13x14 - The Shining

[bunniefuu]

[narrator] Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

We found cobble.

[Peter]
It's headed towards the vault.

And it's turning towards Lot 8.

[Rick]
There has to be a reason for it.

[Ian] We analyzed
underneath the boulder.

It's one of the most interesting

on the island ever.

[Marty] If there is a tunnel
under there,

I want to see
what's under that rock.

Yup.

This is weird. I think

you really need
to see under here.

- [Marty] It looks like gold.
- Yeah.

[narrator] There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people
have been looking for

an incredible treasure
for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found
a stone slab

with strange symbols
carved into it,

man-made workings
that date to medieval times,

and a lead cross
whose origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend,
one more will have to die

before the treasure
can be found.

♪ ♪

[Marty]
Hello, Vanessa!

- Hello, Adam.
- Hi, Vanessa. Hi, Adam.

- Hey, everybody.
- Hey, guys. How you doing today?

Thanks for joining us
virtually here

- in the w*r room.
- [Adam E.] Yeah.

[narrator]
An energized morning has begun

on Oak Island
for Rick, Marty, Craig

and their team, as they meet

with Vanessa Lucido
of ROC Equipment

and Adam Embelton
of Soletanche Bachy Canada

to plan a pivotal operation
in the Money Pit area.

[Marty]
We've asked you to join us

because we are sure
at this point

that we want
to put some canisters down.

Um, the key thing, though,
is we want to bring in

the equipment necessary
to make sure that we get deep.

We want to get to the bottom
of the solution channel.

We're ready to go.
We got some ideas.

Yeah. How deep are we going
this year, Marty?

Let's call it, uh, 230.

And that could be
every single hole.

Wow.

[narrator]
In the past three months,

the team has drilled more
than a dozen new boreholes down

into the solution channel,
where they believe

the legendary treasure

from the original Money Pit
has fallen.

And after testing soil samples
retrieved from them,

two have now revealed
fresh evidence

that a massive source
of silver is located nearby.

And curiously,
this is in the same area

where the team retrieved
an old piece of drill pipe

that may be connected
to an operation from 1849,

when a drilling foreman
named James Pitblado

reportedly recovered
a 14th-century Portuguese coin

that is related
to the Knights Templar.

You know,
it's really important for us

to get down to that depth,

and it can be
extremely tough material.

In the solution channel itself,

we get into some gypsum,

and there's going to be ledges.

So, I'm wondering, what
extra equipment are you going

to be bringing this year
to ensure we get down there?

Um, I think, knowing that
your guys' goal is to get deep,

we'll probably look
at a telescoping method.

So, for the first 130 feet,

you're going to be
at a larger can,

so a larger diameter, and then,

from 130 down to 230,

we'll have
a little smaller diameter

so that we can get deeper
and achieve your goal.

So, what's the diameter
that we're going

to have available
for treasure finding?

Yeah. We're looking
at about eight and a half feet,

outside diameter up top,
and then,

around seven-foot diameter,

going down all the way
to the bottom of that channel.

Okay.

And also, there is another tool

that can break stuff up.

It's basically a really big,

expensive, post hole auger.

But it's about eight foot
in diameter,

five, six feet tall,

with big b*llet teeth
capable of penetrating

the hardest material
we'll be getting into here.

It works as a corkscrew

or a big drill bit.

And then we have
some other drill tools.

A drilling bucket
with rock teeth on the bottom

that's able to go down

to the depth
we're looking to achieve here.

- That sounds great.
- Yeah.

[narrator]
During past large-scale digs,

ROC and SB Canada have used
a powerful hydraulic oscillator

to slowly grind the steel
caissons into the ground.

A hammer grab tool would then
be used to extract the spoils.

This year, they will mount
a massive auger bit

onto a 135-ton rotary drill rig.

Once placed
inside the steel caissons,

it can grind down
through soil and debris

much faster
toward the solution channel.

Once it is reached,

a giant dig bucket
will replace the auger bit

to safely remove spoils
and, hopefully, the treasure.

[Adam E.] We're going
to be well-equipped

to, hopefully, get through
anything we encounter.

No, that's really cool.

We look forward
to seeing it in action.

Good.

[Marty] The treasure fell down
into the solution channel,

and it's not gonna
dig itself out,

so it's time to bring in
the machinery to do it.

If there's anhydrite in the way,
or gypsum in the way,

it doesn't matter,
we have to go through it.

I'm just a sucker
for big, new equipment.

I really am. I love it.

And this giant auger
will be more efficient

in removing the spoils
from the hole as we get down,

which will make things faster.

You both have been here enough
to know the history

of what we call
the Pitblado incident, right?

- Correct.
- So, when you mention auger,

it's kind of serendipitous,

knowing that,
we believe in the past,

that process has brought
to the surface a coin.

And all of us around the table
here have high confidence

that more of those are
in the Money Pit.

So, with your help, we believe
those will come to the surface.

Wonderful. Let's find 'em.

- Amen.
- Yeah.

We're wanting to get going,
say, in a week.

[Vanessa] We'd love to make
this happen for you guys.

I'll get with the boys,
and we'll start

assembling the equipment
and head your way.

- Sounds great.
- Brilliant.

So, we look forward to it.

- Thank you.
- Thanks.

- [Craig] Thank you.
- [Rick] Take care.

[Vanessa]
Thanks, guys.

[narrator]
Later that morning...

[Ian]
Hey, folks.

[Alex]
Dr. Spooner.

Hi. Good morning.
Am I ever glad you came out.

I'm always glad to be here,

because it's always
a new mystery, you know.

[narrator]
Dr. Ian Spooner joins members

of the team on Lot 8

as they continue to investigate
a man-made boulder feature.

So, what did you guys find?

So, uh,
we just moved these rocks.

We didn't want
to do anything under them

until you were able
to see what was underneath.

- Sure.
- And to me, it looks like

we still have disturbed soil
underneath them.

Yeah.

I find that strange.

[narrator] After noticing
that the several-ton boulder

is surrounded by smaller,
evenly spaced stones

that are holding it in place...

- Got a big void down there.
- [Isabelle] Yeah.

[narrator]
the archaeological team

discovered a back-filled void
beneath it.

[Peter]
Let's see what we can find.

[narrator] A void
where the team has recently

inserted a snake camera
and obtained images

of a possible iron stake

and what could be valuables.

[Rick] Oh, my god,
it looks like there's a pearl.

[Peter] Yeah.

[Alex]
Do we yet know

all the techniques
we could employ

to figure out the age
of this feature?

I think one
of the key things here is

to get a sample of that soil
underneath the rock.

The core we get
might give us a little bit

- of dating control.
- Yeah.

It might also tell us if
there's metal in the vicinity.

- Yeah.
- So,

there's some things
we should probably look into.

I agree.
Everybody's on the same page.

[Ian]
All right. I'll get this core.

- That'll take no time.
- Perfect.

Great.

[Ian]
Using the soil core, I'm looking

to date when that boulder
was manipulated.

We have hints on this island

of activity and occupation,
pre-1600s,

even older than that.

This may be a part
of that story.

Okay, so we've got a bit
of a core here.

So, we'll put this aside.

But what I want to do
is try this core, as well,

and see what we get.

If we could find elevated metals
of interest...

and that's gold, silver,
lead, zinc, copper, tin...

that might give us a clue
as to why it's there,

what's happened there.

- Look how loose that is.
- Yup.

It's quite loose,
but we'll keep that.

I can't really do anything
with that here.

I need to take it back
to the lab.

But I'm most interested
in the very end of it.

Yeah.

- [Ian] See you.
- [Fiona] Thanks for coming out.

- [Ian] Thank you. Yup.
- [Fiona] Appreciate it.

[narrator]
While the investigation

of the boulder continues...

[Marty] All right, Gary.
What's on the agenda today?

[Gary]
This plowed area here.

Yeah, Billy has plowed
this area up.

- [Marty] Metal detector's dream.
- Exactly, mate.

[narrator]
some 50 yards to the south,

Billy Gerhardt has churned up
the topsoil with a plow

so that Marty and Gary
can search for more clues

that may be connected
to the feature.

So many great artifacts
have come off of this lot.

And we're going to keep that
tradition alive today, mate.

And hopefully,
we find some artifacts today

that are connected
to that boulder work.

I was kind of excited
when we walked up here,

but now... now you've got me
on edge, so, let's go.

All right, mate.
Let's start over here.

[narrator]
Recent searches

of the area
surrounding the boulder

have not only uncovered part

of a potentially


but also, a lead bag seal

that could be
as much as 700 years old.

When you find something
as important

as that big boulder on Lot 8,

it certainly raises the bar
in a sort of incentive way,

to really look
for artifacts near it,

because if it's so significant,

there should be some stuff
near it

that is also significant.

And we're so interested

that we've actually
churned up the soil here

to make sure
we don't miss anything.

[beeping]

- Oh-h*!
- Good one?

Banging little iron signal.

- Well, not so little, actually.
- [high-pitched beep]

- That's a screamer.
- Right in that area there.

- That is a screamer.
- Yup.

Is that it on the top?

- Where?
- [beeping]

Little bit of the old
Morse code going there.

See what we got.

- [laughing] Oh!
- What you got, Gary?

Oh. Look at that. I think...

Oh, wait, wait.
Is that a knife?

Yup, you are right, mate.

That's a tang, there.

- It's a small chopper.
- Hmm.

Uh, they used
to skin animals using this.

I found a heck of a lot
of knives metal detecting,

and this is
a little chopping knife.

And it would have been
the middle of the 1700s.

That means man was in this area.

I can't wait
to see what else we find.

Oh, the lab will have fun
with that, won't they?

Yeah, they will.

All right,
I'll put it in the bag.

- Bag it. Lab bag.
- Yup.

- And we'll keep gridding.
- Keep going.

- [beeping]
- Okay.

[Gary]
Oh, another strong signal.

- [high-pitched beep]
- Right there?

- Right in that clump there.
- Right in that clump?

Yup.

[Marty]
Try that.

Seems like you've moved it.

- Oh, I see it on the top.
- You do?

- Yup.
- Where?

Oh. No pinpointer needed.
It's this.

- Oh, wow!
- [Marty] What the heck is that?

[Gary] No pinpointer needed.
It's this.

[Marty]
What the heck is that?

I really don't know what it is.

'Cause that puts me off...

that little hooky thing
at the end.

[narrator] While searching
on Lot 8, Marty and Gary

have found a curious
iron artifact

just yards from the massive
boulder feature.

Yeah. Isn't that a shoe?

No, because we wouldn't have

that middle piece in it.

I think it's...
it's kind of pintle-ish.

Like a pintle hook?

Something that goes
into something to latch it?

[Gary] Yeah. It's like a gate
or a door hanger.

Then it's pushed
into the side of the wood,

and then they hang a gate.

[narrator] Dating back
to as early as 2000 BC,

a pintle is a kind of pivot pin
used for door and gate hinges,

allowing them to open and close.

Earlier this year,

the team found a similar item
on Lot 15,

just northwest
of the Money Pit area.

[Gary]
You can tell it's hand-forged,

but one thing
that really stands out

is all this blistering on it.

And if this is
a really old piece of iron,

that makes it interesting
because

- of that big boulder behind us.
- You're right. Even more reason

- to get it to the lab.
- Yeah.

[Marty]
We are keenly interested

in anything we find on Lot 8

because of this crazy,
giant boulder thing.

Any piece of iron

where we can get an explanation
might help us figure out

what in the heck happened
with this big boulder.

Good find.
Okay. Let's keep going.

[Gary]
Okay, mate.

We're finding!

[narrator]
The next morning...

- [Peter] Hey, guys.
- [Gary] Hiya.

[Tom]
Hey, guys. I see

- you've been digging.
- Yes.

[narrator]
Rick joins Tom Nolan

and members of the team

as they continue digging
on Tom's property

in the northern region

of the triangle-shaped swamp.

We dug down
till we found the cobble again.

You think
you're into the cobble?

There seems
to be a lot of rock here.

[Tom]
Okay.

[narrator]
Over the past month,

the team has discovered
several sections

of a cobblestone pathway
in this area

that were marked
by eight-sided survey stakes,

and which they believe may be
part of the same cobbled path

that led them to an empty
brick-and-slate vault

more than 100 feet
to the south in 2024.

Now, after also finding a number
of metal artifacts,

loose bricks and pottery,

which could date back
to the 17th century,

they hope that following
the new sections of cobblestone

might lead them to another vault
that contains treasure.

Just by this,
what I'm observing,

the cobble ends there,
and it ends here.

I think these are two platforms.

It's one possible explanation.

Well, if you're going
to build a platform in here,

and you're going
to bring in cartloads of rock,

you can't go through the muck
to there.

- [Rick] Mm-hmm.
- You need a roadway

to get to where
you're going to construct.

What I find curious is,
we're following this stake line,

and the stake line's
headed towards the vault.

We have rocks

on the western side
of the stakes.

And right in this area,

it's turning
towards Lot 5 and Lot 8.

So, we just want to follow
where this pathway might lead.

[narrator]
Could Peter be correct

that the team has
uncovered evidence

that the cobblestone path
in the swamp may also lead west

towards Lots 8 and 5?

If so, might that suggest

it is related
to the boulder feature on Lot 8,

or perhaps the structures
the team has found on Lot 5?

Could this be a road?
Absolutely.

But in order to figure that out,

I guess we got to keep digging.
Right, Al?

[Alan] Keep digging,
see how far it goes.

We're going.

[Rick]
It's very curious.

We have an excessive amount
of cobble

in a fairly defined space.

Although
we don't have a complete

and competent understanding
of what we have found to date,

there might be a path
between the two platforms.

And it does appear
to go up into the highland.

Maybe we can see

where it projects to.

If it is a path or a road,
it has to be going...

it has to be coming
from somewhere

and going somewhere.

There has to be a reason for it.

Ew. Wouldn't want
to step in that stuff.

Yup.

[Tom]
Is that a piece of wood

right next to that rock,
do you think?

This looks cut.
What do you make of that?

Yeah. It does look cut,
doesn't it?

Oh, it's been axe-cut. It's...

You know,
it's not an eight-sided cut

like we've been finding
in other places,

but it's some sort
of a stake for sure.

It would have been sort of
on the side of the cobble.

- Mm-hmm. Yup.
- Right next to that rock, so...

I'm just gonna
set it aside for now.

- Let's take another scoop, Al.
- Okay.

[Rick] There was
significant work done here

in the north end of the bog.

There are a number of clues
associated with the cobble path.

It appears to go towards
the direction of Lot 5.

Whoever did it,
someone or someones who did it,

had a real reason to do it.

And that reason

may provide some real insight

into what happened
here on Oak Island.

- [beeping]
- Whoa!

Banging signal here, Rick.

Going to dig it out,
or a pinpointer?

[Gary]
Uh, I'll try pinpointing it.

It's in the darker material
that came from deeper down.

I'm on it.

Oh! Look at this!

[Rick]
What's that?

- [beeping]
- [Gary] Oh! Look at this!

That's a beauty.

Check this out, Rick.

[narrator] In the northern
region of the swamp,

Gary has just made another
potentially important discovery.

That is an old piece of iron.

- Feel the weight of it.
- Oh, yeah.

Yeah, you can see
the striations, mate.

That's hand-forged.
It could be an old iron tool.

Or it could be something
like a hand chisel?

Almost certainly broken, though.

You'd think
that might be the working end,

and that's probably broken?

Yeah. Yeah.
Maybe it's seen some trauma.

And it came from really,
really deep down.

In fact,
same level as those cobbles.

Problem is, why is it there?

Yeah, well, all the heavy stuff
sinks to the bottom, mate.

- Well, that's true.
- Whoever did that work,

who put those cobbles there,

this could have been one
of the workers who lost this.

And we really don't know
what it is,

but this so reminds me

of the old iron tool
that we found

at the bottom of TOT-1
last year.

- Oh, that rectangular piece.
- Yeah.

Now that was the business end
of a tool, and that

- could have gone into the 1500s.
- Yeah.

[Marty]
What is that?

[narrator] Last year, as
the eight-foot-diameter caisson

known as TOT-1
entered the solution channel

at a depth of some 160 feet...

That could be
a really old tool, mate.

[narrator] ...Gary and Marty
found a pickax fragment

in the spoils

that could predate the discovery
of the Money Pit

by more than two centuries.

And curiously, it was unearthed
in the same general area

where the recent soil tests
have revealed high levels

of silver
more than 200 feet deep.

Could Gary be correct

that the team may have found
a potentially

related iron artifact
in the swamp?

It's a cool find. It really is.

Especially if it's a tool.

And as you say,
found in close proximity

to a work area, which is
what you're always saying.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- Work area, people lose things.

Maybe it'll define that.

Is it a road? Is it a path?

Or is it a platform?

Maybe that'll help
tell us a tale.

I think the work

in the bog, at least currently,
as we understand it,

certainly has something to do

with the efforts
in the Money Pit.

I don't know
what that is as of yet.

We need more of these finds
to hopefully fill in those gaps

and give us those answers.

I say, put this in the bag here,
and we take it back to the lab.

- Keep going.
- [Rick] Okeydoke.

[narrator]
Two days later...

- [Rick] Hello.
- [Marty] Morning.

- [Alex] Hey, guys.
- Hey, guys.

- Hey, nice to see you.
- [Rick] Dr. Spooner.

He took some cores
from the Lot 8 feature.

[narrator] ...Rick, Marty
and members of the team gather

in the w*r room
with Dr. Spooner,

who has just completed
preliminary testing

for metal content
in the soil samples

that he collected
beneath the large boulder.

We're hoping
that you will enlighten us

to the point where we can
collectively make a decision

about how to move forward.

I've taken a look
at some of the sediment,

um, underneath the boulder.

And then,
the samples we collected,

we also analyzed
in the lab very carefully

to get a sense of what metals
were in the organic matter.

And to try
to get some idea as to...

if there's sort of a...
maybe a human

signature in that sediment,
a signature

of activity
or something like that.

What we saw was

very elevated lead.

And this was very,
very odd indeed.


what we've seen elsewhere.

We're seeing as high
as 140 parts per million lead

in that organic matter
underneath the boulder.

How does it get there?

[Ian]
It would be moving

through ash that was burning.

If you're burning a lot
of coal or wood,

you might have an increase
in lead.

And so, that could mean
that something was happening

in terms of burning or smelting.

Industrial activity, basically.

[Marty]
We do know

that tunneling
requires air shafts.

And we know that the old miners

from way back used burning
to ventilate shafts, so, Ian,

what if this boulder covers
a ventilation shaft, say?

If it were burning,
the smoke would be

sort of condensing
as it came out.

That could be a source
of the lead, couldn't it?

Um, it could possibly.
Yeah, it-it...

That's-that's a good point.

[narrator] Dating back
to as early as ancient Greece,

fire was actually used
as a method

for ventilating
underground mining tunnels.

Workers would set fires
at the base of shafts

to force smoke up and out,

while drawing fresh air down
and into the body of the mine.

Did you test the soils nearby

just to see
if it's a local phenomenon?

Certainly did, yeah.

And we didn't see
really high lead,

maybe a tiny bit elevated.

So, that's intriguing.
I just wouldn't

expect it in the normal,
organic duff

that you would see
around the site.

So, I think it's an indication

of local activity of some sort.

Yeah. I wouldn't think it came

from anywhere
but under the boulder.

So, I'm saying,

what if there is
a tunnel under there,

and somebody was burning stuff?

That would make sense.

- This is highly relevant.
- That's right.

[Marty]
Really exciting.

[Marty] If there is a tunnel
under that boulder,

and somebody was burning stuff,

which would be really exciting,
'cause we could

follow a ventilation shaft down
to whatever it was ventilating.

[narrator] In the w*r room,
the team has heard

an astonishing report
that soil samples collected

from beneath the massive boulder
on Lot 8

contain high,
unnatural traces of lead.

[Ian] So, whether
that organic matter

accumulated on its own,

or whether it was backfilled,

the organic matter
was very compact.

It's compact probably
'cause the boulder has settled

on top of it through time,
which to me indicates,

whatever happened there,
happened some time ago.

[Alex]
Mm-hmm.

[Rick]
I don't know what to make of it,

other than it certainly implies

that there was some sort
of activity

underneath the boulder
by humans.

Is it explainable by perhaps
an air shaft for a tunnel,

and you would burn coal
to draw warm air,

and thus, create enough air
for people to work underground?

That covers all the bases.

It shows how lead
could have accumulated.

It suggests the possibility

that this might lead
to a tunnel,

which may lead
to something associated

with work in the Money Pit.

I mean, to me,

we've got indications
of human activity.

We have a mysterious void

that just does not
form naturally underneath it.

- Yeah.
- [Ian] Absolutely.

You'd never have that
just naturally.

Right.

And there's other features,
as well.

The rocks around the edge of it
that are spaced

at almost, um,
precisely four inches each.

The fact that I think it's...

there's been activity
around the side of it, as well.

Um, all of this

really conspires
to produce perhaps,

from my perspective, one
of the most interesting rocks

on the island ever.

Well, that's the major
significance of this.

I mean, it would have been
great, Ian, if you came out

- with nuggets of gold, but...
- [laughter]

Yeah.

[Marty] But the lead
is just as anomalous.

Regardless of what it is,

at this point, that boulder
cannot be overlooked.

So, it's time to see
what's under that rock, I think.

I wanna... I wanna
pick that thing up.

Yeah. W-We're getting
that feeling from you.

Oh, good. Yeah, well,
if I'm being subtle,

- let me know, okay?
- [laughter]

I think to do our job properly,

we need to move the boulder,
but just not yet.

We're gonna continue
going around and exposing

the wedge stones until
we get to the other side,

and then we'll be good to go.

[Marty] We are all hoping
so much for a positive,

discernible, credible

clue underneath that boulder.

If it was moved,

it really,
really makes you think

that there's something
important underneath it.

So, that's what
we're hoping for.

Historical, a map,

perhaps some treasure itself,

an old, plugged tunnel.

Who knows what's
under that boulder?

We don't know how deep whatever
it is it's covering might be.

Well, I think everyone has
articulated why the lead

may be relevant here.

But the-the macro view
at this point,

given the discussion today is,

that the boulder
has to be removed at some point.

- Yeah.
- And I know all of us

are somewhat impatient.

From a treasure hunting

and solving the mystery
perspective.

I mean, it's important.

But it's important
to do it right.

- Yeah.
- Yep. Yep.

So, I think everyone
is in agreement.

[Marty] For sure.

That leads me to...
why don't you guys get off

sitting on your hands and
get out there and do something.

- Okay?
- Okay.

[Rick]
Fair enough.

[narrator] As a new day
breaks on Oak Island...

[Tom]
All ready for big finds today?

- [Rick] Yep.
- [Tom] Yep.

[narrator] ...in the northern
region of the swamp,

Rick, Tom
and members of the team

work to uncover more
sections of the cobblestone path

to determine
just where it will lead.

What do you see?

There's-there's definitely
cobble on the bottom

but there's bigger boulders
on top of it.

It doesn't make sense.

- Cobble down there?
- Yeah.

[Rick] I mean, why don't we
expose a bit more.

I would just ride the bucket
on top of that cobble

and just pull back
and see if it goes

that way or... or this way.

- Yep. Good idea.
- [Rick] Okeydoke.

Drop her over here
and we'll see what happens.

[Alan]
All right.

[Rick] It's highly suggestive
at this point

that this path was created

to allow people to
work at that location.

Does it lead to the area
where something could be hidden?

Or it was used to
transport materials perhaps

across the bog to
another area of the island.

♪ ♪

[beeping]

Got a signal, Rick.

Woo-hoo!

[Gary]
That is nonferrous.

- Pull it down?
- Yeah, please.

Let me see if you've moved it.

- [beeping]
- [Rick] Ooh.

[Gary]
That is getting stronger.

Banging signal.
Artifact coming up, Rick.

Whoa, what have we got here?

What is that?

Some kind of an... ingot?

I think it's lead.

I have no idea
what that is, mate.

I know it's really heavy
for the size.

Feel how heavy it is.
I mean, that is spectacular.

I don't know what it is.

- Never found it before.
- Oh.

What do you got?

[Gary] No idea. That's what
makes it interesting.

[Tom] You don't usually
say that, Gary. "No idea."

- See those?
- [Gary] Yeah.

- [Rick] That modern?
- [Gary] No,

just means
it was made in a mold.

Or it was decorated like that.

This could be some kind
of lead weight.

Why would you need
a lead weight in this area?

And you have to remember too,
we're on the side

of the bog that wasn't farmed.

[Rick] Is there a possible
connection to the stone path?

Maybe they were dropped

by the people
who constructed it.

-Interesting find though,
for sure. -Yeah.

[Gary] Well, we'll have to find
answers at the lab on this one.

[Peter]
All right.

- Back to work.
- [Tom] Sounds good.

Nice, solid ground.

[Gary] Ooh!

What have we got here?

Oh, yeah.

[Gary] Ooh!
What have we got here?

Oh, yeah.

[narrator] In the northern
area of the swamp,

Rick, Gary
and other members of the team

have just made
another curious discovery.

Yeah. This is either the top
or the bottom of a keg.

No mistaking that.
No mistaking that.

And we have found them
in this area of the swamp

as well before.

[Rick] Strange, eh?
Just to find

part of a keg.
I mean, they were well-made.

You know? Took some force
to break them up.

- Yeah.
- Strange though, you know,

that top of a keg out here.

[Gary]
It's been down there a while.

Emma might be able
to do some XRD work

and figure out
what was in there.

Well, we'll find out, mate.

[Rick] Barrels and kegs
were used to transport

all kinds of goods.

Especially goods
that were meant to be

protected or safeguarded

for years, even for centuries.

So, my hope is that Emma can

make a determination as to
what might have been in the keg.

Huh. Gary.

- What do you got?
- What does that remind you of?

[laughs] Oh, yeah.

That's another barrel top
or barrel bottom.

Piece of a keg.

Wonder if that fits the one
you found earlier.

[Gary] Yeah. It could fit.
It's that same shape,

- same width as well, isn't it?
- [Rick] Mm-hmm.

- Yup.
- You might learn something

from that if it fits together.

And we could have a chance of
detecting some precious metals.

Because I know,
that in the old days,

the French, the English
and the Spanish

used to put treasure coins
in kegs.

And it came from
down at the bottom there.

So, this is
a good chance this is old.

I'm hoping we're
onto another vault.

Mm-hmm.

[narrator]
Could Gary's notion be correct?

Is it possible that the team
has found part of a barrel

that once stored
something of great value?

If so, could it be evidence
that this section of

the cobblestone path may be
leading to another hidden vault

in this region of the swamp?

[Rick] What is the stone road?
Why was it put in?

Where was it going?

There's a lot
of unique opportunities

in the north end of the swamp.

Who knows what else
is out there?

Yeah. Great find.
I'll put it to one side.

Okeydoke.

- Okay, well, let's keep digging.
- [Tom] Yep.

[narrator]
Later that afternoon...

- [Marty] Hey, Laird!
- [Laird] Hey, guys.

And archaeologists.

- Been any developments?
- Yeah. Well,

the reason we called you down is

Fiona has done
a lot of excavation.

- [Marty] Yeah. I see that.
- [Laird] Exposed a lot.

But our next step now is to
reinsert the camera underneath.

-Okay. -We thought
you might want to see that.

- That sounds great.
- Yeah.

-[Marty] Gather around
down there? -Yeah.

All righty.

[Fiona] You can see we just
finished clearing out this area.

So, now we have access
to the back area,

kind of underneath the boulder.

So, that's what we thought
it was worth another look.

- Let's have a go.
- [Fiona] Let's get the...

Make sure it's clean.
All right.

Seeing anything?

[Fiona] One sec.

I got to go a little...
little farther.

Okay.

Oh, well, look at that!

I would say we are probably

a good two feet
underneath right now.

- Mm-hmm.
- I think you really need to see

- what I'm seeing under here.
- Give me that.

I think you'd better. I think
you'd better. You guys...

You guys hold that
while I hold this in place.

[Marty] I mean,
this looks like a cave, okay.

But I have no idea of scale.

We shouldn't be having voids
underneath the rock

- to this degree.
- No, this is a big void.

Got to wonder if
that void gets even bigger

- back there, don't you?
- [Alex] Mm-hmm.

It's very clear that there
are voids all over under there.

It's like a matrix of voids.

So, it's consistent
with something

significant underneath there.

[Rick] I think people
went to a lot of work

to try to deposit something
that they valued

and went to a lot of trouble

to deposit it there
and to protect it.

I believe it will have an impact

on trying to understand what
happened here on the island.

- Let's see where we are.
- [Marty] All right.

Let's keep going.

Okay.

♪ ♪

Ha.

Okay, this is not
what I was expecting to see.

- Whoa.
- I want to just pull back.

Okay.

This is really, really weird.

This... I'm seeing, like, lumps...

lumps of... looks like rock.

With golden, yellowy colors
in it that look like veins.

[Marty]
Holy smokes.

I swear,
if I didn't know any better,

- I would say this is gold.
- Give me that.

Yeah. You'd better look at that.

I don't want to get too excited.

Sorry, I might have
to change the angle a bit.

What if I pulled it back
just ever so slightly.

- Okay, a little bit more.
- I'm going backwards now.

[Marty]
Yeah. Stop right there.

Some very "shinies" there.

All right.
I see what you're looking at.

I mean, I've got to admit,
it looks like gold.

- [laughter]
- [Fiona] It does!

I know, it's crazy.

- [Fiona] I am really excited.
- [Marty] Yeah.

-You're going to want to
see this, guys. -Right now,

-I'm seeing things that I wasn't
expecting to see. -Yeah.

[narrator]
On Lot 8 of Oak Island,

after removing more soils
from under the huge boulder,

the team
is seeing stunning images

of what
may be buried beneath it.

- It's gold-looking.
- [Doug] It certainly is.

- It even has the right luster.
- Yeah.

Do you really think that's gold?

Well, yeah.
I would say yeah.

Well, it could be subsoil.
My concern is that if,

usually you have to dig
and move dirt to find subsoil.

Yeah.

We haven't touched anything
under the rock.

- Yeah.
- If it was a soil, you'd think

it would be less defined.

[Laird]
Exactly. Yeah.

[Marty] If there is gold
underneath there...

this new thing that came
out of the blue this year,

this boulder on Lot 8...

could be the most substantial
thing that's ever happened here.

And maybe we will get
a very substantial clue

as to where the treasure is,
and what happened here.

Anybody know why that would be
under a boulder here?

Somebody wanted
to hide it, perhaps.

- [Alex] I guess.
- [Marty] And if somebody

thought that that was here,
they probably

would want to cover it up
and they never came back.

[Fiona] And you know what?
That was one of my thoughts.

- That could be the marker.
- Yeah.

[Jack] There might be, and
hopefully there is, an artifact

around this boulder
or underneath it

that can tell us
a date or a who.

Yeah. Exactly.

[Rick]
It looked like gold.

It was interesting and
exciting all in the same moment.

All the more reason to

get access to what is
underneath that boulder.

It potentially
could raise the stakes

here on the island, i.e.,

create a different understanding

of history literally.

What's it going to do
to convince you people

that we need
to pick this thing up?

It's really up
to the archaeologists.

And if they're on board,
then who am I to say no?

Yeah. We've gotten all
the information we need

from this area here,

that's giving us enough
to make informed decisions.

I think we've reached
the limit of what we can do.

Now, I think
it's time to transition to

the logistics of
moving it safely and properly.

You don't have to
make the argument anymore.

[laughter]

[Marty]
I'm extremely happy

that the archaeologists
have done their job properly.

But it's now time to lift it.

We have to do this safely.

And that's going
to take a big crane.

This lifting
of the Lot 8 boulder is

a really close second place

in terms of
the most exciting thing

that's going on,
on the island this year.

And everybody is excited to
see what's under that boulder.

Well, I'm keen to
get it out of your way.

- I'm with you now.
- [Marty] All right. Good.

Somebody get this rock
out of the way!

[laughter]

[narrator] This year, Rick,
Marty, Craig and their team

have methodically
searched for compelling clues

to justify the most effective
operation yet to try and solve

the 231-year-old mystery.

Incredibly,
they have found those clues

in multiple locations.

One of which appears
to have never been searched

by anyone before them.

Will the team finally
recover the fabled gold

and silver that has cost

countless fortunes,
and even lives, to pursue?

There's only one way to know.

It's time to dig.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

[horn blaring]

[Marty]
SBC and ROC are here.

We want something found today.

Find some treasure, boys!

That thing looks unstoppable.

- [beeping]
- [Katya] Ooh!

I think this is a key.

A key? We'll want to get
this one to the lab.

- [Rick] Hundred percent.
- [Craig] It's very interesting.

It's saying super early
time period.

- No way.
- We're finally moving

in a direction that
could give us some answers.