NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...
SCOTT: Oh, wow.
No matter what
we’re into in this area,
whether it’s wood
or water or soil,
we’re getting gold.
- [beeping]
- [both gasp]
- Oh, what have we got, mate?
- That’s awesome.
This comes from Sardinia,
off the coast of Italy.
MARTY: Whoa.
It’s the trail of the Templars.
This thing could have
a worldwide impact.
- Oh, definitely.
- MARTY: Yeah.
EMILIANO: It’s a game changer.
The source of an
astonishing revelation.
♪ ♪
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.
♪ ♪
- CHARLES: Hey, Paul.
- COTE: Hey, how’s it going?
- CHARLES: Good. How are you?
- All right.
- You’re grabbing again?
- Yeah.
- Back at her. -Okay.
- Good.
Why don’t we go
in under the tent
- and have a look at the camera?
- COTE: Yeah, sure.
Let’s go. Get out of the rain.
NARRATOR: Despite the
chilly North Atlantic weather,
another exciting morning
has arrived on Oak Island
for brothers Rick
and Marty Lagina
and the members of their team.
How deep is the
grab there right now?
Somewhere around 73 feet.
SCOTT: So, how
deep will you go now?
COTE: Uh, close to 80 feet.
NARRATOR: In the
fabled Money Pit area,
representatives from
Dumas Contracting Limited
are now cleaning out
and preparing to refurbish
the final ten feet of a
mysterious structure
known as the Garden Shaft.
Although the decaying feature
is only 82 feet deep,
it has provided Rick,
Marty, and the team with
a number of stunning clues
that suggest it may be related
to the original Money Pit.
These include the dating
results from wood fragments,
which indicate the
structure may have been built
as early as 1735.
But even more astonishing
is the fact that
scientific analysis
conducted on both
wood and water samples
taken from more
than 50 feet deep
have revealed high
trace evidence of gold.
So, Charles, we were down
there and you could see that
that north corner is really
sunk down significantly.
They must’ve had
some softer ground there.
That stuff that wouldn’t
hold together too, too well.
CHARLES: Yeah.
So, we have this hole
over beside you, DN-11.5.
It’s one of the three
holes that we’ve had
consecutive wood
hits there, you know,
for a tunnel depth
of about 95 feet.
And then that tunnel
that’s there seems to be
trending towards the
north corner of the shaft.
COTE: Yeah.
TEDFORD: Oh, man.
Broke through something.
NARRATOR: One month ago,
the team was conducting
a core drilling operation
approximately 20 feet
west of the Garden Shaft
in an area known
as the Baby Blob.
It is here where
geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner
and hydrogeologist
Dr. Fred Michel believe
the Money Pit treasure vault
may be buried between 80
and 120 feet underground.
This DN-11.5
really seems to line up
DN-12.5 and DN-13.5
all in that east-west alignment.
NARRATOR: Incredibly, the team
encountered a tunnel at a depth of 95 feet
that not only contains
high trace evidence of gold
but also appears to be heading
almost directly beneath
the Garden Shaft.
We’re all excited.
Every day, this
shaft goes deeper,
and to us, you know,
it’s one step closer
to a better understanding
of where this gold
- is coming from.
- Yeah.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that
when the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft
is completed several
weeks from now,
the team will finally be
within reach of the
legendary treasure
people have been
looking for since 1795?
MARTY: What I’m really after,
and what the
team is really after,
is what’s at the bottom
of that shaft. [chuckles]
What is directly at the bottom?
What is five feet
below the bottom?
What’s ten feet
below the bottom?
What’s off to either side of it?
That’s what we
want that shaft for,
’cause there are
a lot of things that,
that point to that area
being in the treasure zone.
SCOTT: Now, we-we’ve done a
lot of work in the Money Pit area.
This area has our
interest right now because
it seems no matter what
we’re into in this area,
whether it’s wood
or water or soil,
we’re getting gold.
I’ll let you know
when I find it.
- [all laughing]
- As long as you do.
NARRATOR: As the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft continues...
JACK: Oh, wow. There’s
some sort of a feature here, too.
- LAIRD: It looks good, eh?
- JACK: Yeah.
NARRATOR: in
the northeast section
of the triangle-shaped swamp...
LAIRD: We’re looking
for the edge there.
So it looks like it falls off.
Rick Lagina, Craig Tester,
and other members of the team
are investigating
another man-made feature
that they believe could help
solve the Oak Island mystery.
Do those rocks seem to
be in place pretty firmly?
These ones? Yes.
These ones are solid.
NARRATOR: After
receiving the data
from a recent
magnetometer survey
conducted by geoscientist
Jeremy Church,
which identified a number of
potential metallic anomalies,
the team drained the swamp
and began excavating an area
in the northeastern region.
Although no metal objects
have been found as of yet,
Rick and members of the team
were stunned when they uncovered
a ramp of stones...
LAIRD: Do you
see the white tops?
Yeah, that’s a lot of cobble.
That they believe
could be connected
to the so-called paved area...
A massive stone feature that
was first uncovered in 2019
and which was scientifically
dated to 1200 AD.
♪ ♪
- We’re starting to see some stuff.
- LAIRD: Yeah.
It does have a nice, gentle
slope, though, doesn’t it?
NARRATOR: Now, the team
is hoping to find more clues
that will help determine not
only the feature’s purpose
but also if it is related to
something of great value.
RICK: We all have
interest in the swamp
to lesser or greater
degrees. [chuckles]
But we are very interested
in conducting the work.
[grunts]
RICK: There’s every bit
of, certainly, logic
and some sort of hope
that there’s some connectivity
between the EM data
Jeremy has interpreted
and this inclined rock feature.
I believe the swamp
still has some answers.
It still has some
significant reveals.
- Hey.
- Hey, guys.
I’m gonna have to leave
- and go do some permitting work, but...
- MIRIAM: Okay.
LAIRD: This is what
they call the ramp.
It’s sloping slightly
up to the stone path,
- which you know...
- Okay.
- Way too intimately, right?
- Yeah.
LAIRD: We have some nice
consolidated rocks in here.
MIRIAM: Yeah.
Craig’s finding some
evidence of disturbance in here.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
- MIRIAM: Okay.
All right. Good luck, guys.
I’m still on the
structure right now,
even though I’m under
the mud, I’m on firm ground,
and there’s rocks at a slope
right here, so it keeps going.
MIRIAM: This definitely
needs to be cleared off
before we can do any
sort of actual excavation.
So it would be great if
we could take all of this off
- and actually get a good look at it.
- RICK: Mm-hmm.
I agree with you.
Until we get down,
eyes and boots,
hands and knees,
we’re not gonna really
understand it.
Okay. Let’s keep digging.
CRAIG: Okay, sounds good.
NARRATOR: While
operations continue
in the Money Pit area
and in the swamp...
GARY: Love it. Back on Lot 5.
JACK: Oh, yeah.
NARRATOR: Jack
Begley has joined
metal detection
expert Gary Drayton
at Lot 5 on the western
side of the island.
Let’s find everything we can.
All right, mate, you ready
to dig some history up?
JACK [chuckles]: Always.
- [musical beep]
- GARY: Okay, mate.
NARRATOR: This year,
after purchasing Lot 5,
Rick, Marty and the team
quickly made some of
the most historic finds
in the history of the
Oak Island treasure hunt.
These include a stone structure
that may date back
to the same era
as the Garden Shaft,
tools that may be more
than four centuries old,
and half of a Roman coin
that has been dated
to as early as 300 BC.
GARY: Bit of a
choppy signal, but...
MARTY: I think it’s beyond
question that the acquisition
of Lot 5 was a wise
thing for the fellowship.
Gary’s finding
artifact after artifact.
It has already,
during the short
period we’ve owned it,
produced definitely some of
the oldest finds on Oak Island.
- It’s a big old square nail.
- Yeah.
This one would be
maybe late 1700s.
MARTY: Lot 5 could maybe
fill in a piece of the puzzle
as to where the people
were who built the Money Pit.
Maybe they were on Lot 5.
Those dots have certainly
not been connected yet.
That’s why we
need to keep looking.
All right, next target we
ain’t got to go very far for.
Thanks.
[both chuckling]
[intermittent beeping]
So yeah. Just dig a hole, mate.
JACK: Mm-hmm.
GARY: Dang.
You’re a beast, mate.
[grunts]
[sniffles]
♪ ♪
JACK: It’s still in there.
Try and find it.
[beeping rapidly]
It’s in my hand.
Let’s see what we’ve got.
[steady beeping]
[gasps]
[laughing]
GARY: What have we got, mate?
GARY: What have we got, mate?
- That looks like an old coin.
- Yeah. You see that?
That nice and round shape?
Please, please,
please, be a coin.
I’m gonna pull it out.
Look how round it is.
Ooh...
It’s lead.
NARRATOR: On Lot 5 on
the western side of Oak Island,
Gary Drayton and Jack
Begley have just unearthed
a potentially
important artifact.
Well, it’s so ornate for lead.
GARY: Yeah, it’s
got a scalloped edge.
That is really,
really unusual, mate.
- Can I see it?
- That is unusual.
[blows]
GARY: It’s nice
and heavy, isn’t it?
- JACK: Oh, yeah.
- GARY: But why would anyone
make something like that?
Now, it could be
like a token, mate.
That is nice.
I mean, I’ve found tokens
that go all the way
back to Roman days.
I’ve actually found
Roman tokens.
And we have found a Roman
coin right here on Lot 5 behind us.
JACK: Mm-hmm.
NARRATOR: A possible lead token
found on Lot 5?
Originating more than 2,000
years ago in Ancient Rome,
trade tokens were
coin-like objects
made with various kinds of metal
and even nonmetallic materials
that were issued
by private entities
rather than official
governments to be used
in place of sanctioned currency.
Although many cultures
have issued their own forms
of trade tokens
throughout history...
Now we’re adding
to the lead database
’cause this is special.
NARRATOR: could
Gary Drayton be correct
that this believed trade token
is related to the Roman coin
found on Lot 5
earlier this year?
But if so, who brought
them to Oak Island?
Whenever we find
lead, mate, I get excited
’cause sometimes you get
some pretty amazing results.
And I like the
rare, unique finds
- because they tell us more information.
- Yeah.
I say we take
this back to the lab
and get the archaeologists
checking this out
and working on it.
JACK: I agree.
GARY: All right, mate.
This could be a very
important artifact.
NARRATOR: Following
their discovery on Lot 5...
- GARY: Gentlemen.
- LAIRD: Hey.
- RICK: Hey.
- GARY: Hi, chaps.
Back from Lot 5
with another find.
Smiles round the table.
Yeah, wait till you see this.
NARRATOR: Gary and
Jack meet with Rick Lagina,
Craig Tester and
archaeologist Laird Niven
in the interpretive center.
Okay, let’s see it.
Yeah, this is a
nice piece of lead.
- RICK: Mm.
- GARY: And we’ve never seen it before.
- Highly decorated...
- Oh.
GARY: scalloped
around the edges.
JACK: It looks like there’s
two holes punched through.
Seems to be two
holes, and it’s brittle, too.
- JACK: Yeah.
- It’s an old piece.
Yeah.
LAIRD: Fancy design
here, but nothing...
- seemingly on the face, right?
- JACK: Yeah.
And you’re certain
that’s intentional?
The scalloping?
Yeah, definitely intentional.
- Would have been molded, right?
- Yeah.
Poured into a
mold, I would expect.
GARY: Yeah, we thought
maybe it could be a token.
But, why put all that
fancy design around it?
LAIRD: No, that bears
looking into, for sure.
And I know it’s
made of lead, mate,
but can we do any scans on it?
LAIRD: Yeah, so
we can clean it gently,
see if there’s anything
we can bring out on it.
And then I would think XRF.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: After
Laird cleans the artifact
in order to determine
its composition...
- Can I take a look?
- Yes.
NARRATOR: he will perform
an extensive 24-hour scan of it
using the team’s X-ray
fluorescence device.
By emitting
nondestructive radiation,
the XRF machine can
identify the elements
that are present in the object.
This object has the
potential to be quite revealing.
It’s singularly unique...
We’ve not seen this item before.
But we need to
continue to persevere
in trying to
understand what this is.
There’s only one
thing left to do.
That’s to go find more
- on a very promising Lot 5.
- Yeah.
- RICK: Let’s go.
- JACK: Go find more, yeah.
- LAIRD: See you later.
- GARY: See you later, guys.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR: The next morning...
COTE: Going down.
NARRATOR: as
the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft continues...
RICK: So everybody
around the table
knows how important
I think research is.
NARRATOR: Rick and Marty Lagina
have assembled
members of the team
in the w*r room for a meeting
with researchers Judi Rudebusch
and Emiliano Sacchetti.
Welcome you both.
I think I’m gonna find
today’s information
highly, highly relevant.
NARRATOR: In light of recent
discoveries made on the island,
such as the stone ramp
that may be related to the
in the swamp,
and the stunning
artifacts from Lot 5...
Emiliano Sacchetti,
who really leads
the team in Italy.
NARRATOR: Rick
has arranged for Emiliano
to personally present
new information,
which he believes
may be able to help
explain their true origins.
Emiliano was tasked initially
with a very specific request,
and that was to look
into Zena’s material,
i.e. the Cremona Document,
the deposition by
Ralph de Sudeley
about his voyage
to the New World.
NARRATOR: In 1970,
an astounding
manuscript was discovered
in the archives of
a medieval church
in the town of Cremona, Italy.
Consisting of maps,
ciphers and journal entries,
the so-called Cremona Document
is believed to have been created
in the late 12th century
by Ralph de Sudeley,
an esteemed leader
of the Knights Templar.
According to his
firsthand testimony,
de Sudeley and others in
the Christian m*llitary order
discovered priceless
religious treasures
in Jerusalem
during the Crusades,
including the golden menorah
from King Solomon’s
original temple
and the Holy Grail
that were then smuggled
to Seborga, Italy,
before some of them
were eventually transported
across the Atlantic
Ocean to the New World.
To that point, Emiliano, Judi,
if you want to take over,
really look forward to the day.
So I will try to
tell you about the
last six months,
seven months of research
we carried out.
You know, of course,
I read the Cremona
Document, um...
Seborga was an
important principality.
- Mm-hmm.
- EMILIANO: Not on the sea.
It’s up in the hill on
a border with France.
DOUG: It wasn’t far
off to the Templars’
- pilgrimage route, though.
- EMILIANO: No, it was not.
It was right on that route.
I think that it was
not unlikely that Templars
brought back relics
from the Holy Land.
- MARTY: Yeah.
- ALEX: Mm-hmm.
- Yeah.
- JUDI: Well, in the story,
Ralph de Sudeley
comes to America.
EMILIANO: Oh, definitely.
What I think is
that the Templars,
they had access to information
from meeting voyagers,
sailors, and meeting people,
listening to, you
know, travel voyages.
And they had probably
also the interest
to sail across the
Atlantic to North America.
DOUG: The Cremona
Document does say
during their trip here
to the New World,
they stopped at
an island of oak.
If the Templars came
over to the New World,
I’d say it’s, you know, this
would be probably where
one of the places they stopped.
But that happened 1178.
Templars’ histories
has 150 years more.
In the beginning
of the 14th century,
Templars in that very
time were fleeing Europe...
Because the France
king witch hunt...
Were able to once again
sail across the Atlantic.
NARRATOR: In 1307,
after more than 150 years of
serving the Catholic Church,
Pope Clement V
conspired with King Philip IV
to disband and persecute
the Templar Order.
Although the charge was heresy,
many believe the true
reason for the betrayal
centered on an attempt to
seize their holy treasures.
Many knights were arrested,
tortured and ex*cuted.
However, it is believed
that some escaped
and fled with the remains
of their vast treasure
to various European nations,
including Portugal,
Scotland, England, and Italy,
before possibly returning
to North America.
Templars had a massive
amount of money that went missing
- around their fall.
- Yeah.
And if they did sail across
the Atlantic Ocean
over to America,
what would the point have been?
Were they taking
that treasure as far away
from Europe as they could,
all those religious treasures,
and transport them
across the Atlantic
and deposit them here?
Right.
ALEX: That kind of
reinforces the idea
that maybe the
Templars did this, right?
Because if they were fleeing,
then all of a sudden the idea
that you’re going somewhere
is not as scary ’cause
you can’t go back.
Yeah.
EMILIANO: If this is true,
we have two Templar
voyages to America
between the 11th
and the 14th century...
About 150 years before Columbus.
♪ ♪
MARTY: Fantastic.
EMILIANO: If this is true,
we have two Templar voyages
to America between the
NARRATOR: In the w*r room,
Italian researcher
Emiliano Sacchetti
has just presented Rick, Marty,
Craig and members of the
team information suggesting
that the medieval order
of the Knights Templar
may have made multiple journeys
to Oak Island for
the purpose of hiding
their accumulated treasures.
So until now, there was
no evidence that anyone...
Outside Scandinavian people...
Knew about America
before Columbus.
- Mm-hmm.
- EMILIANO: I say until now
because last summer,
an Italian professor
managed to find
a manuscript.
A manuscript that is dated 1340
and was written by
a Milanese friar called
Galvano Fiamma.
According to the manuscript,
in the beginning
of the 14th century,
Columbus voyage,
people knew about America.
The manuscript
contains maps as well.
Does the manuscript have a name?
Yeah, it’s called
Cronica Universalis.
So what I asked myself is,
where the author found
the information about this?
So he managed to find
one of the greatest
cartographer of that era,
John of Carignano,
who was in touch
with sailors, with
merchants, with clerics,
with pilgrims,
even Templars
because he was there.
So what we can conclude
is that the Italians
and the Templars
knew about America
way before Columbus.
You’re quite sure, though, that
the capability in terms of
the ships and the knowledge
of the Americas was known...
- Yeah.
- Long before
conventional historians agree?
Well, this again
is an ongoing work
and I really hope
that we can bring
more evidences in
the next few months.
We have immense respect for
what Zena helped bring to the fore.
And I mean, she would be...
Judi, she would be ecstatic
about that find, correct?
Pre-Columbian voyages
to the New World.
-That was her... -That was
her, that was her first love.
RICK: I do believe
that on the island
work was done at different
times, but to one agenda.
Because we have carbon dates
from late 1100s, early 1200s,
up to the 1600s, 1700s.
The work could have
been done in, in stages.
But if this thing
becomes proven,
would sort of have
a worldwide impact.
I am quoting the exact word
of this professor when I say
that he refers to this
manuscript as, uh...
the source of an
astonishing revelation.
NARRATOR: Is it really possible
that members of
the Knights Templar
were behind the
Oak Island mystery?
Could that explain some
of the ancient discoveries
that the team has made,
like the 12th century
paved area in the swamp,
the Roman half coin, or
the 14th century lead cross?
If so, then just what
might be the source
of all the high trace
evidence of gold
that has been detected
deep in the Money Pit area?
My next move is to fly to Milan
and try to take a look
at this manuscript.
And then another
good news is that...
I just received confirmation
that I am admitted into
the Vatican archives.
Can you imagine what that
will bring to our research?
- Mm-hmm.
- Per year.
♪ ♪
It’s a fabulously
unique opportunity.
I think Zena
Halpern, in particular,
would have been ecstatic,
over-the-top giddy
with that information
because the focus of her work
was pre-Columbian
voyages to the New World.
We need to continue to pursue
not only that work but
all the research activities
we are currently conducting.
There is certainly
information out there,
and we couldn’t move
this forward without you.
So thank you very much.
Thank you, guys.
- You’re welcome.
- [overlapping chatter]
Thanks for the information.
Thanks for the hard work.
We look forward
to more discoveries.
RICK: Really appreciate it.
Thank you.
NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...
LAIRD: Here it is.
All right, here we be.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: Rick,
Marty, and Alex Lagina
had been asked to join
Laird Niven on
Lot 5, near the area
where the lead token and
the Roman coin were found.
Here, they will inspect
a mysterious structure
that Laird recalls being
shown nearly two decades ago
by the late Robert Young,
who was the property’s
previous owner.
What is this, Laird?
LAIRD: So I got a
call from Robert Young
over 20 years ago to
come out and look at Lot 5,
and he did show me this,
but I thought it was something
like the cellar for a barn.
-Oh. -Hmm.
MARTY: It’s almost
perfectly circular.
LAIRD: I know. [chuckles]
NARRATOR:
Although little is known
about the history of Lot 5,
it was used as farmland
in the early 19th century,
shortly after the discovery
of the Money Pit in 1795.
In 1996, Robert Young purchased
it from his friend Fred Nolan,
and over the
following two decades,
he reported finding a
number of historic artifacts,
including 14th century coins,
before his passing in 2020.
Is it possible that this
circular stone feature
was simply created by
Or might it predate the
discovery of the Money Pit
and perhaps be related to
the other ancient discoveries
recently made in this area?
We do know that Robert
Young found quite a bit of things,
quite a bit of significant items
on Lot 5.
But I thought he would have
picked it cleaner than he did.
There seems to
be a lot of stuff left.
And Lot 5 could be...
it could be a piece of the
puzzle that we were missing.
Well, that brings us to
the obvious question...
What happened on this lot?
LAIRD: The first record we have,
I think Allen said, was 1819.
We’ve often been puzzled
by the inconsistency
between massive works over here
and no evidence of
the people who did it.
Maybe this lot will give
us some of those answers.
RICK: It’s a unique structure
found on a lot that has
presented all kinds
of unique finds.
We have found artifacts
that predate the
discovery of the Money Pit
by half a century or more.
This possibly could
be depositional work.
MARTY: Are you
gonna do a pit in here?
- Oh, yeah, absolutely.
- MARTY: Okay.
Yeah, we can do that.
If nothing else,
just cut it a section,
see if we can determine
what it used to be.
MARTY: Right. I think this
lot still has some secrets...
Relevant secrets.
Does it have anything
to do with the activities
on the eastern drumlin
and the Money Pit?
Hopefully we’re gonna find out.
- MARTY: We’ll get after it.
- LAIRD: Time to get to work.
NARRATOR: As a new
day begins on Oak Island...
- RONNIE: Hello, Rick.
- RICK: Hey.
- RONNIE: How are you doing today, buddy?
- Good, you?
- Oh, you got the whole g*ng with you.
- You bet.
- Good to see you again.
- CRAIG: Good to see you.
NARRATOR: Rick
Lagina, Craig Tester
and Oak Island operations
manager Scott Barlow
arrive at the Money Pit area
for an update on
the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft.
- How’s work going?
- Good, we found something this morning
- you guys might be interested in.
- Oh, yeah?
- You want to go grab it for him?
- Yeah, sure.
Crane operator got ahold of us,
and he had a chunk
of wood in there,
and we went over
and took a look at it.
Looks like it might be
a barrel or something.
- Oh, nice.
- Oh, really?
Round-shaped barrel.
Really?
Here, Rick.
SCOTT: Oh, nice.
RICK: Yeah, wow. Barrel hoop.
So it’s actually the band?
Yeah, I thought you meant
he has a couple of staves.
Yeah.
You guys find anything
like that before?
- No.
- No, we’ve found barrel staves.
We’ve never found hoops.
Okay.
Especially wooden ones.
BERTRAND: Yeah,
this is wood. Yeah.
RICK: But that’s a big barrel.
You’re talking about...
something that size.
It could be.
What’s that doing
down that hole?
You know, I remember
a couple of years ago,
we took a couple
of the tops of casks
from the swamp to Carmen,
and they were fairly old, too.
RONNIE: Interesting, right?
Very much so.
RICK: Hey, look at that. Cask.
NARRATOR: Two years ago...
GARY: Oh, that’s
what that is, mate.
Bottom of a keg.
NARRATOR: While
investigating near the stone road
or possible ship’s
wharf, in the swamp...
IAN: Holy crow.
That’s very important.
NARRATOR: Rick and
other members of the team
found pieces of
wooden cargo barrels.
And when blacksmithing expert
Carmen Legge examined them,
he believed they could
predate the discovery
of the Money Pit
by four centuries.
It’s very cool. Very cool.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
that this barrel hoop,
found nearly 70 feet
deep in the Garden Shaft,
could be as old as those
found in the swamp?
Or, perhaps, even older?
RONNIE: Probably be happy
in the next couple of buckets,
if we find the other
half of that, eh?
- Yeah.
- NARRATOR: If so,
what kind of cargo
did it once contain,
and is it still
waiting to be found
deeper within the structure?
RICK: We’ve found tops of kegs,
we’ve found barrel staves.
However, this being
found in the Money Pit
is most interesting.
RICK: What-what do you think?
- Carbon dating?
- Yeah.
SCOTT: Did you... did you notice
any of the staves come
out? Was, uh, I wonder...
- No, no, that’s-that’s all we got, yeah.
- SCOTT: Just-just this?
But now, it’s all the more
important to keep an eye
because there might
be something deeper.
He’s always keeping an eye.
Any piece of wood there,
he’s got us running up there.
Good. Great find, though.
RICK: Very interesting.
SCOTT: It’s a great find.
Yeah. You’re the eyes
and boots of that operation.
You see something, please,
let us know.
- We will.
- For sure, yeah.
RICK: All righty,
thank you very much.
SCOTT: Nice job, guys.
NARRATOR: As the reconstruction
of the Garden Shaft
continues in the
Money Pit area...
CRAIG: Well, I think we’re
ready to take the next step here.
NARRATOR:
Craig Tester arrives
in the northeastern
region of the swamp
with Jack Begley,
Gary Drayton, Laird Niven,
and Billy Gerhardt.
CRAIG: We know out
just a little bit is where
the paved area was uncovered,
so, you know,
this may be part of the ramp.
And then, as we’re
pulling this way,
hopefully we find a boundary.
If you can find artifacts,
that’d be fantastic.
- That’s ideal.
- CRAIG: Yes.
The great news is
that the paved area
seems to be rather large.
GARY: I bought plenty of bags
with me today. I’m
expecting a good day.
Okay.
- A lot going on, so let’s get after it.
- Yep.
NARRATOR: They are eager
to continue their investigation
of the stone ramp that was
discovered one week ago,
and which the team
believes may be connected
to the 800-year-old
stone paved area.
RICK: We think we
found the ramp area,
which is an
inclined rock feature
that led from the paved area,
towards, at least,
the stone path.
I guess we’re
going to really hear it
before we see it, aren’t we?
- The rocks? Yeah.
- Yeah. When it comes down.
RICK: Preliminarily, if one
had to make an assessment,
you could say there’s
a direct correlation
between the paved area
and the stone path
vis a vis this ramp,
and maybe it leads
to the Money Pit,
but we need to
expose it further.
CRAIG: If it is a
ramp leading up to
the stone path,
that’d be amazing.
Yeah.
RICK: Hey, guys.
LAIRD: Hey, Rick.
What’s up?
We’re starting to see rocks now.
Okay.
LAIRD: Ooh.
JACK: Oh. Is that
a piece of wood?
JACK: Hey, this is cut.
JACK: This is cut.
Doesn’t this look
like a saw edge?
NARRATOR: While investigating
the mysterious stone ramp
in the northeast
section of the swamp,
Jack Begley has just discovered
a curious and
potentially important clue.
It’s sawed. I agree with you.
Definitely hand-sawed.
NARRATOR: A possibly
hand-cut piece of wood?
Over the past five
years, the team has found
not only pieces of
believed cargo barrels,
but also wooden fragments
of large sailing vessels.
Is it possible that Jack Begley
has just found another
clue on the stone ramp,
and near the
that could help
the team determine
why they were constructed?
CRAIG: Any time
we’re finding wood,
we’re constantly
looking for pieces
that we might be able to date.
Cut pieces of wood.
What is it cut
with? Is it an axe?
Is it a saw?
Saw cuts are quite straight.
That usually tells us
it’s an older method.
What ancient
story does it fit into?
That’s what we’re here
for. We’re here to find out
what actually was going on.
We’re excited and we hope
that we can find answers here.
JACK: That looks like C-horizon.
RICK: There it is.
Just C-horizon.
Yep.
CRAIG: Well...
RICK: I think we’ve
got the border there.
- CRAIG: Yeah.
- RICK: Actually, I think
we’ve learned as much
as we’re going to learn.
Yeah, I do, too.
NARRATOR: Because
the team believes
that they have
reached the C-horizon,
or the natural
layer of ground soil,
it appears they
have found the border
of this section of the
mysterious stone ramp feature.
I don’t see any paved area here.
I think we need to go...
- Yeah.
- CRAIG: So that we can try following
the one area we did find,
whether it’s a ramp or
not, follow it up that way.
GARY: I agree.
Might as well move.
We keep following that ramp.
The swamp is an
incredibly difficult
environment to work in,
but you have to
be patient with, uh,
with all the excavation
work in the swamp.
Follow the process,
let it run out,
and then, hopefully, at
some point, we will find it.
- So, I think fill this hole back in.
- Yeah.
CRAIG: We’ll call
this area for now.
RICK: Okay.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,
while operations continue
in the Garden Shaft...
We’re gaining, though.
RON: That’s gaining.
MARTY: So, we’ve got
some more information,
- I guess?
- RICK: Yep.
NARRATOR: Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Craig
Tester and Jack Begley,
meet in the interpretive center
with archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan.
CRAIG: This is what
they found on Lot 5.
So, what do you think it is?
CRAIG: I mean, we
don’t think it’s a button.
It’s got holes in it, but
they’re not centered.
Gary was thinking
gold coin, wasn’t he?
JACK: We thought token.
MARTY: I’m just wondering
if it’s really old,
corroded away.
Emma’s got more information.
- Okay.
- CRAIG: That’s what
we are understanding, so...
NARRATOR: Now that
Emma has completed
an extended X-ray
fluorescence scan
of the mysterious lead disk
that was found two
days ago on Lot 5,
she is prepared to share
her preliminary analysis
on the object’s content and
potential geographic origin.
MARTY: Let’s let
the machine speak.
- RICK: Emma?
- Hello.
- What have you got?
- MARTY: What you got, Emma?
EMMA: So, you’ll
see two different tones.
There’s a white layer... A
light layer, and a dark layer.
JACK: Oh.
EMMA: So I did
two long point scans
on each of those layers,
and what came out
was that the light layer
is about 99.96% lead,
pretty pure, with a
.02% copper and iron.
The dark layer does
have some iron content,
about .41% and about .4% copper
and .2% silicone.
But both those leads
are naturally occurring
leads, like you can ore them.
So, that one is of
interest because
you don’t see
something like that.
It gained my
curiosity even further.
So I did an XRD scan afterwards.
The initial mineral that I
found that it matched to
is a sample found
in the mines of Iran.
But when it matches a sample,
it doesn’t necessarily mean
it comes from that exact mine,
but anything that lies on
the same geological belt,
which goes across Italy,
near France, Spain.
So there is a sample
off the coast of Italy,
and it’s matching those results.
So this comes from
somewhere in that region.
EMMA: So this comes
from the mines of Iran
or Sardinia, off
the coast of Italy.
NARRATOR: In the Oak
Island Interpretive Centre,
archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan
has just shared an astonishing
scientific report with the team.
The lead artifact
discovered two days ago on Lot 5
may have originated
in the Middle East
or several regions of
Europe, including Italy.
Nothing like that exists in
the North American continent?
No, it doesn’t occur
in North America.
MARTY: What about age?
Shed any light on that?
EMMA: It’s hard
to date this lead.
Um, it’s really pure,
- so it can be old.
- Mm-hmm.
But the fact that I am
getting a hit from Sardinia,
which, you know, there
is Roman mines there.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that
the lead artifact
discovered on Lot 5
could have originated in Italy?
If so, could it be related
to the Roman coin
that was found
earlier this year,
and also support the belief
of researchers such
as Zena Halpern
and Emiliano Sacchetti
that members of
the Knights Templar
were connected to
the Oak Island mystery?
The fact that this type of ore
stretches across,
uh, Southern Europe,
it’s the trail of the Templars.
Could this artifact be
associated with that?
It could,
but there’s a lot
of work to do yet
before you make that statement.
But it is on the trail
of the Templars.
So, once again, we
have an unknown item
coming from places it
shouldn’t come from. How’s that?
Yeah. [laughs]
Based on where it was
found, we think it’s very old.
Appearance and shape might
mean something to somebody.
- Mm-hmm.
- MARTY: So we get it out there.
Somebody’s going
to know what that is.
- MARTY: Yeah, I would think so.
- There’s no question about it.
MARTY: I’m keenly
interested in this.
It has scalloped edges,
and it has a peculiar shape,
and it has peculiar
holes in the center of it.
So our hope is that it
might be rather significant.
Okay, so we dig
the heck out of Lot 5.
- Agreed.
- So, look, I’ll follow up
on all this, and as soon as
any data at all comes
in, I’ll let everybody know.
Okay, let’s get that done.
Emma, thank you very much.
MARTY: Thank you,
Emma. Stay on it.
EMMA: All right.
NARRATOR: At the end of another
successful week on Oak Island,
Rick, Marty, Craig
and their team
are more encouraged than ever
that the discoveries
they continue to unearth
may soon reveal the answers
to a 228-year-old mystery.
But as they dig deeper,
could they actually
be closing in
on a treasure of
biblical proportions?
Perhaps it’s just
a matter of time,
and their ability to
avoid a deadly curse,
that will tell.
NARRATOR: Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...
ALEX: Wow.
- We’re at 13 feet across.
- LAIRD: Wow.
ALEX: That is the
exact same dimension
as the Money Pit.
To me, it changes everything.
- Oh, look at that.
- Oh, look at that.
That’s nice. Fantastic!
That’s got to be
the oldest metal artifact
ever to come out the swamp.
It’s the oldest
I’ve seen in Nova Scotia.
It’s Roman from 5th century.
JACK:
Oh, no way.
- How sure are you of this?
- I’m 100% sure.
- Wow.
- Wow.
10x20 - A Barrel Full of Clues
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Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.