10x18 - A Quadrilateral Move

[bunniefuu]

Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

The gold concentrations
get higher as we go down.

- SCOTT: Oh, wow.
- COTE: "X" marks the spot.

RICK: We're going to
dig the great quadrilateral.

This clay should not be here.

There's something at
the bottom of that clay.

- That's a big something.
- Oh, wow. -What is that?

- GARY: That is sweet.
- ALEX: Whoa.

This is Portuguese.

It's 1474 to 1638.

- RICK: Wow.
- [chuckles]

No way.

- It's incredible.
- [laughs]

NARRATOR: There is an
island in the North Atlantic

where people have
been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have
found a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it...

man-made workings that
date to medieval times,

and a lead cross whose
origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have d*ed

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

CRAIG: Hey, guys.

- SCOTT: Hey, Craig.
- COTE: How's it going?

- Good.
- All right.

- Question is, how are you doing?
- Ah, she's going.

NARRATOR: Another
bright and hopeful day

has begun on Oak Island

for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina,

their partner Craig Tester,

and their entire team,

as they dig deeper

in the Money Pit
area for the answers

to a 228-year-old
treasure mystery.

CRAIG: How deep are you cribbed?

Uh, right now, we're at 67 feet.

Okay.

NARRATOR: Thanks to representatives
of Dumas Contracting Limited,

the reconstruction of the
so-called Garden Shaft

has now reached a
depth of nearly 70 feet

and will continue until
the original structure

is completely refurbished
with waterproof levels,

or sets, down to its bottom,

approximately 80
feet underground.

SCOTT: The deeper this goes,

kind of the more
exciting it gets for us.

CRAIG: Yeah. I'm sure
hoping we find more gold

and the concentrations
get higher as we go down.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: The team
has numerous reasons

to believe that
the Garden Shaft,

which has been carbon-dated
to more than 60 years prior

to the discovery of
the Money Pit in 1795,

may lead them to
the ultimate discovery.

First, water that
flooded the shaft,

as well as wood
samples that were taken

at depths of 55 and 58
feet from the structure,

have yielded high
trace evidence of gold.

And second, the
Garden Shaft is located

less than 20 feet east from
the so-called "Treasure Zone,"

where the team has discovered
their highest traces of silver,

gold, and other metals between
depths of 80 and 120 feet.

And within that zone,

a tunnel was
recently discovered,

some 95 feet deep,

that appears to lead almost
directly below the shaft.

How deep are your probes
going at this point in time?

So, uh, we're probing 12
feet on the outside wall.

Okay.

COTE: And then we're gonna
probably probe each corner

about 20 feet.

I've got a print right here.

There are three per
wall, so there's 12.

CRAIG: Okay.

NARRATOR: Because of
the recent discoveries of gold

found on samples of
wood that were collected

at the 55 and 58-foot
levels of the Garden Shaft,

the Laginas and Craig have
directed the team from Dumas

to conduct a new
probe drilling operation

at the current depth of 67 feet.

Using a powerful
hydraulic earth drill,

three holes will be
made at various angles

through each of the four walls,

reaching as far as 20
feet outside the shaft

in order to look for
possible tunnels, chambers,

and valuables that
may be buried nearby.

RICK: This area is significantly
unknown and under-investigated.

So, because of that

and because of all the issues
with the high gold values,

the associated soft areas,

we and the Dumas team

want to know what's
outside of the shaft.

It's all about, at this
point, the probe drilling

to further our understanding
of the relevance

of the Garden Shaft in
terms of treasure recovery.

COTE: That's right. Yeah.

So, when we're
doing our testing,

we can see if there's... you
know, if we are lucky enough

that we get another
concentration

of gold on the wood,
we can see if it is higher

on the outside versus the
inside to know, you know,

was it something
that's outside the shaft

- that's causing this?
- Yeah.

CRAIG: It's all just
another piece of the puzzle,

but it will help
us figure it out.

- So... Appreciate it.
- Okay. Thank you.

- CRAIG: Talk to you later.
- SCOTT: Thanks, Craig.

NARRATOR: As the
probe drilling operation

continues in the Garden Shaft...

RICK: Okay. Are we about ready?

Just in time. Yeah.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina,

fellow Oak Island
landowner Tom Nolan,

and other members of the team

prepare to conduct
another excavation

in search of vital
clues on Lot 13,

just northeast of the swamp.

This is the site. We are
looking at the quadrilateral.

Right here.

It just was interesting
when you brought out,

you know, what your
father had written about it.

I mean, three layers

of multi-ton stone
is right there.

- GARY: Dang.
- RICK: That's a unique feature.

TOM: Just maybe today we can get

a couple answers 'cause
it left my dad, you know,

he knew he had found
something, you know, of importance,

but he didn't know exactly
what its meaning was, so...

This is the section
of the book that was

dedicated to the quadrilateral.

NARRATOR: One week ago,
Tom shared an unpublished book

written by his late father,

Fred Nolan, which documented
his nearly six-decade search

for the answers to
the Oak Island mystery.

What they found themselves in

was some sort
of a boulder field,

and it definitely
didn't look natural

once they started to uncover it.

NARRATOR: One item in the book

was a 32-foot-long,

quadrilateral-shaped
boulder feature

that he discovered back in 1993.

RICK: That's intriguing, right?

- Don't you think so?
- Very intriguing.

TOM: To construct this thing,

it would've taken a
huge amount of time

to put this thing together.

NARRATOR: Although he removed

a number of boulders
from the feature,

Fred was never able to
confirm if it was simply

a marker or perhaps
hiding something.

RICK: That was the end

of his dig, and this is
the beginning of ours.

Let's see what we can find here.

- Okay. Time to get boulder.
- Time... -[chuckles]

[chuckles]

GARY: Now we're rolling.

NARRATOR: As Billy Gerhardt
carefully peels back the earth

covering the stone formation,

Gary Drayton will
metal detect the spoils

in search of important
clues and discoveries.

We know nothing about
the great quadrilateral,

other than the little bit
of information that was in

Fred's book.

- There's one.
- There's a rock, yeah.

RICK: The aim is to learn

more about it and its
import on the island.

And, hopefully, it
will be quite revealing

in terms of
understanding the mystery.

GARY: Oh, there's
a metal pipe there.

Did your dad do
any drilling here?

TOM: Yes, that's what
he said in the book.

GARY: Nice little piece of
Nolan history there, mate.

- TOM: Yep.
- BILLY: Hey, guys, you should take a look here.

GARY: Do you want
to see what's going on?

The little sticks there.

GARY: What is it, Tom?

TOM: I'd say it's
been cut and burnt.

Cut and burnt. Wood?

Yeah.

GARY: Oh, yeah.

To me, that looks
like it's been in a fire.

Mm-hmm.

I want to know what
that is right there.

BILLY: Yeah, the
consistency of that, to me,

reminds me more of when we
dig in the bottom of the swamp.

- What do you got, Rick?
- RICK: It's burnt, too.

[sighs]

Yep, I would say

that's been through
a fire, wouldn't you?

Yeah.

- Oh, yeah. It's charcoal.
- TOM: Yeah.

GARY: That kind of
reminds me of those small

little pieces of
wood that we found

in the base layer
of the stone pathway

that goes around the swamp.

With all these
thin little branches

like that, that were cut.

It's really firm right here.
Feel how firm that is.

Yeah there's some sort
of cribbing or support.

NARRATOR: Two years ago,

the team uncovered a stone road

in the southeast
corner of the swamp.

A road that is
believed to be at least

500 years old,

potentially of
Portuguese design...

Wow. So, that's the
coal we're finding.

Yeah, we found some
pieces fairly large.

NARRATOR: and which was
constructed atop a layer of charcoal

and wood fragments.

ALEX: Looks a lot
like the stone path.

CORJAN: Yeah, it
looks the spitting image.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,
one year later in 2021,

while visiting a site in
Alqueidão da Serra, Portugal,

known to have been a
stronghold for the Knights Templar

between the 12th
and 16th centuries,

Rick and Alex Lagina,
along with Doug Crowell

and Peter Fornetti, were shown

a nearly identical feature.

If there is a
Portuguese connection

to the construction of
the road in the swamp,

maybe this is the blueprint.

- How deep are you, Bill?
- Four feet.

Oh, there's quite a bit
of digging to do here yet.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that
the team has just found evidence

that the quadrilateral
feature on Lot 13

and the stone road in the
swamp may be related?

And if so, could
both help explain

just who was behind
the Oak Island mystery?

BILLY: Hey, Rick?

That's a bit of clay there.

- TOM: This stuff?
- BILLY: Yeah.

Pretty definitive that that

- shouldn't normally be there, right?
- TOM: No. That could be

- blue clay, right there.
- Yeah.

Where have you
seen that color before?

Money Pit.

GARY: I was not expecting that.

NARRATOR: On Lot 13,

located northeast of
the Oak Island swamp...

RICK: There's a big,
thick seam of it right here.

NARRATOR: while excavating
a mysterious boulder formation

known as "the quadrilateral,"

which was first discovered
by Fred Nolan in the 1990s,

Rick Lagina and
members of the team

have just found a
potentially critical clue.

RICK: Exactly the kind of clay
that we found around the Money Pit.

NARRATOR: In 1804,

when searchers began
the first major excavation

of the original Money Pit

at a depth of 40 feet,

they found a layer
of blue clay that acted

as a sealant to keep
water out of the shaft.

Curiously, when
the team investigated

a circular feature of boulders,

known as the Eye of the Swamp,

in 2018,

they discovered
the same substance.

You've never
seen it this shallow?

No, definitely not.

NARRATOR: Is it possible

that the team

has now found evidence

that the quadrilateral
was created

by the same people

who manipulated the swamp
and constructed the Money Pit?

- RICK: Hey, Terry.
- Hi, Rick. How you doing?

- Hey, Terry.
- Hey, Tom.

RICK: Well, I'm
gonna be a lot better

once you tell us things we don't
know. [laughs] Come on down.

- Only make educated guesses.
- No, you'll know this.

- I got my fingers crossed.
- Why is that there?

It seems a little bit similar
to what we're seeing

in the Money Pit.

RICK: Blue clay is part
of the historical narrative

of the find of the Money Pit.

Would you use that
to your advantage

if you wanted to keep water out

of-of some sort of
underground structure?

Absolutely. 100%.

NARRATOR: Could
Rick Lagina's notion

that the presence of blue clay

indicates that a structure

is possibly buried
below be correct?

If so, what kind of
structure could it be?

And might it contain
something of great value?

RICK: It's a mystery.

I can't wait dig the rest of it,

but I think we're
done for the day.

Yep. Absolutely.

RICK: We'll pick it up tomorrow.

GARY: I think the
best is yet to come.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

RONNIE: All right, stop
around the same spot,

I'll throw another rod on.

NARRATOR: while
representatives

from Dumas Contracting Limited

continue the probe
drilling operation

within the Garden Shaft...

RICK: So, this is
the quadrilateral.

I think, Ian, you know
a little bit about this.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina and
members of the team return to Lot 13

to have geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner examine

the mysterious
quadrilateral feature.

We found a layer of
clay below the stones.

- Okay.
- RICK: So,

if you can go down there and

give us a better understanding
of what happened here.

Is it natural? Has it
been manipulated?

That's-that's

- what we want to know.
- IAN and GARY: Yeah.

Let's go down, take a look here.

RICK: We have to see
if there's some other,

as yet undetermined reason

for this clay to
be at this horizon.

It's all about being

keenly aware of what you observe

as the dig proceeds.

IAN: Right off the bat, what
I'm seeing is a layer here of-of

very clay-rich sediment.

Like, you can
feel how deep it is.

That's probably pretty
thick, which is odd.

And if it were geologic?

- I.e., glacially deposited?
- It's not.

- It's not?
- I just don't think so. This is the wrong environment.

It's on a hill slope. It's
a little bit improbable

that it would have
collected here naturally.

Yeah, like... there's also

the different kinds of
clays we're seeing here,

the different colors.

That may speak
to burning or heat.

Mm.

IAN: You see this?

That's burnt wood. This
burnt wood is in clay,

and that just... the-the two
things don't go together.

And so, I can tell
you definitively,

it is a disturbed
clay and out of place.

Something with a fair bit
of purpose took place here.

RICK: It's a complex story,

and thus, there
has to be a why to it.

You stack boulders

because it's much harder
to get boulders out of a hole

- than it is to get them in the hole.
- That's right.

So, basically, this becomes,

- possibly, a safe.
- Yeah.

You seal the top,
you prevent water from

getting down below,
and boulders are actually

- the key to the safe.
- Right.

RICK: I think the quadrilateral
is a human construct.

There is no way that you would,

for fun and games, put
huge boulders in a huge hole.

And so, yes, there's
every bit of possibility

that this may have
something to do with

furthering our understanding
of what happened here long ago.

Is there going to be treasure
at the bottom of this location?

This is worth investigating.

If we could kind of
get through the clay,

what's at the
bottom of that clay

is really important.

RICK: If there's
something at the bottom

of that clay, that-that's
a big something.

IAN: Yeah.

RICK: We need to
investigate further,

but I think we have to
wait for Tom and then dig.

We're definitely not done here.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

RICK: So, guys, as
everybody knows,

research has played
an important role to date.

Uh, we have a researcher in
the Azores, Francisco Nogueira.

And Judi has been
working with him.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina has
gathered with members of the team

in the w*r room for a
meeting via videoconference

with Portuguese researcher
Francisco Nogueira.

- Good morning, sir.
- Hey.

NARRATOR: While Rick
has currently commissioned

a number of researchers
across Europe

to scour their national archives

for possible connections
to the Oak Island mystery,

in light of the recent
discoveries on the island

that may be connected
to the Portuguese sect

of the Knights Templar,
known as the Order of Christ,

Rick's friend Judi Rudebusch
has alerted him that Francisco

has information to share
that may help prove members

of that organization buried
treasure on Oak Island.

So, without any more, uh,
statements from our end,

I think we'll turn
it over to you.

NARRATOR: Although the
Christian order of the Knights Templar

established strongholds
in Portugal as early

as the 12th century,

after the King of France
and the Catholic Church

persecuted the order in 1307

and attempted to confiscate
the sacred religious treasures

that they were
rumored to possess,

a number of Templars
fled to Portugal,

rebranded themselves
as the Order of Christ,

and maintained
fortresses on the mainland

as well as hundreds of
miles out in the Atlantic Ocean

on the Portuguese islands
known as the Azores.

From there, some
researchers believe

they moved their
treasures to the New World

sometime between the


and hid them on Oak Island.

No way.

ALEX: That's a very
interesting lead to follow up on.

FRANCISCO: This is
a Portuguese rock wall,

and I have no doubts about that.

NARRATOR: In the w*r room,

Portuguese researcher

Francisco Nogueira

has just made a
surprising assertion

to Rick Lagina and members
of the Oak Island team.

It is his belief that
the rock wall on Lot 26,

located on the western
side of Oak Island,

which the team has
been investigating

for the past several weeks,

is more than 500 years old

and of Portuguese origin.

JACK: Those dates
from 1400 to 1600s

are legitimate,

and th... and that
people were here,

specifically the Portuguese.

RICK: They may be
significantly relevant, yes.

NARRATOR: Following the
death of King Henry of Portugal

in 1580,

the fact that he had no children

led to a bitter conflict

over who should be the
rightful heir to the throne.

Many citizens
believed that António,

Prior of Crato,

who was the nephew
of the late King Henry

and who had ties to
the Order of Christ,

was the rightful successor.

However, King Philip II of Spain

waged a bloody w*r

and eventually seized
power over both nations.

In the wake of the carnage,
a large fortune of gold,

which some believe was connected

to the Order of
Christ, went missing

and has never
been accounted for.

NARRATOR: Is it possible

that a vast golden
treasure was moved

in the 16th century from
Portugal to Oak Island

by members of
the Order of Christ?

If so, could that
explain the stone road

in the swamp, the rock wall

on Lot 26,

the quadrilateral
feature on Lot 13,

and the high-trace evidence
of gold in the Money Pit area?

RICK: What's interesting,
though, is Francisco mentions

the Order of Christ
helping the Azoreans

with their struggle.

When we were in Portugal, we

surmised that
the Order of Christ

knew there was impending
doom, if you will, right?

- Mm-hmm.
- King John inviting the Inquisition.

Well, the Order of Christ
would have familiarity

with the Azores.

They would know of
voyages to the New World.

Where are you
going to seek refuge?

You would want to
seek refuge to an area,

at least, that you
know of, right?

They are here in the New World.

It's a possible place of refuge.
It's a possibility, certainly.

DOUG: The timeline I
see developing here is that

the Knights Templar,
suppressed in 1307, right,

they found
sanctuary in Portugal.

And then, when the Inquisition
finally reached Portugal,

they had to look for a
safe haven elsewhere.

A great amount of wealth
disappeared from the Azores,

a-and-and, like you have said,

who knows what else
under the protection

of the Order of Christ

disappeared around that time.

It-It's-it's an
interesting concept.

Oh, Francisco,

I speak for everyone
here on the w*r room, uh,

we respect and appreciate
the research you've done.

We-We've always said
there's a treasure hunt here,

but there's also an information
hunt, and you're-you're

integral to that process,

so we really appreciate
all the hard work,

and we-we hope, sincerely,

- that you will continue in this.
- Okay. That's a promise.

[laughter]

- Thank you. -Thanks.
- Take care.

JUDI: Bye-bye.

FRANCISCO: You're welcome.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

CRAIG: This is
my first look-see.

ALEX: Yeah, me, too.

Watch your step
here. It's pretty steep.

NARRATOR: Rick
Lagina, along with

his nephew Alex, Craig Tester,

Tom Nolan,

and other members of the team

arrive on Lot 13 to
continue their excavation

of the so-called quadrilateral.

Yeah, I've looked at it. I mean,

I-I don't think I've gone
through it with Tom

or-or Alex or-or
Craig for that matter.

Um, I think we should all
go through the stratigraphy

just to get a feel,
uh, for how things

were deposited here, so

I've got the flag at
the contact between

Nolan's dig and an older dig,

and then that goes
all the way down,

down to the clay layer,
which is right beside us.

There's a big chunk of it.

- Craig, can you just grab that big...
- Clay?

Yeah, that big chunk.

If you take a
look at that chunk,

what does

the chunk have in it? Wood.

- It's disturbed.
- Mm-hmm.

My contention is, this clay,

which is really nice
clay, should not be here.

When you say it
shouldn't be here,

do you mean it was
transported here?

That's my guess.

Because, fact of the matter is,

if there were the boulders
on top of it, somebody

had to transport them here, too.

But what I can't get
my head around is,

why would you put down
clay, then put down rocks,

- what were you doing?
- ALEX: Yeah.

Why would it be a uniform layer
of clay that was brought here?

I don't know. There's
something going on here.

RICK: I think that
this is a representation

of original work.

The only explanation
outside of original work

on Oak Island is
something to do with

habitation or farming.

And I can't for the
life of me explain

why farmers would dig a pit,

put blue clay at
the bottom of it,

and then put huge boulders,

one on top of each other,

and then bury it.

IAN: It's got
organic matter in it,

so we've got a
chance to date it.

- Yeah.
- Just to go through it.

If I get the whole class's
attention here again.

- [laughter]
- Thank you.

- Right along in here...
- [metallic clanging]

- RICK: What's that?
- CRAIG: Is that a rock?

IAN: Oh, no.

Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho.

ALEX: What is that?

NARRATOR: While
investigating a site northeast

of the Oak Island swamp
known as the quadrilateral,

geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner

has just made a potentially
important discovery.

I think it's a really
large iron staple.

And an oldie by the look of it.

Look at that one little spot
that's deteriorated. You can see

- the striations in the metal.
- GARY: Yeah.

It's got that wood grain effect.

What would they use that for?

CRAIG: Definitely looks like,
with the thin ends, that it was

- to be driven into wood.
- GARY: Yeah.

And you think this
is hand-forged?

That's what it looks like to me.

NARRATOR: A hand-forged
iron staple or fastener?

Dating as far back as
the sixth century BC,

large metal staples are
commonly used to this day

in the assembly of both
stone and wooden structures.

Could this hand-forged

metal fastener be more
evidence that kind of structure

is waiting to be revealed at
the so-called quadrilateral?

If so, given the fact

that the team has
already found blue clay,

what kind of
structure could it be?

RICK: Anything that
predates the original discovery

of the Money Pit
provides an opportunity

that might be original work.

But you put this
so-called staple

in line with the
laborious effort it took

to create the
great quadrilateral,

it certainly is quite puzzling.

What, if any, is the relevance
to the overall mystery?

That is yet to be determined.

We made an interesting find.

I can't wait to get
it back to the lab,

but, for right now,
let's just keep digging.

BILLY: Yep. Keep going.

NARRATOR: The following morning,

while Billy Gerhardt and members

of the team continue excavating

the mysterious quadrilateral
feature on Lot 13...

COTE: The outside corner,

if it goes good, I'm gonna
try to push it a little bit deeper.

Okay.

NARRATOR: and
as the probe drilling

operation continues
in the Garden Shaft...

RICK: Carmen, as
usual, we are very grateful

that you were able
to make some time

in your busy schedule
to come down.

In front of us, we have
a really unique artifact.

NARRATOR: at the Oak
Island Interpretive Centre,

Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Craig Tester

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan,

meet with blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge

to have him examine
the large metal staple

unearthed one day ago.

Where it comes from
is the great quadrilateral.

It's a unique geometric figure,
and we have no understanding

of what that
feature represented.

It's the first one we've
found on the island.

First time we've seen
anything like that.

So, I don't know
what that means.

MARTY: Four feet down.

We know it was
perhaps buried there,

somehow.

That makes sense.

MARTY: This would've
been used in a tree

or a big post or
something, right?

MARTY: Straight out.

But perpendicular
to it, it would take

a hell of a lot of force.

Yeah, it made...

When you said it, it made
complete sense to me.

- Yeah.
- Could that have been used with

helping pull the
boulders into place or not?

Half the size of this table.

MARTY: How old is this?

NARRATOR: Medieval times?

Could Carmen Legge be correct

that this heavy staple
was used as part

of a rope and pulley
system centuries ago

in order to create

the massive
quadrilateral feature?

Emma, do you
have the metallurgy?

I do.

NARRATOR: Prior
to their meeting,

Emma scanned the artifact

under an X-ray
fluorescence spectrometer.

The device bombards metal
objects with gamma rays

in order to determine
their elemental composition

and also their possible age.

It is 98% iron.

It's got a bit of

silicon, aluminum,

manganese, calcium,
sulfur, phosphorous,

which is all indicative of the

furnace type of the
technology that was used.

I do agree with Carmen
saying that it is older.

RICK: It's another
little mystery.

- I do agree with Carmen saying that it is older.
- Cool.

NARRATOR: In the Oak
Island Interpretive Centre,

blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

have just given their analysis
that the iron staple found

one day ago at the site of
the so-called quadrilateral

on Lot 13 could date
back to medieval times.

I think it does speak to
what Fred discovered.

Evidence of the blue clay,

evidence of stacked boulders,

evidence of a way to
manipulate those boulders.

Yeah.

MARTY: Whatever happened
in the great quadrilateral

could have been depositor.

In fact, maybe
more likely 'cause

I don't know why searchers
would have done that.

If that's the case, then I
want to see what's under it.

We just don't know the
"why" of the structure itself.

And we need to figure
out what that means.

Yeah.

- Thank you, Carmen.
- Good seeing you again.

- RICK: Take care. Thank you.
- CRAIG: Take care.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,

as heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt

and members of the team

continue their excavation
of the quadrilateral...

- CRAIG: Hey, Paul.
- COTE: How's it going?

How we doing?

- How's it going, Rick?
- Good, thank you.

They're going back
to the shallow holes

- that they couldn't complete.
- Okay.

NARRATOR: Rick
Lagina and Craig Tester

arrive at the Money Pit area

for an update from Paul Cote
of Dumas Contracting Limited

on the probe drilling operation
inside the Garden Shaft.

So, this one here, they
got past three feet now,

they drilled through the rocks.

Then they'll do number two,
and they'll all be around 12 feet.

Okay.

NARRATOR: After
completing six holes

on the eastern
side of the shaft,

the team has yet to
find definitive signs

of man-made
workings or valuables.

However, they have
just begun drilling

a new hole on the western wall,

which faces the direction of
the so-called treasure zone.

From the wells we
drilled just nearby,

that's where we
got gold in the water

and now gold in the
wood, in the shaft, so...

COTE: Well, right now it's

a little bit more work for us.

Since they're separating,

the tightlining's
a little wonky.

It's not, you know,
as-as you'd like it.

You know, you can see
a little bit of bow in it and...

What does that
tell you, as a miner?

Well, I would, I would
think that it seems like

they were in a little bit of
a rush to get to the bottom.

MARTY: We're very
near to a whole bunch

of things, and the bottom of
the shaft is going to let us do

probe drilling down,
probe drilling out.

So, what this probe might find
is anything from the treasure

itself to anything associated
with the treasure itself.

So, this is where it
begins, not where it ends.

I will be very interested
when you drill this corner.

- COTE: Yeah.
- The north corner, I guess it is.

- COTE: Straight down. Yeah.
- Pretty much the north corner.

Yeah. Straight down.
See what you hit there.

Yeah. "X" marks the spot, yeah.

- CRAIG: Absolutely.
- COTE: Yeah.

- CRAIG: Okay.
- RICK: Thanks.

- COTE: Thanks.
- CRAIG: Catch you later.

NARRATOR: The following day...

- STEVE: Hey, guys.
- RICK: Hey, guys.

Let's have Laird and Marty
and Craig come up because

I'm sure they'll have
some input as well.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina
has gathered his brother Marty

and members of the team in the
w*r room and on videoconference

for an important update
on the mysterious stone wall

that the team has been
investigating on Lot 26,

a wall which researcher
Francisco Nogueira believes

to be of Portuguese origin

and possibly more
than 500 years old.

So, guys, I think that
today's meeting is really

quite different than any
other meeting because

Lot 26 is a very unique lot on

the island, and I think
following the science

is highly applicable here.

So, Laird, I'm going
to turn it over to you.

Let us know your
thoughts about the wall.

Well, um, this wall is unique.

I mean, it was a typical...

We call them
double-skinned walls.

So, you have two larger walls,

and the center is just filled

with-with rubble and
cobbles, basically.

And when we got those top
rocks off at the end of the wall,

we did get a really good sample

of carbon 14.

- That's charcoal.
- That's a cool find.

That's pretty interesting.

NARRATOR: One week ago,

after excavating the
curiously constructed wall

down to the ground level with

fellow archaeologist Miriam
Amirault and Alex Lagina,

they were all intrigued
when Laird discovered

a piece of charcoal.

If you can get a date
off of that, you can sort of

try and date this wall.

At least say, like,
it was not here

- before this time.
- Right.

Lot 26 has become
quite interesting

with the intricacy of the well,

with the construction
methodology

we're discovering with the wall.

It has a good chance
of being ancient.

That makes you raise
an eyebrow and think

that it might be associated
with treasure deposition, yes.

I mean, I've got
the results on that.

The date came
in one time period.



to 1638.

Wow.

[Rick chuckles]

DOUG: Wow.

CRAIG: The date
came in one time period:

1474...

to 1638.

- Wow.
- Wow.

Great.

NARRATOR: In the
w*r room, Craig Tester

has just revealed carbon
dating results of charcoal found

in the mysterious stone
wall on Lot 26 which suggests

that the feature was constructed
more than 500 years ago.

I'm a bit taken aback because,

according to Francisco,
the wall on Lot 26

exhibits Portuguese
construction.

And now you have
a date of the wall

from 1474 to 1638.

You know, there are connections.

We know the Portuguese
were in the area.

I think there is a rather
unique story being constructed

as we speak about Oak Island,

and I hope that
progress continues.

MARTY: So what can
you come up with, Laird?

What is the purpose
of a wall like that?

Say it was built in 1500s.

What's its purpose?

LAIRD: Those wide, low walls

separate agricultural land,

cultivated land.

Okay.

- Under normal circumstances, that's what it would be.
- Right.

This isn't very normal, though.

Well, no, not now. [chuckles]

JACK: Yeah, they weren't
just doing it for no reason.

They didn't even have farm
animals necessarily then.

What would be the point of
building these massive walls

away from the Money Pit

if they weren't somehow related
to the overall treasure hunt?

LAIRD: I have no idea.

That's a lot of expended effort

to be done, uh, to what
purpose, I actually have no idea.

To me, whatever happened
here was incremental,

in that the Lot 26 work,
it's a planned endeavor.

Right? You have your well,
you have needs of a wall.

For what reason I don't know.

That's infrastructure, and
there was a purpose to it.

Right.

Yes.

ALEX: Do you remember
when we were in Portugal,

what were the significant dates

of expeditions and voyages?

The Portuguese
Age of Exploration?

- Yeah.
- I think that was

as early as 13 but it
was more around 1500s.

Yeah, in 1536, the Templars,
or the Order of Christ,

would have had a reason to move
anything they were safeguarding

because the Inquisition
started in Portugal,

- in that time frame.
- Mm-hmm.

And that wall date falls
right in the middle of that.

That's what I was
thinking with the wall,

- not to mention the construction of it.
- Yeah.

It indicates someone that
had some kind of knowledge

in building with rock,

to-to build that
way, I would think.

And we saw over
there in Portugal

- the Templars certainly had that.
- Oh, they did.

NARRATOR: Could
obtaining an approximate date

that the stone wall
on Lot 26 was created

support the belief of
researcher Francisco Nogueira

that members of
the Portuguese sect

of the Knights Templar
visited Oak Island

in the 16th century
to hide something

of great value?

RICK: The date of
the wall aligns with

the Portuguese
Age of Exploration.

I think they
certainly were here.

So if there was some
sort of Templar association

with some esoteric
knowledge or some treasure,

is it all tied together?

It's hard to
think that it isn't.

With what we know
about the Portuguese being

in this area as well,
it kind of lines up with,

- with what is known and recorded.
- Yeah.

- Yes.
- There's all kinds of possibilities,

and that's why you have
to keep an open mind,

- until the facts say otherwise.
- Yeah, that's right.

So there's still an incredible
amount of work to do.

Okay. Get after it.

Yes, it is time to get
after it, so here we go.

- CRAIG: Bye, guys. -MARTY: See you, guys.
- OTHERS: See you.

NARRATOR: The pursuit
of Rick, Marty and their team

to solve the Oak Island
mystery can be summed up

with six simple questions.

Who? What? When?
Where? Why? And how?

And although they
continue unearthing clues

across the island, as well
as in numerous destinations

throughout Europe,

the truth of what
happened long ago

remains elusive.

However, as they dig and drill

deeper into the Garden Shaft,

perhaps a golden opportunity

to answer all of those questions

will soon be within their reach.

Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...

JEREMY: We have a large
metallic anomaly in the swamp.

MARTY: Wow, that's great.

RICK: I believe there are
answers in that swamp.

[engine starts]

JACK: Yes, we're
starting to dig.

The more we dig,
the more we find.

- Oh, my gosh.
- [device beeping rapidly]

What the heck is that?

COTE: Something's
going on in that corner.

It hit something solid.
They couldn't drill through it.

That's where the gold signal's
coming from.

SCOTT:
There could be something there.