09x08 - Deeper Digs, Bigger Stakes

Episode transcripts for the TV show "The Curse of Oak Island". Aired: January 5, 2014 to present.*
Watch/Buy Amazon  Merchandise

Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Post Reply

09x08 - Deeper Digs, Bigger Stakes

Post by bunniefuu »

NARRATOR: Tonight
on The Curse of Oak Island

Oh!

Could be more pieces of a ship.

Holy smokes.
What do you make of that, Rick?

The swamp is yielding things.

- (beeping)
- Wow, that sounds fantastic.

What the bloody hell is this?

CARMEN:
It's a typical strap

- for a heavy chest.
- Really?

- That's a nice surprise.
- (chuckles)

I have always thought the way
to figure out the Money Pit

was finding Shaft Six.

TERRY:
Okay! Look at that.

If it's Shaft Six, how far
are we from the Money Pit?

feet.

NARRATOR: There is an
island in the North Atlantic

where people
have been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 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 d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

It is the beginning of another
potentially historic day

on Oak Island as brothers
Rick and Marty Lagina

and their team

continue their quest to locate

the fabled Money Pit
treasure vault,

a treasure vault that people
have been trying to recover

since .

TERRY:
Today could be the day, Charles.

- A day that could literally rewrite history.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Today,

under the supervision

of geologist Terry Matheson

and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse,

the team have begun drilling
a new borehole

known as DE- . .

TERRY:
DE- . .

We're looking to intersect
perhaps

- a tunnel from the C- cluster.
- Yep.

NARRATOR: Located
within their strategic grid

and just feet
from the C- shaft,

DE- . falls within the area

that has been dubbed
the C- cluster,

where the team has already
recovered metal fragments

that contain
significant traces of gold,

water samples that not only
tested positive for gold

but also silver,

and evidence of wooden tunnels

between and feet deep

that date back to as early
as the late th century.

MARTY: If this wood really was
placed underground in the s,

then it has something to do
with the original deposition.

Terry, we basically have
no information,

no historical record of anything
up in that area.

- No.
- Nothing.

TERRY:
This man-made tunnel

could be put there by the people
who left the treasure.

Yep. We're sure to hit it.

- This is it. Yeah.
- If it's there. Yeah.

MARTY: Plus, we found gold
deep in the Money Pit area.

So, to me, that's the most
potentially significant thing.

It makes you redouble
your efforts

to keep looking
for this treasure.

TERRY: Normally, we're hitting
these tunnels in and around

feet below grade,

so we still got to chew up
some ground between us

- and where we think the tunnel might pass.
- Yeah.

So I think this bodes well

- for this hole.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Once the team
completes their core-drilling program

one month from now,

they intend to dig up to four
ten-foot-wide steel-cased shafts

to recover the source
of the silver and gold

they have detected

and hopefully solve
the Oak Island mystery.

CHARLES:
We got a core.

- What you got, Adam?
- .

.

Pushed a rock
for the first three feet, Terry.

Okay, thanks.

Okay, well,
let's see what we got.

What does it look like, Charles?
Anything?

- Any broken beams?
- No.

So, that's interesting
right there, Charles.

And we've got a few splinters.

Quite a few splinters.

And maybe a chunk of a beam.

And that is exactly at feet.

And he must've pushed
into the side

of some man-made structure,

whether it be a shaft
or a tunnel.

Yeah.

When we were looking
at the core,

there's a section
at feet down

where we're finding
splinters of wood,

and that's pretty exciting.

So we could be
just on the edge of something...

Tunnel,

offset chamber, a shaft.

Who knows?

.

- .
- to

- on DE- . .
- Yeah.

Let's see what we got here.

♪ ♪

- Whoa, Terry.
- to .

And right at the bottom, at ,

that's an interesting looking
chunk of timber there, Charles.

That looks like stacked timber.

All right. Well,
that's what we're looking for.

So, the major question,

if that's stacked timbers,

that's a good indication
you're into...

a structure.

What is that structure?

We're not sure.

We hope it aligns with a shaft

or a tunnel
from a previous hole.

That's all we can do.

CHARLES:
Here's Rick now.

- Hey, Rick. - Good morning.
- Hi, Rick. How you doing?

Good. How are you guys?

- CHARLES: Good.
- Not too bad.

Got something to show you.

- RICK: Okay.
- TERRY: DE- . .

- RICK: Yeah.
- Down feet,

there were some chips
and chunks.

Then, at feet, we hit this.

Looks like possibly two planks
on top of one another

or maybe a split beam.

It does appear stacked.

We were waiting to open this
when you got here.

- Okay. Let's do it.
- Let's just have a look at it.

- Okay.
- Okay, there we go.

So, quite a bit of wood there.

We seem to be clipping
or chipping

along the side of something.

We could be sliding down

along the side of a shaft
with buckled beams.

Obviously, there,
we've intersected something.

But we've got it
for almost feet now.

It's less likely
that it's a tunnel.

More likely that we're skipping
down along the side of a shaft.

RICK:
When you encounter

wood at a distinct horizon,

you can infer
that it is a shaft or a tunnel,

and that's exciting.

The problem with it is,
we don't know

are we in the middle?
Are we at the end?

Are we at the beginning?

Which way does it go?

Those are questions
that remain to be answered.

What we need to keep
in our minds right now

is that there's
only so many drill days left.

- That's right.
- And...

at some point,
we have to switch from...

discovery and exploration
to confirming

four possible locations
for large cans.

- Right.
- And I think

we need to meet and discuss

- where to drill next.
- CHARLES: Okay.

I wouldn't want to jump around.

- Yeah.
- Right.

RICK:
Pressure's on,

because we've got big gear
coming in.

I don't want to guess.
None of us want to guess.

It's not just me. None of us.

The whole fellowship,
the whole team,

we want
a very targeted approach.

All we're really looking for
at this point

is areas of significant interest
that would say to us,

"This is a candidate
for a caisson."

Every hole now
becomes more and more important.

- Yeah.
- Like I said, at this point,

it has to kind of shift from
exploration to confirmation.

Yeah.

RICK:
Okay. Keep looking.

- CHARLES: Will do. Yeah.
- Thank you, guys.

NARRATOR:
Later that morning...

CHARLES: Well, Jack,
back in the swamp again.

- Right?
- Yeah.

Charles Barkhouse has arrived

at the southern edge
of the triangle-shaped swamp

to continue searching
for important clues

with Jack Begley

and Billy Gerhardt.

You know, Marty's all about

putting Xs through things,
right?

Cross a thing off so that you
can move on to something else.

But, you know, we've never been
able to put an "X"

through the swamp.

Certainly found the railing,

which is suspected
of being part of a ship.

Who knows what else
we might find hidden in here?

CHARLES:
Yeah.

Get the water moving.

NARRATOR:
One week ago, Rick,

Marty and the team

began excavating
this area of the swamp,

which is now believed to have
once been open to the ocean

and is also just west

of the potentially -year-old
stone ship's wharf

that the team first uncovered
one year ago.

Does that look flat?

- RICK: I guess it does.
- Yeah, it does, doesn't it?

NARRATOR: They quickly
began recovering large pieces

of hand-hewn wooden boards...

This is the same log.

Which were more than compelling,

considering
the other discoveries

the team has made in this area

over the last several years.

These finds include a possible
section of deck planking,

a piece
of believed ship's railing

that was carbon-dated
to as early as AD,

and a massive
-foot-long anomaly

detected in
by seismic scanning.

That looks kind of interesting.

- What do you see?
- Well, right there.

- Right on top.
- Good eye, Charles.

Is that a plank?

It looks like a plank.

JACK:
Ooh!

That's a nice cut plank.

If you look at it, Jack,

like, the edges are rounded,
but, you know,

it could be just from age.

JACK: Is that the
right width for a plank?

CHARLES:
Yeah.

It could be more,
more pieces of a ship.

Yeah. That's definitely where
we found that piece of railing.

- Right?
- Yeah.

Who knows
what this could date to.

CHARLES: Yeah. But
we're definitely gonna save it,

and we'll hopefully find
something else.

Yeah. You know, you have
a rail, you have planks.

CHARLES:
That's right.

It's becoming a little bit more

than just coincidence now,
it seems.

- JACK: Exactly.
- CHARLES: Yeah.

You got something?

No.
(grunts)

It's really quiet.

NARRATOR: While the
investigation along the southern border

of the swamp continues...

STEVE G.: So, we're just
finishing off the C- cluster

drill program,
and we need to move on.

In the research center,

Rick Lagina is meeting
with surveyor Steve Guptill,

Oak Island historian
Doug Crowell

and project manager Scott Barlow

regarding their drilling
operation in the Money Pit area.

The C- cluster...

We were really successful,

but I think we've done
as much as we can do

and we need to move
somewhere else.

So, you had an area

that you really liked, Rick,
down here to the west.

- RICK: Yeah.
- S-So, I think we're gonna focus on that,

if, uh... if that's
what you'd still like to do.

I do. I've always thought

the way to figure out
the Money Pit was

finding Shaft Six
and the tunnel from Six.

NARRATOR:
In the summer of ,

members
of the Oak Island Association

drilled into
what they believed to be

two stacked
wooden treasure chests

at a depth of approximately
feet in the original Money Pit.

In an effort to retrieve them,

while avoiding
the legendary flood tunnels,

the team dug an adjacent shaft
feet to the west

known as Shaft Six

to a depth of feet.

As they tunneled their way
toward what they hoped

would be the ultimate discovery,

seawater suddenly burst
through the soil,

flooding the tunnel,

which resulted in a catastrophic
collapse of the wood cribbing

in the Money Pit.

The disaster not only ended
their efforts

but is believed to have left
the contents of the two chests

scattered
across a flooded debris field.

RICK: I have always believed
that the way to find the Money Pit

is to find Shaft Six

and the tunnel associated
with it

because of the collapse story.

There has to be a tunnel there,

and feet away from that
would be the Money Pit.

So, to that, you know,
we-we're gonna set them up

on G- as of now.

And the math works
that if this is Shaft Six,

C-I could potentially be
the Money Pit.

RICK: Two things are
achievable goals down there.

One is, can we find
the orientation of the shaft?

And, two, can we discern where
our tunnel may come off of it?

NARRATOR: If the team can
successfully locate the tunnel

connected to Shaft Six,

they might not only find
what is showing trace evidence

of silver and gold

in the various boreholes
across the Money Pit area

but also whatever else
may lie buried

in the original treasure shaft
itself.

So, if C- is
the original Money Pit,

the math works that this is...
I've calculated feet away

but historical records say .

- Am I right, Doug?
- feet. - feet.

Right.
But what we need to ascertain

- is the orientation.
- That's right.

Yes.

So let's let
the drill program proceed.

Let's see what G- tells us
and then move from there.

Fair enough?

- Sounds good.
- All righty.

RICK: Thanks, guys.
Thanks for all the work.

DOUG:
See you later.

NARRATOR:
The following morning...

- This is it, mate.
- Okay.

Metal detection expert
Gary Drayton,

along with treasure hunter
Michael John,

arrive on Lot ,

located near Lot ,

on the western side
of the island.

This is one of my favorite lots.

- Lot .
- Why?

All this area here
is on Zena's map.

There's, like, a hatch mentioned

- in this old French map.
- Okay.

So, we've got
loads of flags here,

and I'm ready to recover
a bit of Oak Island history.

- I'm ready, too.
- All right, mate.

- Let's get stuck in.
- Let's go.

Right in through here.
I'll lead the way.

NARRATOR:
Three weeks ago,

the Oak Island team conducted

two different
geophysical surveys

across the island,

looking for potential
underground structures

and large metal objects.

It was their hope to obtain data

that might corroborate
a reported th century map

of Oak Island believed
to have been created

by members
of the Knights Templar

that the late author
and researcher Zena Halpern

gave them five years ago.

Back by the main road
on the western side,

just up there on Lot .

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
the preliminary survey data

revealed a large
underground metal anomaly

near this area on Lot ,

which corresponded
with a feature on Zena's map

labeled as "the Hole
under the Hatch."

Let's see what we got here,
mate.

NARRATOR:
Over the past two weeks,

in order to help Rick,
Marty and Craig obtain a permit

to conduct large-scale
excavations in this area,

Gary has been searching
for evidence of human activity

predating the discovery
of the Money Pit.

So far, he has found an th
century gold-plated button,

a possible th century
cutting and shaping tool

known as an adze,

and a metal fragment

of a potentially ancient
Portuguese cannon.

MARTY:
I always ask this question.

With these other islands...

And there are a bunch
of 'em in Mahone Bay...

If they were searched as-as
intensively as we're searching,

would you find these things?
And the answer is always no.

No, there's something unique
about this island.

(beeping)

- Good two-way repeatable signal.
- Yeah.

- Just there, mate.
- Right there? Okay.

All right. Let's see

- what we're dealing with.
- Yeah.

- (beeping)
- Great.

Still in the hole. Love that.

(beeping)

It's in my hand.

- Hmm.
- (beeping)

Ooh.

Big chunk of lead.

I always love it when we recover
a piece of lead like this.

Because until it's cleaned up,
we don't know, mate,

whether this is
a decorated piece of lead

or it's just left over from
making something made of lead

- in a mold.
- Yeah.

Match it up to other pieces

of medieval lead

- that we've recovered on the island, mate.
- Yeah.

And tell us who

- was here.
- Yeah.

Can I take a look?

Yeah, sure, mate.

NARRATOR:
A lead artifact found on Lot

and near the so-called
hatch anomaly on Lot ?

Could it have been merely
dropped by a th century farmer

who lived on the island?

Or could it be
another critical clue,

like the lead fragment
Gary found three years ago

on Lot ?

Or the lead cross that he found
four years ago at Smith's Cove?

Both of which
were scientifically proven

to date back to the th century

and from European regions
once inhabited

by the Knights Templar.

- The mystery continues, eh?
- Yep.

It does, mate.
Uh, one artifact

- at a time.
- That's right.

So, I'm gonna put it in a bag
and move on to the next flag.

RICK:
I think there's high hopes,

for me, that some
of these artifacts will

enhance our ability
to further decipher Zena's map.

- On to the next. The next flag's over there, mate.
- Yep.

RICK: We may find some very
specific locations that we can apply

some sort of dig

or some sort of drill program
that may assist us

in figuring out if the things
that were delineated on the map

are really real.

That's the hope.

See what this baby sounds like.

(beeping)

I'm just going
for the good-sounding targets.

- Just there, mate.
- Okay. Right there?

- All right.
- Yeah.

That's it.
Now we'll be able to get it.

(beeping)

- Wow, it sounds fantastic now.
- Yeah.

(beeping)

Getting rapid vibration.

There it is.

Ooh. That could be interesting.

Looks like
there was nails in it.

- MICHAEL J.: Sure is metal.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: While searching
for clues on lot ,

near Lot on the western side
of Oak Island,

Gary Drayton and Michael John

have just made a potentially
important discovery.

GARY: Looks like it was a strap.

Uh, part of a cart wheel.

- MICHAEL J.: Yeah.
- And that's what it reminds me of.

- We found a strap...
- Mm.

And we took it to Carmen Legge

and he said it was a strap

- that went around...
- Okay.

- On a wheel of a cart.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR:
A metal strap?

Could Gary be correct
that he has found part

of a large cart or wagon wheel?

One similar to the iron strap
that he found two months ago

on Lot along
a potentially ancient pathway

between the swamp
and the Money Pit?

If so, could it be evidence
of cargo being transported

to this area on the western side
of the island long ago?

All right.
Let's put it in the bag

- and-and mark this area.
- There we go.

NARRATOR:
And perhaps also connected

to the mysterious hatch
or possible tunnel feature

labeled on Zena Halpern's map?

I find this artifact
fascinating.

You can tell by the weight
in your hand that you're

holding a really old piece
of history.

I'm gonna recheck
the hole first.

- Okay.
- See if it was masking a nice little surprise.

(faint beeping)

Nope.

MARTY:
The metal strap that Gary found,

it could be significant.

And it was found

adjacent to Lot .

So we need to look closely
on Lot .

And we also have to explore,
probably with Carmen Legge,

what this thing is.

All right, mate.

- There's that one done.
- All right.

- Next target's over here, mate.
- Yeah.

- Finding interesting stuff.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: While Gary and Michael
John continue searching on Lot ...

(thunder rumbling)

later that afternoon

in the Money Pit area...

TERRY:
Here we go.

New hole, new promise.

If it's Shaft Six, how far
are we from the Money Pit?

- feet.
- Thank you.

Charles Barkhouse
and geologist Terry Matheson

are overseeing
the core-drilling operation

of the team's latest borehole

on their strategic grid.

Labeled G- ,

it is Rick Lagina's hope

that it will produce
evidence of a tunnel

nearly feet deep

connected to the th century
searcher shaft

known as Shaft Six.

One which is believed
to possibly contain

a debris field of treasure

that resulted
from a collapse of the Money Pit

in .

CHARLES:
We got a core coming.

Oh, yeah.

CHARLES:
What you got, Adam?

.

- Wood.
- What do you got?

- You got wood.
- We got wood.

We are in blue-gray till
as well.

So we're kind of in situ.
That's important.

- Okay. Well, we were in blue-gray till.
- Oh.

And what do we got?
Hmm, smell that.

That smells...

We got a lot here, too.

Yeah, we've got some stacked
timbers there, it looks like.

NARRATOR: Wood found at a
depth of just feet in Borehole G- ?

Could it be connected
to Shaft Six?

Or is it a completely different
man-made structure?

So, that's really quite
an important development.

So that says to me
probably the shaft.

Yeah.

We're probably in the shaft
that we're looking for.

I would say.

I'm gonna want to take,
uh, samples of this.

TERRY:
Yeah, absolutely.

NARRATOR:
Could Terry be correct

that the wood he and the team
have just found

might actually be evidence
of Shaft Six itself?

If so, it means that they
could be within just feet

of the original Money Pit.

Look at this, Charles.

I'm seeing vertical pitsaw-type
of marks.

Definitely not circular saw.

This is relatively old.

CHARLES:
Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

- ADAM: .
- . Got it, Adam. Thank you.

Okay.

Things are looking up
for this hole.

Yeah.

We got more wood, Terry.

TERRY:
Oh, that's cool.

Would you say stacked timbers?

- Definitely stacked.
- Looks...

Oh, yeah, that's stacked timbers
for sure. Look at that.

Stacked and split apart.

Terry, I'm gonna text Rick
and just let him know

that we're hitting wood
at these two levels.

- Yeah.
- Just give him a heads-up.

Here we go.

What's the good word, Adam?

.

TERRY:
Okay. Thank you.

Let's operate on this bad boy.

(grunts)

- CHARLES: Oh, yeah. (chuckling)
- Look at that.

That is

- a good old-fashioned shaft right there.
- Absolutely.

Totally agree.

TERRY:
to ,

we got five foot
of stacked timbers.

So, if this is Shaft Six,

we're gonna be able
to place this

- fairly well.
- That's right.

We're starting to see some wood.

That can tell us that we're
actually in the right spot.

So, if this is the shaft,

then, from that,
we'll look for the tunnel.

We can determine
the orientation of that tunnel.

Bingo. We've nailed
where the Money Pit is.

And we can finally put
an "X" on the ground.

CHARLES:
Hey, Rick.

- TERRY: Hi, Rick.
- Hi.

We've got some wood.

But how much?
Are you in a wall?

We've got a substantial
intersection.

- Are you in a wall?
- Yes.

Oh, definitely we're in a wall.
Right here.

Oh, yeah.

Started about ten feet
above that.

Yeah.

I was very interested
in the results at G- .

Because my hope is that

it will encounter the tunnel
from Shaft Six.

It's my white whale.

It's something I've pursued
since the beginning.

My hope is that this location
will yield some answer.

No metal?

I haven't run
the pinpointer over it.

We have it opened up.
We wanted you to see if first.

No, do it.
It confirms that wall.

But where is it, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

- It's got to be a shaft wall.
- Oh, yeah.

- We're over ten feet so far.
- Has to be.

With this and the hits we've hit

previously,
we hopefully will be able

to get some kind of orientation.

And we have
a chunk of wood up here

that shows beautiful, uh,
parallel saw marks.

- Oh, really?
- Yeah.

That's what I was looking for.

- Yep. For sure.
- Great.

- Okay.
- So we're pretty happy.

Go, Charles.

Very happy.

(beeping)

That's good.

Should be right there.

CHARLES: Whatever it is,
it's right in here.

RICK:
Is it here?

There it is right there.

Right there.

CHARLES:
What's in that thing?

Looks like a nail, doesn't it?

NARRATOR: While drilling in an
effort to locate a th century

searcher shaft
that may not only be connected

to the original Money Pit
but also might contain

something of great value...

Oh, look at that.

- Square head on it.
- It is a square nail, yeah.

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

have just recovered
a potentially important clue.

You know what? I'd like to bring
it down to the XRF right now.

Okay. Let me...
let me bag it and tag it.

Okay? But I'll save that.

I want to save that there.


Okay.

It could intersect the tunnel

from Shaft Six
and the debris field.

Could be.

- Cross our fingers.
- Could be.

RICK: I'm very excited
about the find of the nail

in the stacked wood feature that
has come out of the borehole.

It's a testable artifact.

The hope is
that it will say something

about the time
of the shaft construct.

It's another way to determine

whether or not
it is indeed Shaft Six.

- Here you go.
- Okay.

I will run down. I will XRF it.

- I will be back to tell you.
- Great.

- Super. Thanks a lot.
- That's cool. Thanks.

Thanks for all the hard work.

- CHARLES: My pleasure.
- TERRY: We do what we can.

NARRATOR: While the
drilling operation continues

in Borehole G- ...

- DOUG: Hey, Rick.
- RICK: Hey, Doug.

I've just come
from the Money Pit.

Rick Lagina heads
to the archaeology trailer

to scan
the square-shaped nail using

the team's
X-ray fluorescence machine.

This is from G- .

- Okay.
- Started it.

The hope was to define
a wall of the shaft.

Well, it turns out
we're actually in a shaft.

Charles was metal-detecting...

and curiously...

this came out.

DOUG:
An old nail.

RICK: My first thought was to
bring it down and put it in the XRF.

But, specifically,
what I was hoping is,

look for manganese and see

if that timeline,
pre- or post- ,

- fits with our suspicion...
- Yes!

That it's Shaft Six.

If it's pre- ,

it doesn't really fit
into our understanding

of the construct
of the Shaft Six.

Well, it should
certainly suggest if it is

pre- or post- .

Let's find out.

So, if we pop
this little window out here,

we can see
how our alignment looks.

Looks like we're getting
all of the nail right there,

so let's try that.

Yep.

NARRATOR: By emitting
nondestructive radiation,

the XRF machine
will identify the minerals

and metals
that the nail is composed of.

We'll call it a bent nail.

NARRATOR: If manganese,
which was commonly used to forge

iron and steel
during the mid- th century,

is found to be present,
it would offer evidence

that the team has indeed found

Shaft Six.

DOUG:
All right, here we go.

There.

Didn't take too long
for it to finish.

No, it didn't.

- Ten seconds.
- So, . % iron.

It's got . manganese.

Wow.

That would be after

by those numbers.

RICK:
It's quite amazing.

DOUG:
Oh, absolutely.

So it does indicate

- searcher work.
- Yep.

Which it should.

Yeah. If it's Shaft Six.

If it's Shaft Six.

Laird, are you in?

LAIRD:
Yes.

You want to render an opinion
on an old nail?

Just come take a look.

I can try.

DOUG:
Have a look at this.

LAIRD:
I think it's hand-forged.

You can't really
tell from the head.

It's been in the ground
for a long time.

I wonder if it was something

that was on the ground,
like they piled timber

on the ground,
it got stuck on the timber,

- and then got... in between the stacks.
- Yeah.

I mean, those nails tend
to be associated with flooring.

So, they're holding something.

DOUG: I mean, it does
seem to fit the-the period.

Yeah, I mean, it doesn't look
like a machine-cut nail to me.

So that brings it
into the, you know,

early-to-mid- s.

Right.

Which is exactly what we th...
Hoping it is.

- Right.
- Yes.

NARRATOR:
If the team has indeed found

Shaft Six, they're not only

less than feet
from the original Money Pit

but also a debris field
some feet deep

that is believed to be
littered with treasure.

It does have a fair bit
of manganese in it.

RICK: Because of the
high manganese content,

it's post- .

One could make, certainly,
an argument that this is

indeed Shaft Six.

To me, it's, that's exciting
because I've always believed

that there was a collapse.

If there's anything to be found,

the proof, the one thing,

it's in that tunnel.
It's in the debris field.

Look, we'll keep drilling,
as long as

we're in the wall,
we'll just keep going.

And see what happens.

DOUG:
All righty.

LAIRD:
All right, see you later.

NARRATOR:
The following day...

as the search operations
at the Money Pit

and at the southern border
of the swamp continue...

- Hello!
- MARTY: Hey, Carmen.

- GARY: Hey, mate. - MARTY: How are you, sir?
- CARMEN: Hey, what you got?

Well, we were just discussing
a find of Gary's, actually.

Oh, look at that.

NARRATOR: Blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge

has just arrived on the island

to meet with Marty Lagina,
Doug Crowell

and Gary Drayton
in the research center.

He has come to examine
the metal artifact

that Gary found
just one day ago on Lot .

Obviously,
it's just an iron strap, mate.

But we're hoping
that you, the...

iron expert, mate,
will tell us what this is.

- (laughter)
- Oh, nice one, mate.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Really?

(laughter)

GARY:
That's very interesting.

- Oh, that's a little more exciting, Gary.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: In the Oak Island
Research Center,

blacksmithing expert Carmen
Legge has just given members

of the team
an incredible assessment

of the iron strap
found one day ago

on Lot .

MARTY: Was that to
hold the box together?

Or...? Okay.

How old?

Um...

There we go.

- Yeah.
- That's a hundred years

- before the Money Pit.
- CARMEN: That's right.

NARRATOR:
An iron strap?

From a box or chest

that not only dates back
to as early

as the th century,
but also found

near the area of the so-called
"Hole under the Hatch,"

depicted on the map belonging
to the late Zena Halpern?

It's not ornate, though.

MARTY:
Mm-hmm, right.

MARTY:
Right.

- Hmm.
- That's a nice surprise.

Yeah, it is, actually.

Well, that's pretty cool, Gary.

Now go find the box.

Yeah, now I'm thinking what was

- in that box, as well.
- Yes.

Mm-hmm, okay.

The most significant thing

about the metal strap,
it's probably

a strap that held, uh,
some sort of chest together.

And quite old.

Right here is
the overlap of a weld.

MARTY: So we're gonna
dig around that area

and see if we can find
some corroborative pieces.

Well, that's pretty cool.

Sounds like it might be
part of the puzzle.

GARY:
Yeah.

MARTY:
It's a part of the story

that might lead us to it.

Okay, Doug, make notes on it,
please,

uh, Carmen's observations.

Okay. Back to work.

- GARY: Okay.
- CARMEN: Very good.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

as the core-drilling operation

in Borehole G- continues
at the Money Pit...

Oh, yeah.

JACK:
Whoa!

Look at this, Charles!

CHARLES:
Oh, my God.

Hard to say what it is.

NARRATOR:
Billy Gerhardt, along

with Charles Barkhouse
and Jack Begley,

continue making potentially

important discoveries
at the southern edge

of the triangle-shaped swamp.

JACK:
Is that cut?

Yeah! It's cut to a point!

BILLY:
Yeah, there...

might be three
good pieces in there.

JACK:
Oh, yeah! Maybe even more.

BILLY:
The little piece came out

of just where we were
pumping out up here.

How deep, Billy?

Maybe three feet deep.

Yeah.

JACK:
Look at this.

There's a smaller one there,
too, though.

- See it, the short one?
- Yeah.

That's pretty smooth,
though, isn't it?

Yeah.

Wow.

- Want to grab those other ones, too?
- Yeah.

BILLY:
That's a little bit

like the survey stakes
we found last year,

but I haven't seen any like
the one that Jack has there.

CHARLES:
No.

NARRATOR:
Possible survey stakes?

Found just west of the believed
stone wharf in the swamp?

MARTY:
Look at that.

That's cut.

Oh, yeah. That's definitely cut.

NARRATOR:
One year ago,

while searching
along the stone pathway,

near the eastern border
of the swamp,

the Oak Island team
discovered a number

of wooden survey stakes
which they believed

had been used in
the construction of the feature.

So, that's staking it.

- Somebody would go through first.
- Yep.

Say, between there and there.
Right?

Yeah, that's beautiful.

NARRATOR:
When the team submitted

the wooden stakes
for carbon testing,

they were astonished
by the results.

CRAIG:
Sample ,

from to .

- Wow.
- (laughter)

- Hey, Bill.
- Hey, Charles.

NARRATOR:
Is it possible that

the team has now found
another ancient survey stake

near the southern
border of the swamp?

If so, could it be evidence
of another buried structure

in this area

that has yet to be uncovered?

If you look at the cuts here,
the cuts are different.

That one on the right is
a long, tapered cut.

This one on the left is
a short, abrupt cut.

- Mm-hmm.
- I would say that

the same person didn't make
that cut.

BILLY: Yeah, the quality of that
one looks way better than that one.

- Oh, yeah.
- So I don't know what that tells you.

Definitely the same person
didn't do them both.

- No.
- But you know any time you find

- something in the swamp is a good day.
- Yeah.

I think we should have the rest
of the guys look at it.

- CHARLES: That would be great.
- JACK: Let's move out.

- JACK: Hey, guys.
- MARTY: Hey, Jack.

Billy, what you got there, bud?

Yeah, right, so we found
some really interesting pieces

of wood in the swamp
and figured we'd come up here

and show both of you.

- LAIRD: Holy crap.
- MARTY: Holy smokes.

What do you make of that, Rick?

- What does it look like?
- RICK: I don't know

what it looks like.
It looks different.

- Yeah.
- Yep.

- You guys found it?
- Yeah.

Billy, where'd you find it,
roughly?

BILLY:
In the swamp,

probably feet
towards the swamp road

from where we were digging
towards the Money Pit.

These are more like

what the kind of survey stakes
Fred found.

One long symmetrical cut.

NARRATOR: Like the
potentially ancient survey stakes

that the team discovered
one year ago,

lining the stone pathway along
the eastern border of the swamp,

the late Fred Nolan found
a number of them running

through the middle
of the brackish bog

in .

Is it possible
that Billy and Jack

have found another stake
connected to those

unearthed by Fred
more than a half century ago?

If so, what were they lining?

And might they be related in
some way to the -foot-long

anomaly detected in
by seismic scanning?

One eerily resembling
the length and size

of a massive ship?

The stakes that are there
have been formed,

are clearly a*-cut.

So this is an interesting piece.

It's clearly wood
for some sort of

very specific purpose.

It could be significant.

I knew there would be
wood in the swamp.

Every time we dig we find
some human-shaped wood,

but they're finding a lot.

I'm kind of surprised at what
keeps coming out of that swamp.

This is pretty cool, too.
I mean, it's clearly a plank.

It's about the same size
as the barrel tops.

RICK:
Same depth?

- JACK: Yeah.
- BILLY: Yep.

What does it mean?
What does it mean?

JACK: I think maybe
both of these are actually...

- Markers of some sort?
- Well, yeah.

RICK: The swamp work, of course,
has provided some great finds,

areas of great interest.

The hope is that we can
continue to make finds

that we can apply science to,

to maybe come up
with an artifact

that is an aha moment.

I still believe
there's answers there.

JACK:
So, what tests can we have done

to these pieces, 'cause
we can't have specific dendro

done to something like this.

No, but C- done to that.

But what about this
piece of wood?

- MARTY: Maybe that, too.
- Is it big enough for dendro?

MARTY: It matters how
many rings are on there.

If it was an old growth,
it could be.

NARRATOR: Dendrochronology
is a cutting-edge dating method

that entails analyzing
the tree rings present

on pieces of shaped wood.

It can determine not only
the age of the artifact

but also the precise date
that it was cut for use.

That one strikes me as older.

- This one. I think that's older.
- Just visually, it seems.

MARTY: Yeah, all right, well,
you know what I'm gonna say.

These are cool.

Go find something
that explains what they are.

The swamp is yielding things.

- Oh, yeah.
- All right, guys.

Let's go get some more stuff.

Let's get after it.

LAIRD:
All right.

NARRATOR:
For years,

the Money Pit has been
the focus of nearly

all those who attempted
to solve the Oak Island mystery.

And while the traces
of silver and gold that Rick,

Marty, Craig
and their team have recovered

suggest that a major discovery

still awaits them there,

could the clues

that they are finding
all across the island

mean that many more
and valuable secrets

also lie in wait?

The drilling and digging
will continue.

The rest is up to fate...

and perhaps the curse

of Oak Island.

Next time
on The Curse of Oak Island...

The Portuguese found signs
of gold here

and needed a place
to hide it away.

- Wow.
- If that is indeed Shaft Six,

we know there's a tunnel leading
directly to the Money Pit.

You follow the tunnel,
it's game on then.

GARY:
All it takes is one good find.

What's that right there, Gary?

Oh, that's interesting.

It might be a lid.

There could be a chest in there.

That's pretty amazing.

RICK:
You'll hold in your hand

the irrefutable proof
that the story

of Oak Island is real.
Post Reply