08x17 - Staking Their Claim

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
Tonight on
the curse of oak island...

Marty:
Something massive
was occurring well before

the discovery of the money pit.

That looks exactly
like an old roman road.

Hey, craig, I found
a piece of leather strap.

Ship's log or something like
that made with a leather strap.

-Wow.
-The money pit can only be here.

That is the only place
it can be.

This is the top
of a tunnel, not maybe.

Craig:
This wood was from 1648.

-It seems like we found
our money pit.
-Yeah!

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,

mysterious fragments
of human bone,

and a lead cross
whose origin may stretch back

to the days
of the knights templar.

To date, six men have d*ed
trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

marty:
Wow.

Rick:
It's quite impressive,
though, isn't it?

Marty:
It's incredibly impressive.

Stand right there and you'll
get a real good perspective.

Unbelievable.

Narrator:
It is the beginning

of an exciting new week
on oak island

for brothers rick and
marty lagina and their team.

Over the past two months,

they have discovered
two massive stone pathways

in the mysterious,
triangle-shaped swamp,

one of which is believed
to have at one time been part

of a ship's dock

and another which
is leading into the uplands

and possibly toward
the original money pit.

Let's go talk
to aaron and miriam.

Narrator: Today rick and marty
have arrived for an assessment

from archaeologist
dr. Aaron taylor,

now that he and his team

have carefully removed layers of
muck and mud from the features

that may be keys to solving

a 225-year-old
treasure mystery.

-Marty: Hi, guys.
-Hey, marty.

How do you like
your swamp expressway?

This is really cool.

-Yeah.
-I mean, this is mondo cool.

-Yeah.
-It's impressive.

That looks exactly
like an old roman road.

Aaron:
It's possible, you know?

It indicates probably a loading

or unloading from a ship.

-Then we found coal at this end.
-Yeah.

So that's what we've been trying
to do, is find more ties.

-So sort of making
that connection.
-Miriam: Yeah.

That is a piece
of oak island history.

Narrator:
In addition to recently finding

a large iron ringbolt believed
to have been used to anchor

a large sailing vessel
to a dock...

-We found a piece of coal.
-Wow.

...One week ago,
the team found a piece

of charcoal
along the stone pathway

that was determined
to be of european origin...

Check that out.

...As well as part of
the lid to a wooden keg barrel

that was used to transport
some kind of cargo,

and which may date
to as early as the 15th century.

Marty:
For what possible purpose

would somebody need
a big harbor here?

Unloading something big
or a lot of something.

But the mystery
is where it's going.

-Yeah.
-And it's going there

-rather than there.
-I want to know
where it's going.

Is a right angle occurring here,
you think?

Aaron:
Looks like a-a nice curve.

That I don't see.
Can we go over there?

Because it looks like it ends.

All the dates
that we found in the swamp

associated with the stone road

are quite old.

It means to me

that something rather massive

was occurring well
before the discovery

of the money pit on oak island.

Could it be an indirect
indicator of treasure? Yes.

Because why go to all this
expense and construct this road

that seems to have been
constructed to be hidden?

So, miriam and I yesterday, uh,

came down here,
and we've cleaned this off,

and, uh, we're seeing
this cobblestone.

So we're-we're making
an inference

that it's here and it's there,

and the inference is--
it's-it's all throughout.

Well, especially if you come
right over here

-and it's not, right? Right.
-It's not.

-And that's what you look for,
you know.
-Mm-hmm.

-Rick: It's either going
straight or it's bending.
-Aaron: Yeah.

Marty:
So, where do you
want to dig next?

I'd love to keep
pushing this way.

In archaeology, you always
chase the feature.

Marty:
Yeah, let's do it.

We, at this date,
have exposed well over

400 feet of this so-called path.

And even the archaeologists are
a bit mystified at this point.

So, of course,
it has significant interest.

We're keenly interested
in where this goes.

It's a big boulder.

-Can I get under it?
-Rick: Yeah, I think

you're under it right now
if you just curl your bucket.

-Up, up, up, up, up, up, up, up.
-Up.

Aaron:
Great.

-Is that enough?
-Yeah.

♪ ♪

-it's definitely here.
-Aaron: Yeah.

There's cobbles here. There's
no question about that, but...

Yeah.

Rick:
But they seem to be spaced.

We might be on the edge.
Well, it's to here certainly.

Yeah.

But I don't necessarily
see it here.

♪ ♪

well, what are you finding?

More rocks, more dirt,
and more wood.

Oh. Any gold?

-None of that.
-Okay. (chuckles)

I think we should get steve,
billy. Is he around?

-Yeah. Steve?
-Steve: Yup.

Narrator: To determine whether
the recently excavated area

is, in fact, a continuation

of the road,
steve guptill has been recruited

to measure the elevation
of the cobblestones.

If the elevation matches
that of the cobblestones

in the previously exposed
sections of the stone pathway,

it would be evidence
that they have found

a continuation of the feature.

The elevation is right.

-Consistent with that?
-Consistent with the other side.

-How far off?
-Not off at all.

-Rick: Really?
-Oh, great.

It's 1.5 feet above sea level
on the cobble,

and it's been very consistent,
and it was the same

-on the other side.
-Well, that's good to hear.

That's what we're hoping
to hear.

You want to focus
over there, then?

Yeah.

-I think we've got
a nice little section here.
-Okay.

Aaron:
I think it's definitely--
we need to keep exploring this.

We're getting more
of the cobble coming this way.

But what I think
our next thing is,

on the other side,

we need to pull back
from the cobble we know

and come back this way.

But I think that's worth
a real careful look.

Marty:
You know, this morning
I arrived here, thinking

all we have to do is
follow this road to an answer,

and now the s.O.B.S
who put this in

are making the road go
all over the place.

-It's almost like they're
trying to hide something.
-Yeah.

What's that all about?

Narrator:
While rick, marty and members of
the team continue investigating

the stone pathway
near the swamp...

Terry:
Okay, c-4.5 is underway.

Narrator: ...Scott barlow joins
geologist terry matheson

and oak island historian paul
troutman in the money pit area

as they continue
a core-drilling operation

in the hopes of finally locating

the original treasure shaft,

first discovered in 1795.

I just talked to mike. He says
he's still soft where he's at.

We could be very close
to a shaft.

-That's what makes c-4.5
really important.
-Yup.

Narrator:
One week ago,
the team began investigating

the area near a borehole they
first drilled five years ago,

known as c-1.

A borehole
where they have discovered

not only a large void
and a possible tunnel

some 170 feet deep
in the bedrock...

That's definitely a gold object

right there,
a gold-colored object.

...But also video evidence
of three different

mysterious gold-colored objects
embedded in the wall.

The first hole
on their new grid,

known as c-5,

which sits just
five feet to the northeast,

produced surprising evidence
of another wooden tunnel

some 89 feet underground.

-You see, that's what
I'm talking about right there.
-Yeah.

Narrator:
Now the team
is drilling borehole c-4.5

two and a half feet
to the west of c-5,

where they hope to find
more possible evidence

that will lead to
the original money pit

and, with some luck,
the fabled treasure vault.

Check this out.

Right beneath very integral,
in situ, maroon till,

into a fairly solid chunk
of beam.

And that intersection is 87.5.

This is a very sharp break

and into a very significant
chunk of beam.

This is the top of
a tunnel, not maybe.

So it comes from somewhere
and it goes to somewhere.

Narrator:
The top of a tunnel?

Found some 87
and a half feet deep

in borehole c-4.5?

Since this is approximately
the same depth that

the team discovered evidence
of a tunnel one week ago,

in borehole c-5,

could it mean that they
are tracking the same feature?

And, if so,
could it be leading them

to the original money pit?

There's the top of it. It looks
like it goes to at least 92,

so that's a four-foot section

of probably somewhat
collapsed tunnel.

-Scott: Yup.
-At this point

we're going to wait
for rick to open that up

and show it to him
because I think

we've got something
to say to him.

-Scott: Yes.
-Terry: Yeah.

-Scott: Hey, rick.
-Terry: Hi, rick, how you doing?

-Hey. I don't know,
you tell, you tell me.
-Interesting days.

Narrator:
In the money pit area,

rick lagina has just arrived

after being alerted by members

of the team to the discovery
of a possible tunnel

some 87 and a half feet
deep in borehole c-4.5.

So, here we are, rick.

There's a very dense
maroon till.

We have a nice sharp contact
right here on a good beam hit.

And it's at our famous
about 87.5 depth,

close to where we hit it in c-5.

So, that being the case,
something's going on

at that horizon,
and time's going to tell,

but for right now
I'm convinced this is a tunnel.

Rick:
The depth is so same, it's...

-So similar.
-It's so similar.

Right on the money similar.

Yeah.

I mean, we forget, right?

This is all interesting
conversation and trying

to puzzle out an enigma.

But this program
was solely dedicated

to finding the money pit.

Exactly so. Yep.

And I think right now

the money pit,
it has to be west.

The money pit can only be here.

That is the only place it can
be based on this grid.

Scott:
I agree 100%.

Rick:
We don't want
to just hope and poke.

We want a very disciplined
approach to try to understand

not only this
collapsed tunnel feature,

but we need to know
where it comes from,

where it ended up,

and are there
any other shafts associated

with this construct
in the area?

Marty:
With all that data we acquired,

a very simple answer as to
why we haven't found it

is 'cause we weren't
looking in the right place.

And so, if we have hard data
leading us somewhere else,

I'm very excited about that.

Well, let's stay the course,

plot the data.

I would drive it to 118
minimum-- well, 120, 130 even

to get you the ten feet for
the gyro and see what happens.

Terry:
Yup. Absolutely.

Narrator:
While the drilling
operation continues

in the money pit area...

...Back at the swamp,

as marty lagina
helps to unearth more

of the recently
discovered stone pathway...

Okay, we'll keep pulling back.

...His friend and partner
craig tester,

along with archaeologists dr.
Aaron taylor and liz michels,

are investigating the massive
stone road in the hopes

of finding important
clues or artifacts

that could help reveal
more about the origins

of these mysterious features.

I'm wondering, aaron.
We're finding a lot of large

chunks of coal, but it's almost
exclusively on this end.

You think it might be associated
with, like, the later,

you know, like,
topping up with the rubble?

I think, yeah. It makes sense.

Rick:
We're very early in terms of

the archaeological understanding
of this stone road feature.

What we have come
to learn about oak island

is you have to follow the data,
you have to follow the finds.

Oh.

What's that?

Aaron:
I found a piece
of leather strap.

-Liz: Oh?
-With notches in it.

Wait. With notches?

Aaron:
Oh, yeah, girl.

Narrator:
A notched leather strap?

Found on
the stone road in the swamp?

Could it somehow be related
to other leather artifacts

the team has found this year?

Such as the leather boot heel
found in the spoils

of borehole 8-b
in the money pit one month ago,

which was dated as far back
as the 15th century?

-Hey, craig.
-Craig: Yo.

Take a look at, at this.

I thought it might
just be bark or something,

but you can-- it's leather.

Oh, that's nice.

Was it just in the rocks there?

Just right in the cracks
of the rocks.

And I'd-I'd be interested
in getting it dated just because

-of where it was found.
-Okay.

If it had been...
In the upper levels,

I would just attribute it
to being something modern.

But because it's
way down in the cracks

and because leather would float,
it makes you think

that it might have been dropped
when this road was being built.

Yeah, no kidding.

Aaron:
It also-- it's got
the little notches in it.

I don't know if for a watch.
That's what I would suspect.

It kind of widens out.

Craig:
Okay, but could that be,

you know, used to, to tighten up
a boot or something, too, or...?

Yeah, it could be a bootstrap.

Just something...
Something that required,

-you know, that you cinched.
-Mm-hmm.

-Like a watch, like a belt.
-Okay.

Well, that'd be nice
if one of the original people

-lost their bootstrap,
and we can date it.
-Absolutely.

We'll bag it,
and that's something

some lab work can
hopefully help us out with.

Okay. That sounds great.

Nice find.

(wind blowing)

narrator:
The following day,

while the investigations
continue both in the swamp

and in the money pit area...

Rick lagina, along with
metal detection expert

gary drayton...

Rick:
Look at all these flags.

Gary:
It's a sea of flags, mate.

...Have arrived
at lot 25 in the hopes

that critical new clues
and evidence of valuables

can be found on the property

that once belonged to former
18th century american sl*ve

turned wealthy oak island
landowner samuel ball.

Gary:
Lot 25, mate.

Laird was good enough
to let us come in here

to metal-detect around
this samuel ball foundation.

Yup.

Narrator:
Although he was known
as a simple cabbage farmer,

from 1786, when he bought
his first lot on oak island,

until his death in 1846,

samuel ball
would mysteriously become

one of the richest men
in the entire province,

ultimately owning
nine lots on oak island,

as well as several more
on the mainland.

This has led many to speculate

that perhaps he found
at least a portion

of the legendary treasure.

Until recently, this area
was completely off-limits

to rick, marty,
craig and the team.

However, with the help of
archaeologist laird niven,

they're now legally permitted

to conduct supervised
surface investigations

while laird and his team

carefully excavate
the foundation

and surrounding area.

Well, as you can see,
there's a sea of flags here.

-Rick: The grid work.
-Yeah, the grid work.

And what I've been doing

is flagging all the nonferrous

-targets I can get, and...
-Right.

-...Well, we'll see
what's here, mate.
-Okay.

Let's go see what we can find.

-I have high hopes for the day.
-Yeah. So do I, mate.

There's no mistaking
my pink flags.

I think there's
eight or nine in this area.

There is some interesting
hits here for sure.

(metal detector beeping)

all of these are
good two-way repeatables.

And it is just there, mate.

♪ ♪

-what do you think?
-Um, all I know is,

more than likely it's not iron,
and it should be something good.

Because, I mean, samuel ball
was here a long time ago,

and no one's ever lived here
since the early 1800s.

Now, see if you've moved it.

(beeping)

still a good two-way repeatable!

(beeping)

oh.

It's in my hand.

Look at that!

Joe:
Oh, there's a bit of lead.

Always a great sign.

Narrator:
On lot 25, near the foundation

of 19th century oak island
landowner samuel ball,

gary drayton and rick lagina

have just made
a potentially important find.

I think that is not
too far off the size

of a musket ball.

So this could possibly be...

It's either a lead splash
or a musket ball.

When I say a "lead splash,"
that is the remains

of musket ball molding.

And I'm sure samuel ball made
his own musket balls.

But that's a great sign
whenever you find old lead

on an old site.

The good news is that
it's a good start, right?

-Gary: Yeah.
-One flag. One find.

Gary:
Yep. Exactly.

We're going to have
to mark what we found.

Okay.

Rick: Every find
on lot 25 certainly can be

partially attributed
to samuel ball and his life

that he created
for himself on lot 25.

-All right, mate.
-(metal detector beeps)

next one's over here.

Rick:
The man is an enigma.
He's a mystery.

And slowly but surely,

we're pulling back
the veil on his life

and what he accomplished
and what he did and maybe...

What he learned
about the oak island mystery.

That sounds very, very good.

If I was guessing what this was,

I'd say that is your typical
coin or button signal.

(metal detector beeping)

right there, mate.

A coin or a button

-on this one, rick.
-Okay.

Pretty high bar there.

Gary:
Right, we're metal-detecting
in a very old area.

Yep. You got it out.

-Sure sounds good.
-It does, doesn't it?

(beeping)

oh.

♪ ♪

I do not know.

At the moment.

(blows)

it looks like...

I know... It's thick,
but it kind of reminds me

-of a back of a pocket watch.
-(beeping)

narrator:
Part of a pocket watch?

Found on the property
of samuel ball?

Could it have been something
he bought with the wealth

that he mysteriously
came to possess?

Or could it have been part
of a valuable discovery that

he made while living here?

Gary:
That is a steep curve,

but it looks like
there would have been

an hole there and an hole there,
so I am unsure on this one.

I have no idea.
I know it's fragile.

I know what it is.
It's a top-pocket find.

It really is
a top-pocket find, mate.

We found it,
and we'll bag it and tag it.

That's the safest place for it.
On to the next.

Rick:
Hopefully this one
is just as productive.

Narrator:
As rick and gary
continue searching on lot 25...

Charles:
Here we go.

...Oak island historians
charles barkhouse

and doug crowell

have traveled
some 60 miles northeast

to the dawson print shop
in halifax, nova scotia...

Doug:
Hello?

...To meet with leather and
rare documents expert joe landry

to get his analysis
of the leather strap

recently discovered along
the stone pathway in the swamp.

We have a piece of leather here
we'd like you to take a look at.

-Sure.
-Yeah, we'll give you a little
bit of the backstory on this.

This year in the swamp,

-we uncovered an old stone road.
-Uh-huh.

It was under over a foot
of swamp material, organics.

So this road could be very old.

That makes us really curious
about this. I mean...

How old is this,
what is it a part of?

This could be before
the money pit was discovered.

Anything you could tell us
would be appreciated.

(foil crinkling)

♪ ♪

joe:
Yes, this is a fairly
thick leather, and...

...There are series of holes
here that may indicate

a strap of some kind,

perhaps for a boot
or something like that.

We can see by the thickness
of the leather here

that we're talking
about a cowhide.

How do you know it's cowhide
as opposed to some other animal?

Joe:
The general appearance of it.
It's quite smooth.

The leathers in common use

in the periods
that we're thinking of

are, are calf,
which is quite a bit thinner,

sheep, which is very thin,

-and cowhide,
which is quite thick.
-Okay.

Joe:
But, yes,
it's quite interesting.

The archaeologist
aaron taylor, who found this

between two rocks
on top of the road,

he thought
it might be a watch strap.

Joe:
Yeah. You can see from
the shape why he might've

originally thought watch,
but I think the leather

is too thick
for that kind of thing.

There were, uh, account book
structures that were made

using basically
a belt around the book.

They would use that kind
of closure, and so there was

actually a buckle and that
would use a series of holes.

It would?
On-on a, on a-a ledger book?

A ledger book.

Any kind of stationery binding,

like a log
or anything of that-that nature.

Narrator:
Leather possibly connected

to a ledger book of some kind?

But if so, how did it come to be
stuck beneath layers of mud

on the mysterious
stone pathway in the swamp?

Who left it behind?

And just how old might it be?

Joe:
While working in europe,
I worked on books that were

from the 1500s and 1600s
that were made exactly that way,

-with a leather strap
for closure.
-Wow.

-Charles: It's amazing.
-Doug: Yeah.

Narrator:
At the dawson print shop

in halifax, nova scotia,

leather and rare
manuscript expert joe landry

has just given his opinion that
the leather strap recently found

along the stone pathway
in the swamp

may not only be
of european origin

but also predate
the discovery of the money pit

by more than two centuries.

Doug:
So now we have a possibility

that this could be
part of a medieval ledger.

That style, using a strap
like this with holes in it,

you've only seen
in your experience on

-something from the 1600s,
a ledger book.
-Yes.

So if somebody was keeping

an inventory or
they were keeping, you know...

A ship's log or something like
that, it's quite possible.

♪ ♪

doug:
I found eight pages

of what looks like a ship's log.

Narrator:
Three years ago,

doug crowell discovered
a copy of a document

connected to an attempted
french invasion of nova scotia

that took place in 1746.

It was led by
an admiral known as

duc d'anville, who not only
belonged to a family

with ties to the knights templar
dating back to the crusades

but also, according to
the record doug crowell found,

brought a vast treasure
with him.

Yeah, I'm just gonna read
through it really quickly here.

"at midday we reach a deep bay

"with several hundred small
islands wooded to the shore.

"the great quantity
of treasure on this vessel

"makes it unwise
to jeopardize it

in any engagement
with the enemy."

September 8th:
"it has been agreed that

"a deep pit be dug
and treasure securely buried.

"the pit to have
a secret entrance

-by a tunnel from the shore."
-and it ends.

And that's where it ends.

In my mind,
there's no doubt that

they're pointing right
to oak island.

Narrator:
Is it possible
that the oak island team

has now found physical evidence
that could be connected

to the d'anville ship's log

and his mission to bury treasure

on a wooded island
in nova scotia?

Doug:
What would you need if

you were putting a vast amount
of treasure underground?

You might have a ledger
to tally the deposit.

Maybe they were keeping
a, a total of how much

they, they put
in the, uh, in the pit.

Joe:
The tannage, too, is important,

and that would help indicate
the age

to get an idea of the date

and perhaps even an origin for
some of the materials as well.

Is there anything that was used
to tan leather that would be

non-native to north america?

Joe:
Yes, I mean,

the black thorn, you know,
tends to be in europe.

Doug:
So, one of the more
interesting things

that charles and I learned
from joe landry today

was that leather,
in its preparation, is treated

with various tannins.

So, if we test these tannins
and determine what was used,

then perhaps it will lead us
to a country of origin.

So, dna testing next,
possibly testing for tannins,

trying to determine
the origin of this leather

and the type of tannin
that it was treated with.

We've got some work ahead of us.

Once again,
thank you very much, sir.

-Charles: We'll be back.
-Doug: Thank you.

Narrator:
While doug and charles make
their way back to oak island...

All right, next one up.

-(beeping)
-(chuckles)

...Rick lagina and gary drayton
continue checking the locations

that gary marked earlier
on the former property

of samuel ball
with flag markers.

I love that tone. Rock solid.

I'm hoping it's a coin.

Wow. That's a good plug, mate.

Again, it's towards the top.

♪ ♪

(beeping)

oh! It's a button.

Yeah, it's a--
ooh, an old flat button.

That is a single-loop
flat button.

Look at the condition of that.

And it would have been
on a jacket.

Easy, you know, 1750 to 1850.

Early 1800s, actually.

What we're hoping for
is some kind of m*llitary

insignia on this, uh...

Connect it to samuel ball.

Definitely a fantastic old find.

Rick:
Literally everything
you're finding

on oak island
is part of history.

Now, this might be samuel ball's
part of that history.

Is it definitive? No.

The hope is that
there'll be some sort of

telltale mark, insignia,

something that
will say definitively

who it might have belonged to
and when it was lost.

(phone ringing)

you getting a call, mate?
I'll flag this.

Yeah, it's doug. Hi, doug.

Good.

We're digging
some nonferrous targets.

What have you got?

That's right.

Right.

So it's a kind of book clasp.

It just speaks to
how necessary follow-up is.

It was a great idea
to bring it there.

Absolutely is.

Yeah. Thank you. Bye.

Yeah, if you think about it,

that makes sense if that is off

an old manuscript or a ledger.

Those straps-- I have seen
those old straps on books.

We're slowly starting
to connect timelines,

but there's a lot
of work to do here.

And I like that ship's ledger
idea. I mean, it fits.

-Let's find a coin with a date.
-Yeah.

-Let's keep them buggers
busy researching.
-(rick laughs)

narrator:
Another new day
has begun on oak island,

and while the drilling
operation continues

in the money pit area...

Gary:
Anything interesting down here?

Rick:
Not yet.
It's all cobble. All cobble.

Narrator:
...Rick lagina,

archaeologists dr. Aaron taylor
and miriam amirault,

along with members
of the oak island team,

are making their way further
into the uplands

near the eastern border
of the triangle-shaped swamp,

uncovering more
of the mysterious stone pathway.

-How's it looking here, alex?
-There's one there.

Aaron:
Yeah.

And I know doug's,
doug's on cobble down there.

-I don't know
about the other side.
-Everything through here

-is cobble at the same level.
-Yeah?

What you got there, rick?

Rick:
I think it's pottery.

It's got, like,
a curved surface.

-Want to take a look?
-Sure.

-It's red.
-Yeah.

It does look like a piece
of earthenware.

Rick:
How old?

Aaron:
So, earthenware is early.

They couldn't get
the kilns very hot,

so it's quite porous,
and there's a trick.

If you stick your tongue
to it, and it sticks,

it's earthenware
because it's porous.

If your tongue doesn't stick,
then it's stoneware.

What does that mean, "earlier"?

So, when the europeans
first came over,

-they would have had
mostly earthenware.
-I see.

What years?

So, this comes in,
right, 1604, and then,

when the british come here

in force,
then they're able to get

the kilns a lot hotter, and then
you get the more vitrified,

the finer ceramics.

So, this is a very crude one,
which means it's quite old,

but let me wash it.

Narrator:
A piece of european pottery?

Possibly dating
to as early as 1604?

But, if so,

just when did
it arrive on oak island?

Is it earthenware, aaron?

I would say
I'm fairly confident it is.

It's got
some darkness on the rim,

but that could be burning.

So I'm quite confident it is,

but let me try the old lick test
and see if my tongue sticks

to it, and that's an indication
that it's earthenware.

Okay, mate.

(gary laughs)

aaron:
There is some sticking.

So I'm pretty sure
it's earthenware,

but we'll get it
cleaned up and let

laird take a look at it,

but this is quite crude.

So I think it's potentially
a pretty exciting find.

So there's a possibility
that could be

spanish or portuguese.

Yeah, they all had the similar
ceramic-making techniques.

Rick:
One ingredient that just

doesn't taste right
with all of this work...

Where's the rest of it?

Why just one piece?

You're sitting there,
you're having...

You break an item, right?

You don't just toss one piece
over there and one piece

-over there.
-No.

Then what happened here?

Aaron:
It's almost like...

They were cleaning up after
themselves as they went along.

And why would you do that?

I mean, you look
at the samuel ball site...

-There's lots of pieces.
-Tons.

Like, there's truckloads.

And there is far more work here

than over there.

Far more people, far more work.

It almost seems like they were
picking up after themselves.

They're not leaving pipe stems.

They're not leaving drinking
vessels, they're not leaving

eating vessels, plates.

The fact that there are no
artifacts may be just as telling

as if there were a bunch.

That is true.

Yeah, so maybe
it's an older area.

Less artifacts
normally means it's older.

Well, I still want to find

-a number of items...
-Aaron: Yes.

...And hope one tells a story.

Narrator:
Later that afternoon...

So, guys,
it's a very important meeting.

...Rick and marty lagina,
along with

craig tester and other
members of the oak island team,

have gathered to hear
a scientific report

that has just come in

related to their
core-drilling operation

in the money pit area.

Doug:
We just finished a hole
with interesting results.

We pretty much consistently

hit tunnel at 87 feet.

Steve:
86 to 90 plus or minus

a half a foot on each one.

Doug:
Thing is, at this point
it-it's an unknown tunnel.

Historically we weren't
expecting anything out that far.

-So, what's it doing there?
-At that depth.

It's a relatively
shallow depth as well.

Doug:
Craig, you sent off
some wood for c-14 dating

from these tunnel hits up there.

Is there any word back yet?

Craig:
Well, we had one that we asked

for a quick return.

-That came out of c-5.
-Yes.

There are two main time periods

that came back.

The first one was 1726

to 1813.

And then

1648 to 1694.

-That was the earlier date.
-Yeah.

-All right.
-(chuckles)

narrator:
In the oak island w*r room,

craig tester has just revealed
carbon dating results

indicating that the evidence
the team has obtained of

a possible tunnel nearly 90 feet
deep in the money pit area

could date back as early
as the mid-17th century.

Nearly 150 years before

the discovery of
the original treasure shaft.

Craig:
I think it's exciting
that we're finding

tunnels on every single well
we're drilling.

You know,
but I'm not convinced by what

we've seen so far
that we really know

what the heck's going on at all.

Mm-hmm.

There could be multiple tunnels

going in different directions.

Um, I just think
we need to drill

more in the area
and define it better.

I think we need to chase this.

I think that makes
a lot of sense.

-All right,
but where's the gold?
-(chuckles)

jack: Well, it appears we're
getting close to it, marty.

Doug:
If we can get a drill hole
inside of it,

-maybe we'll find it.
-Yeah.

Marty:
Yeah, look, I'm sold.

It is exciting enough
and interesting enough to chase

this data because it could
possibly be the money pit.

So we can't quit at this point.

The data coming in
in and around c-1

is-is encouraging because we,

because we never thought
there was anything up there.

I mean, in my mind at least,

c-1 was a long sh*t
when charles proposed it.

But now we're finding
these evidence of tunnels

where they shouldn't be.

So, are these the clues that are
leading us to the money pit?

Well, that would be great.

Rick:
We're finding things that are

perplexing and confusing,

so we have to push forward
and see where it leads us.

Yes.

All right. Good deal.

-Thank you all.
-Thanks, everybody.

-See you all soon.
-Bye-bye.

Narrator:
Later that afternoon...

...With a couple precious hours
of sunlight left,

scott barlow and
geologist terry matheson

join the team from choice
drilling in the money pit area

where they have already
broken ground

in the next borehole
on the team's grid:

Borehole b-c-3.

This is the first in a series
of detailed holes to cover off

the northwest side of c-1.

Well, you see the pattern
we did on the east side.

-Terry: Yeah.
-So, I mean, there's
still lots of places

-for things to hide.
-Yeah.

Rick:
To me c-1 is interesting

not just because
of the shiny gold thing.

It's because when it was first

put down,
it ran through a shaft,

a shaft we're not
quite certain as to what it was.

There's always been this thought
that the money pit was a decoy,

that there was a shaft
well above that maybe where

the real treasure lays, so...

C-1 is interesting
on a couple of levels.

-Scott: You've got some wood.
-Terry: Looks interesting to me.

-What's our footage here?
-88 feet.

Okay, so this is our,
our 87 intersection again.

I'm loving it.

It really
corroborates other hits.

Narrator:
More wood found nearly
90 feet deep underground?

Could that mean the team
has once again hit

the potentially
17th century tunnel?

-Hey, scott.
-Hey, steve.

Narrator:
And if so,
could they be one step closer

to the location
of the fabled treasure vault?

Terry:
Hi, rick. How you doing?

Hi, guys. So, what's up?

Where are we right now?

I'll show you on the plan.

We are now on b-c-3, so we're
on the northwest side of c-1.

-Yeah.
-And I believe we're
about 89 foot right now?

Terry:
That's 89 down there.

From here to here, rick, we got

two and a half feet
of solid wood.

Rick:
I mean, it's-it's
almost a certainty

that that is connected
to these other hits.

There's some sort of tunnel
running through here.

-Yeah, it's going somewhere.
-Rick: I think the thing

that buoys
our spirits regarding this,

this current drill program
is, we have

reason to believe
that we may be close

to the original money pit,
and hopefully

we'll be able to discover
what it may hold.

The question still remains:
Where is the money pit?

-You're running out of space.
-Yeah. Exactly.

I am absolutely hopeful that

what we're doing
this year, outside of

our traditional exploration
area near the money pit,

may lead us to where
it really is and explain to me

why we haven't found it already.

And you know what?
We have to find it.

We have to be getting close.
With all the data we have,

it can't hide forever.
We're gonna get it.

There has to be a shaft
somewhere around c-1.

-Exactly.
-We have to stay the course.

We just have to.

Scott:
The only way we know
is if we keep drilling.

Narrator:
Every promising clue

that rick, marty, craig
and their team unearth

not only validates
the generations of searchers

who came before them

but also provides
compelling evidence

that something of great value

may still lie buried
on oak island.

But just what could it be?

Pirate gold?
Priceless documents?

Or religious artifacts?

What would require a deep pit
with secret tunnels

and a system of ingeniously
designed flood traps?

Or an artificial swamp

with carefully hidden pathways?

And, finally,

what would carry
with it a deadly curse

that has claimed six lives...

So far?

Next time on
the curse of oak island ...

Marty:
Wow. Look at that.

It's showing that this whole
thing is being staked off.

Marty:
It might lead us to treasure.

Deveau:
Wow. This is 16th century
and before.

-That's remarkable.
-Terry, we got wood.

That's interesting. Probably
at the edge of a tunnel.

(chuckles)
could have even come

off samuel ball's walking cane.

It's pretty incredible.
This does seem to match

what we have in our collection.

-We found the smoking g*n.
-I knew it!