. - This is on
the extremity of the permitted area.
- Okay. - And once
that approval process is completed,
we'll keep digging, so I think
- we'll find more answers. - Yep.
The only way you can do it, I think, is to go
somewhere else, if we get a permit, and see if you find
- the same kind of cobble. - Yeah.
To meet Nova Scotia's
environmental regulations, the Oak Island team must apply
for separate permits to dig in different areas of the swamp.
The area they are in now is on the border
of where they are currently allowed to search.
Oh, your brother's gonna love this, isn't he?
Another feature in the swamp.
Thank you, Ian.
- Appreciate it. - Yep. Yep.
While the team prepares new permit applications
for their work in the swamp...
There's so much activity on Lot 5, Rick.
...Rick and Gary are searching for
clues near the middle of Lot 5.
We're still east of the Roman coins, aren't we?
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
There's no place like Rome.
After finding a mysterious lead piece nearby,
they are eager to search an area of Lot 5 where the team
previously found evidence suggesting that Europeans
could have visited Oak Island as far back as the 13th century.
This includes six ancient Roman coins
that coin expert Sandy Campbell believes
could be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old.
According to Sandy and other experts,
coins like these were still being circulated
as everyday currency in Europe up into the 1400s.
Roman coins on an island in the North Atlantic?
It's such a puzzle.
But to think that someone was here in the 12, 13, 1400s
with Roman coins is not a stretch at all.
Perhaps they were dropped by people from the Old World,
people who were in charge of safeguarding a treasure
or treasures or something that was extremely valuable.
A little squeaker here, Rick.
Just there, please.
Ooh!
I like the sound of that!
Oh, come on.
Got to be in there.
Now let us see what we've got.
Oh. What have we got here?
Another piece of lead.
You know, it's really heavy,
and I actually think this is really, really interesting.
Fact that it's an elongated piece of lead.
That makes that more interesting, then.
Something like this, you never know,
it could be a match to a...
an older piece of lead we've recovered,
like that medieval lead cross.
We're gonna have to bag this and put a flag in it
'cause we don't know
what Emma's gonna reveal when she scans this.
Another curiously-shaped lead artifact?
Could Gary be correct that this might be a clue
connected to the lead cross,
and perhaps even to the Roman coins
found in this area of Lot 5?
All right, mate, I'm gonna put this in the bag
- and we'll put the flag in. - Okey doke.
It's going in the bag.
I think the work on Lot 5 has been
exciting, interesting and dramatic,
and there have been an extensive amount of finds
that show this place, this story, this mystery
goes further back in time than we have even thought.
Oh. Not too bad-sounding.
Not too shabby at all.
Fingers crossed.
Check it, see if we got it out.
That's not it, is it?
It is.
What we got here, mate?
Look at that. Ha, ha, oh!
- Nice. - What is it?
It's a handle to a pair of old scissors.
Huh.
While metal detecting near the middle
of Lot 5 on Oak Island...
See that? It's one set.
...Gary and Rick have uncovered
another potentially important clue.
Look at the fracture there.
Yeah, you're right, Rick.
It looks like it's broken off so there'll be another piece.
- I'll recheck the hole. - Yep.
In fact, I can see it, mate. Look at this.
That's the other side.
Look at that. Yeah, they go together.
No, wait a minute. Oh.
I wonder if they're not scissors.
- These are the same. - What do you think it is?
We need a second opinion. Laird's down the lot.
Hey, Laird! Check this out, please!
- Pretty cool, isn't it? - It is.
- Yeah, it really is. - What do we have?
- Hey, mate. - How are you?
We've just dug up a very curious artifact.
When this first piece came up, I was thinking scissors.
- Yeah. Yeah. For sure. - Old shears.
And then when the second piece came up,
- I was thinking, "Look at this." - Mm-hmm.
I think this is something completely different.
Oh, yeah. Look at that.
- Yep. - Which is even cooler.
- Yeah. - There would've been two.
- Either side of the cheeks. - Yeah.
That is really neat.
Part of a possible horse bridle
found on Lot 5?
While several lots on the island were inhabited by
settlers and farmers before 1795,
known records suggest the lot wasn't used
either as farmland or as a grazing area for horses.
So, given the fact that the team has found artifacts in this area
that could date back to medieval times and earlier,
just how old is this horse bridle?
And might it help identify
who built the structures near the shoreline?
I mean, look at it. I mean, you can see it's crudely made.
That-That's got to be raw iron,
- uh, and an oldie. - Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I can't imagine that being on an ox.
Yeah. I'd like to do more research on it.
Um, would you mind if I took it to the lab?
Of course not, mate. I'll put it in a bag.
All right. Excellent.
All right, mate. Giddyap.
As Rick and Gary continue their search
on Lot 5...
Here we go.
...over in the Money Pit area...
Get ready to slice and dice, Terry.
...Charles, Terry and other members of the team
monitor the core drilling operation of borehole F-5.5,
which has reached the solution channel.
Here we go, guys.
Here it comes.
- 206, Terry. - 206, thank you.
- 206. - In bedrock at 204, yes?
- 204, yeah. - Thank you.
Let's carve it up. Here we go.
That's a more promising looseness.
Very, very watery.
Into which treasure could have been dropped.
So, bedrock at 204, guys.
And above that, it looks like we've got
some relatively loose material, which is a good indication--
proof of our general premise or idea
that potential material could fall in a solution channel.
I'm gonna run the pinpointer over this.
Yeah.
Right in there.
There's something in there.
Wow. It's like there's something in this.
Drop it.
- There it is. - There it is right there.
- Little bit of-- - Right there.
- What do we got? - What do we got?
- Iron something or... - Yeah.
- Wow. - Clean it off, Terry.
That's a fleck of metal.
That-that could... well, that could be...
I-I don't want to say coin, but...
- It looks like a... - That could be
a chunk of a coin.
- It looks like a half coin. - Oh, wow. -Really?
Yeah. It looks just like a coin.
- That's wild. - That's absolutely wild.
It's got some sort of design on it, too, it looks like.
You say there's a pattern on it, Peter?
There is.
- I got to make a phone call. - Absolutely.
All right, I'm gonna call my Uncle Rick.
Wow. That's very promising.
Yep.
- Hey, guys. -Hello. - How you doing? -Hey.
It was just as we pushed into bedrock, Rick. -Yeah.
We hit bedrock at 204.
At about 204.5, we came up with that artifact.
After hearing that something
of potential interest was extracted
from the solution channel...
204.5 feet.
...Rick and Scott arrive in the Money Pit area
to join the investigation.
So, it was sitting right on the bottom?
And pushed in a bit, yeah.
So, we thought it was a cut or split coin.
It's a small piece. What is it?
The metal detector doesn't lie.
We're looking for precious metals
at the bottom of the solution channel.
Feels like a coin.
I feel what Gary calls "roundness" in my hand.
Could be significant. It's what we're looking for.
It's a hard metal, for sure.
And very dense.
Yep.
No, that-that's a button off a drill bit.
You can see, clearly right size,
- everything. - Yeah.
Sorry, guys.
You-you think it's a button bit?
Yep, I do.
Unfortunately, the team is disappointed to learn
that the find has turned out to be a button
that broke off from the end of a drill bit
during a previous drilling operation.
We're directly below caisson, uh, TB-1,
so that could've came off last year's sonic drill program.
So it could be a break-off from last year,
and again it could prove our principle that...
- Could be. - ...dense material falls
to the bedrock solution channel interface.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
You go from a high to a low.
We're all disappointed because
it's a piece of carbide off the drill bit.
But then I think, "Wait a minute here."
It's not really a low.
Something this small and insignificant has fallen
to the bottom of the solution channel and the bedrock.
Proof, definitive proof,
that even a possible coin
could fall to these depths
at the bottom of the solution channel.
It's down there.
We just haven't found it yet.
But we will.
You guys, I am extremely grateful.
But more work to do.
Yeah. -So, let's get after it. See you, guys.
- See you later, guys. - See you. -See you, guys.
As a new day begins on Oak Island,
while ground is broken on a new borehole
in the Money Pit area...
So, I'm hoping you guys can tell us
what these finds are, or maybe it's just one find.
...Rick, Peter and Gary arrive at the lab
to receive Laird and Emma's report
on the possible horse bridle
that was found one day ago on Lot 5.
When I saw it in the field
and you put it together, I could see that being
part of a horse tack.
But in our research, we couldn't correlate it
to anything like that.
- Oh? - Yeah.
Design-wise, so you have the two pieces.
Now, these are cross sections right at that break,
and one is more square.
The other is a little bit more rectangular,
so that just wouldn't have come from the same break.
- They were not connected as one. - Ah.
- Yeah. - So, they did break off
from the same object.
It's just the handles of scissors. - Yeah.
That's what I thought when the first piece came up. -Yeah.
But it'll be interesting to see what the metallurgy is.
What does the actual data tell you?
Yep.
So, the composition.
There is a slight chlorine content.
The fact that I am getting
some sodium values, it does indicate
it's been in prolonged contact with salt water.
- Wow. - There's minimal impurities,
which means pre-blast furnace.
So, it does indicate it's 1700s...
Okay.
...potentially late 1600s.
- Yeah. - Good.
Is it possible
that the team has found another artifact
that could date back to the 1600s on Lot 5?
If so, could it help identify
just who occupied the structures there
more than a century before the discovery of the Money Pit?
What country would this artifact be associated with?
It's most likely U.K.,
uh, in-in origin.
You had, I remember, a book here of...
- Mm-hmm. - ...stylistically,
how shears changed over the years.
- You still have that? - I do.
Did you want to take a look?
That would be your closest.
It looks pretty identical to that.
- Yeah. - Mid 17th century.
- Yeah, yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
That explains the sheer excitement we felt
when we found these.
Stylistically, they represent
the period of the, uh, 1600s.
It certainly then raises the interest in the item.
Does it prove directly some connection to the Money Pit
and the original work?
No. But neither does it say it can't be.
Look, let's be honest.
There's, uh, two lots on this island that are
incredibly difficult to understand, right?
- The Money Pit lot... - Mm-hmm.
- ...and Lot 5. - Mm-hmm.
Given the enormity of finds, Laird, is it becoming clearer
or-or more difficult to establish what happened on 5?
Every little find like that brings us closer.
Every artifact we find tells a story.
And, uh, with finds like these,
even though they're quite puzzling in the moment,
the next find might help explain it.
Exactly. We haven't finished in that area yet.
That's true.
Needs metal detecting.
- And I say we go right now. - Yeah.
- Thank you. - Great research.
Later that morning...
Come on, let's have a signal.
...Rick and Gary return to Lot 5.
We're about due here, Gary.
Yeah, but that's metal detecting.
You've got to do the legwork, and then, all of a sudden,
- you find us something good. - Like yesterday.
Yeah. Exactly.
Some big old boulders around here.
It's a place where people could sit and lose artifacts.
- There's potential in the air. - Oh, yeah.
Looks like I've been here before.
There's a flag in here.
What the heck is this, Rick?
That circular feature there.
Maybe...
You can see in there.
Definitely circular stones.
Is it hollow in there?
No, but it's definitely full of stone.
It seems odd, doesn't it?
Circular pattern of rocks.
- Nothing there, huh? - No. No metal.
But it's interesting as hell, isn't it?
I wonder what this was for.
I see in front of us a-a rock that's standing on edge,
and it appears to be a circle of rock around it.
It does look as though they were placed with intent.
Maybe we found another feature.
And we may have another stone structure on Lot 5.
That is worth investigating.
You could peel the layers of rocks away
and see if this is a real structure.
I think it's worth having Laird come down,
- see if there's anything there. - Yeah.
Definitely worth checking out.
This might be the find of the day.
Yep.
What do we have?
I wish I could say I know what we're looking at,
but I-I do know that-that Gary and I put eyes on this.
Yeah, it's certainly an interesting feature.
Following the discovery
of a possible man-made stone feature
near the center of Lot 5,
Rick calls in Laird Niven to get his assessment.
Gary did metal detecting here.
I just poked my shovel in here, and I think...
It just seemed weird because
there's not a lot of dirt, right?
Yeah. Yeah. The rocks are piled up,
and then everything accumulates on top.
It's the shape that hits me first, right?
It seems to be circular, lined with large rocks.
That upright flat rock in the middle,
it's like you putting it there
to signify something, which is pretty cool.
So, it's done with purpose.
This was a stone that was deliberately placed upright,
and my immediate thought was that
that was done to mark a location.
This location isn't marking the boundaries of land.
Well, what's interesting is, on this lot,
there are stone circular formations, right?
Yeah. Right. -And now we have another one here.
I mean, we have the Roman coins.
We don't understand how they got here.
This may help explain some of that mystery.
Could this stone formation
have been built by the same people who constructed
the large, rounded feature near the shoreline?
If so, could it somehow be connected
to the Roman coins that have been found in this area?
If this is a marker or a monument,
this might be a very significant find.
We have found a multitude of items that are unexplainable.
The list of it goes on and on and on.
So, might there be something quite unique
and interesting about this... this location?
Yes, certainly.
Well, you know, I'd certainly clear it off,
bring the team in, and then consider bisecting it.
I think that's certainly worth doing.
I'm excited over this.
I mean, this could very well be our next big feature.
We won't know what it is
- until you actually do the work. - Exactly.
So... -Any day that we can dig something up
on Oak Island is a good day.
- It's a good day. - Best day ever.
Okey doke.
While Laird prepares to investigate
the new stone feature on Lot 5,
later that afternoon...
I'm gonna say something that my brother would never say:
"Beautiful day in the swamp."
- Yep. It's good to be home. - You bet.
- You're going here, right? - Yeah.
...Rick, Gary and Billy return to the swamp.
If you look over here, that's where we found
the stakes and some cobble
roughly between those two tall trees.
Right.
The hope here is that they carry through to this area.
While they await a new permit
to continue investigating
the stone feature in the western region,
they have moved to an area 40 feet to the north,
where they are currently free to search.
We're roughly on that line right now.
What we need is an artifact or artifacts.
- Let's see what we find. - Yep.
We are now digging in the southwest corner,
in the second permitted area.
The idea was to follow
the cobble area, we'll call it.
One of the most unexplored areas
is the western side of the swamp.
So, hopefully, there are answers here within the bog.
This isn't charcoal, is it?
Is it charcoal, Rick?
I mean, it should do that if they're charcoal, right?
Yeah.
It was right here.
See that little piece? Grab that.
Yeah, that looks like charcoal.
And I remember the archeologists found charcoal
on the stone road.
That-that was the one consistent thing we found.
- Yeah. - We found that even
- all the way down the path. - Yeah.
The team has previously discovered charcoal
in the southeast corner on the stone road,
which may be Portuguese in origin
and more than 500 years old.
- Do you have a bag? - Uh, yeah, I've got a bag.
Finding more potential charcoal here
is intriguing and suggests a possible connection
between the two features.
I'm sure Emma can tell us right away whether it is or not.
We'll find out from Emma.
If it can be dated to a much earlier time,
that's interesting in and of itself.
- I've got it in the bag. - Okey doke.
I think this sample in particular
should be sent to the lab
to see if it aligns with the charcoal that was found
on the stone road and the stone path.
Because then, possibly, there's a connection.
We got some iron here by the sound of it.
Let me pinpoint it, Rick.
We got an hit here.
And look how it's right on the side of that boulder.
I think it's out, Rick.
Oh, that's an humdinger of a signal.
We better look.
Look at that.
Look at that. Yep.
Look at the way it-it tapers down.
In the western region of the Oak Island swamp,
the Oak Island team has just made
another potentially interesting discovery.
- Does it have a notch on top? - You know what?
- It does. - Yeah.
- It's something. - Why would it have a notch?
Unless this is broken off, there was a hole in it.
Heavy? - Oh, yeah, it's really heavy.
This is hand-forged wrought iron.
Yeah, this is an old piece of iron.
This is something different. What the heck is this?
If it is hollow and yet you're saying it's heavy,
that-that's even more interesting. - Yeah.
But that is unusual.
One end appeared to be hollow.
The other end appeared to have a raised diagonal.
That seems strange.
I just don't know what it is.
It's a unique find.
It's not a piece of rebar, and it needs to go to the lab.
The way it tapers down, it could be like a petronel.
A really old gun from the 15, 1600s.
They were very early weapons.
Just one single shot.
Mm. A CT scan is really gonna be enlightening.
- Why else would it be hollow? - Yeah.
Petronels date back to as early as the 14th century.
They were a short, single-shot firearm
commonly used by European militaries before the invention
of long-barreled muskets in the mid 1600s.
Thanks to their compact size, petronels were often used
by soldiers who were riding on horseback.
Is it possible that Gary has found new evidence
of a military presence on Oak Island
back in the 1600s or earlier?
If so, just whose military was it?
Definitely interesting.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
And what's it doing here?
That's a special find.
This could be a smoking gun.
Literally.
You want so badly to find something
that can be tied intimately to another area of the island
that has a proper association with the search for answers
or search for treasure.
We need to do more work in the area to try to
understand its story in its totality.
We are gonna go back to that lab
with a really fantastic artifact.
Uh, it's pretty peculiar, and to unravel this story,
we better get on the ball.
Anyway, tomorrow is another day. -Yep. -Yep.
- Good job. - Good digging, Billy.
We still got a lot of ground to cover.
As another exciting week ends on Oak Island,
new finds offer Rick, Marty and their team
more validation that something extraordinary
took place here centuries ago.
And while their search for the answers is far from over,
they are determined to reveal the truth.
Next time, on The Curse of Oak Island...
All right, well, this is the neighborhood, guys.
I mean, this is treasure central.
There's mounting evidence
of something happening here long ago.
Hopefully, there's some old gold and silver.
We've got a stone structure here.
Somebody piled those stones.
So, somebody put this here.
Somebody went to some trouble.
It could be a 1500s hand cannon.
You were right, Gary.
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