09x25 - Treasure Island

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island.

- JACK: Today's the day, Gary.
- Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: It's the
groundbreaking season finale.

This is what we saw

- in Portugal.
- Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's incredible.

- Wow.
- [laughing]

We can actually
image the entire island

underground to find a target

- in the Money Pit.
- That's great!

- GARY: We've hit the tunnel, mate.
- Whoa!

- That tunnel will lead us to the treasure.
- Yeah. There you go.

Oh, look at that.
What we got here?

Oh, what the heck is that?

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.

♪

MARTY: Alex, Rick, Craig and I

want to hear everything
about Portugal.

Talk to us.

I think it was a great trip.

- We learned a lot.
- We-we did.

CORJAN: Oh, morning.

- Welcome to Portugal.
- Thank you.

NARRATOR: For
the past two weeks...

Wow.

Rick, along with his nephews

Alex and Peter

and Oak Island
historian Doug Crowell,

have been in central Portugal

investigating numerous
sites that once served

as strongholds for the


as well as their


the Order of Christ.

Over the arch, the
big Templar cross.

This was their trademark.

NARRATOR: Guided
by researcher Corjan Mol

and Templar historian
Joao Fiandeiro...

Okay, let's see
what we can find.

NARRATOR: they
saw numerous carvings

matching those reportedly found

on historic Oak
Island artifacts...

You might be interested
in this one over here.

NARRATOR: such
as the 90-foot stone

and the H+O Stone...

ALEX: The stone path
looks exactly like this.

Yeah, it looks
the spitting image.

NARRATOR: a
cobblestone road and pathway

eerily similar to those
uncovered two years ago

in the triangle-shaped swamp,

and even a mysterious
Masonic well

matching the exact dimensions

of the original Money
Pit treasure shaft.

Oh, man. So you would

perfectly see that oak
tree from here, right?

RICK: The branch of
an oak tree over the well.

That's exactly what the
Money Pit story is about.

NARRATOR: Now,
as the team is working

to conclude their
fifth major excavation

in the Money Pit area
this year in a location

where they have previously
detected large concentrations

of precious metals...

I don't think Portugal could be
Portugal without the Templars.

NARRATOR: Rick and Alex
have rejoined Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester and
the rest of the team

in the hopes of making
the ultimate discovery

before they must halt
their search activities

until next spring.

RICK: You know, what's been
happening here on the island?

MARTY: Well, a lot of stuff.

We did a major effort, Alex,

to ground-truth your OKM swaths
on the road up from the swamp.

Hey, all right!

MARTY: So, we
had a mini excavator

in there, and we
cut some swaths.

It's a little bit difficult
to be definitive.

But I would say

- that there was some sort of road there.
- Sweet.

GARY: You think this could
possibly be a road, Laird?

It's a feature, it looks like.

NARRATOR: One week ago,
Marty and members of the team

began investigating a mysterious
buried feature on Lot 15,

extending out of the
swamp from the stone road,

which Alex and his cousin
David Fornetti had detected

using ground-penetrating
radar earlier this fall.

It's kind of dipping down.

STEVE G.: It's
filled in with rocks.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,

they began uncovering

a cobblestone path feature

similar to the one that was
unearthed two years ago

running along the eastern
border of the swamp.

RICK: Well, we're here.
Let's go take a look.

MARTY: Yeah, I'll
show you our road.

RICK: It feels good to be back.

Portugal was a
wonderful experience,

but when we had left,

we had some unfinished business.

This way.

RICK: If they've encountered
a stone road feature

on Lot 15, that's exciting.

That's very, very impactful.

- Look who I brought.
- Hey!

- Hey. -ALEX: Hey, guys.
- Welcome back.

ALEX: Oh, wow.

RICK: Wow.

MARTY: So, you've done
some work here since I left.

- LAIRD: Yeah.
- That's impressive.

- So, what do you think?
- LAIRD: Well, we all have in our mind

that it's a nice cobble
path coming up here,

- so they're hauling something up.
- Oh, yeah.

So, they're still filling...
they're filling in low areas

- just to make a path. Yeah.
- Yes.

MARTY: What you've
dug out of there looks like

what we found down there

- in the swamp. -Yeah.
- Yeah.

If you look down here,

the road went
through here, we think.

Yeah, it essentially comes off
of the stone road in the swamp.

Well, we are in kind
of like a central area.

You've got the Money Pit
over there, paved area, swamp.

We're in the
middle of that area.

Yeah.

The interesting thing, you know,

we were lucky
enough to see an actual

Roman road in
Portugal, but when we got

to the higher elevations,
this is what we saw.

- Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- It was somewhat rudimentary,

- just like here.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Could
Rick Lagina be correct

that the cobblestone pathway

extending from the
stone road in the swamp

may match the exact
design of the one

that he recently
saw in Portugal?

If so, might it offer
more potential evidence

that Portuguese members
of the Knights Templar

may actually be connected
to the Oak Island mystery?

So, what would
you do next, Laird?

Unfortunately, we'd have to
take this much off a large area.

Um, so it'd be a lot of work.

- Yeah.
- RICK: And as you can see,

weather's going to get
quite inclement here shortly.

- LAIRD: Yeah.
- GARY: Yeah. -Indeed.

MARTY: Okay, well, as per usual,

- we've added, not subtracted, from the mystery.
- LAIRD: Yeah.

It's a... it's a mystery
waiting to be solved.

But there's time yet
to gather more data.

And you need to
metal-detect that whole line

and see what you find.

- MARTY: Okay. Sounds Good.
- ALEX: All right.

NARRATOR: Later that morning,

as archaeologist Laird Niven

conducts a preliminary
analysis of the cobblestone path

before the team
continues metal-detecting

in search of clues...

JACK: Today's the day, Gary.

NARRATOR: over
in the Money Pit area...

GARY: We got a chance.

NARRATOR: members
of the Oak Island team

are monitoring the
excavation of the B4-C Shaft.

GARY: Hopefully, we
start seeing wood soon.

JACK: Hopefully, it's a
tunnel to a treasure chamber

- or an offset vault.
- I hope so, too.

NARRATOR: Located just
five feet north of Borehole C-1,

B4-C will soon reach the
approximate 90-foot depth

in the so-called C-1 Cluster,

where earlier this year,

the team not only
recovered evidence

of potentially 15th-century
wooden tunnels

but also detected
high trace evidence

of both silver and gold.

This has prompted
them to speculate

that they have either
located the general area

of the original Money Pit

or perhaps a
tunnel that may lead

to an offset treasure chamber.

RICK: Even though
this is the final can,

we're not gonna give up.

We know that there is a tunnel

in the 90-foot horizon.

Well, a tunnel means
we're close to finding

the original Money Pit.

- We got to be getting close.
- Oh, yeah.

Yeah, we should be in wood soon.

MARTY: Every time we
dig, you just wait and see

that next scoop, that
next grab, hoping that it's it.

The fact that there's
gold in the water means

there was gold introduced
into the Money Pit.

It's amazing to me.

GARY: See what we got.

Wow! That's some
old wood in there.

Hello, Dolly. Check that out.

- GARY: That's a post.
- Yeah.

Oh, look at that.

- JACK: Uh-huh.
- GARY: That's tunnel.

Got to be tunnel.

- Yeah, it has to be a tunnel.
- Yeah.

It's not a shaft.

That's a big piece of timber.

Do you think that's
for the support beam?

GARY: Probably.

Five and a half. Yeah.

That's gonna hold a pretty
good-sized tunnel for us.

It's dimensioned, and
this stuff looks hand-hewn.

JACK: Wow.

That tunnel, mate... that'll
lead us to the treasure.

This is great stuff.

NARRATOR: Hand-hewn timbers

found some 90 feet
deep in the B4-C Shaft?

At the same approximate depth

that the team recovered
wood which dated to as early

as the 15th century?

Is it possible the team has
finally intercepted a tunnel

that might be connected

to the original Money
Pit treasure vault?

- Okay, mate. We're ready.
- JACK: Yeah.

- [beeping]
- JACK: Hey.

- I hear that.
- Yeah.

Let me see if I can pinpoint it.

Yeah, you want to get
in there first, don't you?

Yeah.

- What have we got here?
- Oh!

What the heck is that?

Oh, it's a fastener, I believe.

NARRATOR

the Oak Island team has
just recovered an iron fastener

offering more evidence of
a possible wooden tunnel

nearly 90 feet below ground.

It appears to have some
square features to it.

- GARY: Yeah, I'm hoping.
- I think that's an old nail.

- GARY: I'm hoping.
- Yeah.

Hey, Terry.

Hey, Rick. How you doing?

I heard, uh,
finally wood, right?

Really, really interesting.

Let's take a quick look.

Look at this dimensioned lumber.

So, that's five and a quarter.

And I'm not seeing any
circular saw, uh, marks

or crosshatch back marks.

That, to me, is a pit saw.

NARRATOR: As a
method for construction,

the use of manually
operated pit saws dates back

to as early as the 13th century.

Since most of the
searcher activities

from the 19th century onward
employed mechanized saws,

could that mean that the
team has encountered workings

built prior to the discovery
of the original Money Pit?

If so, could the team be close

to a much more
valuable discovery?

RICK: The wood we hit...

I find it incredibly
intriguing, because

we don't know of any
previous searcher work

in this entire area.

It could be original
depositor work.

But we must stay the course

and let the data tells us
what we've encountered.

- TERRY: Here we go.
- GARY: Let's see what we got.

God. Just bits of
wood everywhere!

Look at that. That's
a big old iron fastener.

Whoa!

Wrought iron, hammered round.

- That's what we're looking for.
- GARY: That's cool. Yeah.

JACK: How old
do you think it is?

I think we're in
the 1700s or older.

- It's so crude.
- Okay, so...

- Yeah.
- So, pre-Money Pit discovery.

- Yeah.
- Oh, that's sweet, Gary.

RICK: Lo and behold,

there is a... what we deem
to be a handwrought spike.

And so, we have an
opportunity with this spike

to do some types
of analysis on it.

Every little clue
means something.

What was that big spike I saw?

- [rhythmic beeping]
- Yeah, this is old, mate.

That's an oldie for sure.

It's mushroomed
in at the top there.

Hand-forged, wrought
iron, nice and heavy.

Nice, big, chunky iron.

[thudding]

Looks like they're
advancing the can a little bit.

More and more water.

IAN: There's
nothing in that one.

I mean, there's no
wood, no... no structure.

GARY: Nope, nothing.

Just limestone.

RICK: All eyes are
on deck at this point,

and we all take note of the fact

that the wood appeared, and
then a certain amount of footage,

and then it disappeared again.

There's only one conclusion.

That is that it's a tunnel.

- Rick, how you making out?
- Hey, Sam.

Well, you tell me. How
are we making out?

We've gotten into some
harder stuff down there.

Our teeth just, uh,
broke the 130 feet.

- With the excavation?
- Yeah. That's right.

Uh, then I think we're
gonna get crumbly limestone

right around that depth.

We know from past experience

it's highly unlikely there's
something below that.

NARRATOR: It is a
startling turn of events

for the Oak Island team.

After recovering
incredible evidence

of a potentially
ancient wooden tunnel,

bedrock has just been
encountered at a depth

of approximately 130
feet in the B4-C Shaft.

So, long day.

- Yeah.
- Appreciate all the hard work,

but we're at bedrock.

The bottom line is, I think

we're pretty close
to being done.

NARRATOR: Although
the team is now out of time

to conduct any more excavations
in the Money Pit area this year,

the fact remains that all five

of the massive steel shafts they
dug over the previous months

offered evidence

that the legendary
treasure people have sought

for more than two centuries is
still buried somewhere below.

The question is, what
will it take for Rick,

Marty, Craig and the
team to finally recover it?

RICK: I think we have all
now come to the understanding

that the Money Pit
is incredibly complex.

What it tells me is we need
to find new technologies

and the application of those
technologies to our situation.

That has been key to
moving the search forward.

So,

there's reason to be hopeful.

MARTY: We're disappointed

in the results in the Money
Pit, but the scientists say

there are big quantities
of gold down there

and big quantities
of silver down there,

and there's plenty of
evidence that it's true.

So, we need to
do more searching.

Look, I think

- every hole teaches us something, right?
- TERRY: Sure.

I mean, we have definite

elevations for that tunnel.

We do have a significant
artifact that can be tested.

- We have quality candidates for C-14.
- Sure.

And we're approaching the
depth at which we call the hole.

- Yup. Okay.
- I agree.

That's where we're at.

TERRY: Absolutely, Rick.

- All right, See you later.
- RICK: See you guys.

NARRATOR: Two days later...

RICK: So, guys, I think

this is a very important
meeting, and I think it's really

gonna yield, um, benefit.

So, Steve, if you could bring
the Ideon team up and Marty.

- Hello, everybody.
- [overlapping chatter] -Hey, guys.

NARRATOR: Rick
and Marty Lagina,

Craig Tester and
members of the team

have gathered for
a videoconference

with Gary Agnew, Doug
Schouten, Max Howarth

and Kim Lawrence
of Ideon Technologies

based in Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada.

RICK: They brought up something
that I think you're gonna be

stunned to hear...
The possibility

of imaging Oak
Island, underground,

the entire Money Pit area.

Just as a preliminary,

I would ask that the
Ideon team tell us

a little bit of background
about the company.

The best analogy I can
give you for our technology

is a medical X-ray.

[laughs]

NARRATOR: Muon
tomography is a cutting-edge

scanning technology
used in the mining industry

that measures subatomic
atmospheric particles

known as "muons," as they
penetrate the Earth's surface.

By placing specialized
muon-detecting devices

deep underground,

a three-dimensional
image is captured,

displaying specific subsurface
anomalies such as tunnels,

voids and large objects.

In 2017, muon
tomography was used

to identify a previously
unknown chamber

deep inside the Great
Pyramid of Giza in Cairo, Egypt.

MARTY: How about
if there was a, uh,

a solid cube of, you
know, let's say, gold.

Could you see that?

- Good answer.
- [laughter]

RICK: Wow.

The only problem
with muon technology

is the deployment time.

It takes up to seven months

in the Money Pit for the
detectors to collect the data.

But I think this technology,
of everything we've tried

to throw at Oak Island, I think,

finally, for the
first time, maybe,

we're gonna get
some real information

about what's
underground on the island.

I think this is
incredible technology.

I think it's very applicable
to what we're doing.

I think this is
imminently doable

and-and I think it's
gonna yield great results.

MARTY: You know, I
find this really exciting.

If you're looking for my input, I
say we move full steam ahead.

I think, we all think this
is something that we,

that we need to do.

We're very grateful
for you reaching out.

I feel like we're
actually on to something,

- that's for sure. -Thank you so much.
- CRAIG: Thanks, everybody.

- See you later.
- Thanks a lot.

RICK: Who knows
what lies beneath?

- MARTY: Hey, guys.
- STEVE G.: Marty.

NARRATOR: Following
their meeting with the team

from Ideon Technologies,
Rick and Marty Lagina

join members of
the team on Lot 18,

just south of the Money Pit...

TEDFORD: There we go.

NARRATOR: where they are
eager to begin the preparations

for one of the most
promising subsurface scans

ever conducted in order to
solve the Oak Island mystery.

ADAM M.: Good?

RICK: So, I'm
excited about today

because this is the start
of the muon program.

So, the ability to look
underground on Oak Island has

stymied every
searcher from day one.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: Basically gonna X-ray this old girl, right?

TERRY: Something
like that, yeah.

STEVE G.: So, we're
starting the first hole today.

Uh, we're gonna
drill a series of five.

And we're gonna start
here in the South Shore Pit.

- Okay.
- So that will give us a good map underground

of any potential tunnels
running to the Money Pit.

DANNY: Hold that
right there. Stop.

NARRATOR: Because it will take
the team from Irving Equipment Limited

several days to
disassemble their gear

in the Money Pit area...

That's perfect. Right there.

NARRATOR: to begin the
muon tomography operation,

Rick, Marty and
Craig have enlisted

Choice Sonic Drilling
to place a borehole

near the so-called
South Shore Pit.

Here, they hope
to locate a tunnel

that their late partner
Dan Blankenship believed

might be connected to
the original treasure shaft.

Ideon will come in, place
the detectors downhole,

and then basically,
it's allowing it time

to gather enough information

such that it can show
us what is in the area.

It-it's the first time ever

that we'll be able
to look underground

with some sort of certainty.

Yes.

Once we do this, then-then
to image the whole island,

where do we go?

Up to... up by the
Money Pit, right?

- Yes. Yep.
- Great.

- I think we're ready to go.
- Yeah.

MARTY: Okay, Mike, make
some hole, put some steel in it.

TEDFORD: Let's do it.

NARRATOR: Later that day...

MARTY: Carmen,
welcome back once again.

- It's much appreciated.
- NARRATOR: Marty Lagina,

along with his business partner
Craig Tester and Gary Drayton,

meet in the research center

with blacksmithing
expert Carmen Legge

to get his analysis
of the iron spike

recently discovered
more than 100 feet deep

in the B4-C Shaft.

GARY: This came out

of the Money Pit spoils
when we was digging.

Oh.

GARY: A rock drill?

Used for what, Carmen?

Okay, so, uh, used
in the digging process.

You come to a big boulder,
you need to break it up.

Well, those swages
were old, so is this old?

GARY: Wow.

Whoever made this
did it a long time ago.

NARRATOR: Two years
ago, while investigating Lot 21...

GARY: And this is even bigger.

NARRATOR: which was once
owned by Freemason Daniel McGinnis,

one of the men who
originally discovered

the Money Pit in 1795,

Rick Lagina, Gary and
Dan Henskee discovered

two heavy iron swages, or
rock drill sharpening tools,

which Carmen
believed could date back

to the mid 15th century.

Is it possible
that this rock drill,

found in the B4-C Shaft,

could offer more
evidence that the team was

within striking distance of
the fabled treasure after all?

That's absolutely fantastic,
because that was brought up

by the hammer grab.

This is very interesting.

With these dates, though,
this has got to be an artifact

from the original
Money Pit construction.

MARTY: This rock drill could
go back to medieval times.

So, when you let
your mind wander,

it could have been used
to chisel out a chamber.

If that's the case, maybe
we're looking in the right spot.

I mean, this speaks to me.

It says medieval, baby.

MARTY: We're coming
to the end of the season,

so we're out of time, but
are we eventually gonna

investigate it? Yes.

We can't walk away
from that discovery

without looking more closely.

I mean, this really is,
this is holding a piece

of history in your hand
from the Money Pit,

which makes it
even more special.

MARTY: Carmen, thanks
for explaining things

to us once again.

Um, Gary, go find
some more stuff.

- GARY: I can do that.
- MARTY: Thanks, Carmen.

CRAIG: Take care.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

- GARY: We're here?
- MARTY: We're here.

NARRATOR: Marty, Gary
and surveyor Steve Guptill

return to Lot 15 to search

for more potentially
important clues

along the mysterious
stone pathway

between the swamp
and the Money Pit.

We've got lots of targets
inside of this potential road.

- GARY: Good.
- MARTY: And we'll find what's findable.

GARY: All right.

- Let's see what this one is.
- MARTY: People drop things on roads,

and we can search all along

this road if we
know where it is.

[device beeping]

GARY: It is just there.

MARTY: We want to see artifacts,

which could reveal its secrets.

See if I've loosened
it up in there, bud.

- Okay.
- [beeping]

GARY: It's sounding stronger,
so we're getting closer to it.

- Pinpointer time.
- Yep.

GARY: It's... I'm on it.

- Oh, ho, look at that!
- MARTY: All right!

- STEVE G.: Oh, there we go.
- GARY: Right on the road!

Oh, look at this.

[laughs]: It's an ox shoe.

- All right, a find! -Oh, there we go.
- Right on the road!

What is it I always say, mate?

Sometimes you
get a nice surprise.

NARRATOR: On Lot 15, between
the swamp and the Money Pit,

Marty Lagina, Gary Drayton
and Steve Guptill have just found

a potentially significant clue

along the mysterious
stone pathway.

Yeah, that is brilliant. And
it's an oldie by the look of it.

- STEVE G.: How old? Do you know?
- I have no idea.

Something serious went on here.

Something
requiring lots of oxen.

Yeah.

MARTY: What were a
bunch of oxen doing out here?

- They weren't farming.
- GARY: Exactly.

There's no way
they were farming.

[chuckles] It's
just not possible.

RICK: Check that
out. The top of a keg.

NARRATOR: One year
ago, while investigating

the stone road in the swamp,

the team found
pieces of 14th-century

wooden keg barrels
and iron ring bolts,

offering evidence of cargo
being hauled from the swamp

to somewhere on the island.

- MARTY: A road ox shoe.
- GARY: Yeah.

- Yep.
- That's why it's here.

It couldn't sink any deeper

'cause of the rocks
that were put here.

NARRATOR: Is it possible
that the team has now uncovered

the pathway used
in that operation?

And if so, could it
prove to be leading

to the original Money Pit?

GARY: If you're hauling
treasure up to the Money Pit,

you would use a
very large animal,

uh, with a big ox shoe
on it like this for hauling.

So, that leaves us
with more evidence

as to what massive
undertaking occurred here.

We're running out of
daylight. I say we call it a day.

You got to get your
equipment up there, Gary.

GARY: Brilliant. A
great find to end the day.

- MARTY: Yeah.
- See you later, chaps.

STEVE G.: Great find, Gary.

MARTY: Hey, Craig.

- CRAIG: Hello.
- I see our old friend the rig is back.

Yep.

NARRATOR: after the
departure of representatives

from Irving Equipment
Limited and ROC Equipment,

Marty Lagina arrives
in the Money Pit area

as the team from
Choice Drilling has begun

putting down the
boreholes for the upcoming

muon tomography
scanning operation.

Tell me a couple
things... how many wells

are we going to
drill around here

- so we can see this whole area?
- CRAIG: Uh,

five in the Money Pit, one
in... right in the very heart of it,

and four on the outside...
North, south, east and west.

We should be able
to see by springtime

any high-density treasure.

Something a little farther
away, partially collapsed tunnels,

- it's gonna take longer.
- All right, well,

I'll try and set up a
meeting in the w*r room.

We need to kind of
go over all of this stuff.

And then maybe
talk about, you know,

where we're at and
where we're going.

- Okay. Sounds good.
- All right. You carry on, bud.

- Yep.
- Go, muons.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

MARTY: Gentlemen.

Welcome, all.

The Fellowship of
the Dig assembles

for the final time this year.

NARRATOR: Rick,
Marty and Craig

have gathered their team

to take stock of the year
they have spent together

working to solve the
Oak Island mystery.

And the purpose of this meeting
is basically to just make sure,

as we go our separate
ways for this season,

that everybody's
on the same page.

Uh, we had super high hopes.

We were digging
this year, I'd say,

more for treasure than
we have ever before.

We've done an awful lot.

This table is testament
to all of the finds

and all of the clues that we've
been pursuing all these years.

RICK: Gaze at the table.

I mean, we've made progress.

There is information in front
of us, and we need to digest it.

We need to understand it.

STEVE G.: It was
on this day a year ago

I talked about having a big
year and we found 700 artifacts.

Well, we've pushed that number
to about a thousand this year.

- MARTY: Wow.
- CRAIG: It just seems like

there's been a lot
of information found,

but there's a tremendous
amount to go yet.

- Yep.
- MARTY: Right.

Okay, where do we dig?

[laughter]

What are we gonna do next?

- What say you, Rick?
- RICK: Everybody knows

that I've always been
fascinated with the swamp.

I-I... I think there
are answers there.

- I've always thought that.
- Yeah.

DOUG: The swamp truly
is a time capsule, though.

I mean, look at the dates
on the wood we've gotten.

Mm-hmm.

GARY: Oh, that's interesting.

- What do you have?
- We don't know, mate.

Some kind of wooden plug.

NARRATOR: Over the past year...

RICK: Look at this.

NARRATOR: no location
on Oak Island proved

to contain more
clues and evidence

of man-made workings

predating the discovery
of the Money Pit

than the triangle-shaped swamp.

JACK: Yeah, it's cut to a point!

NARRATOR: Near
the southern border

of the brackish bog,

in addition to a
number of survey stakes

potentially dating back
more than four centuries,

the team unearthed
numerous wooden artifacts

believed to have come
from ancient sailing vessels.

One time frame.

- 224 to 376 A.D.
- ALEX: Wow.

NARRATOR: While some where
carbon-dated to the late 17th century,

a section of possible
deck planking

could go back more
than 1,000 years earlier.

- What you got?
- I have a piece of pottery.

NARRATOR: However,
after the team unearthed

a mysterious stone
path near the stone road

in the southeastern corner,
archaeologist Laird Niven

discovered ancient
indigenous Mi'kmaq pottery,

which triggered an unforeseen
and shocking response

from the provincial government.

The archaeologists
asked that we stop down.

MARTY: Our ability to work

and function on our own
island is getting eroded

in leaps and bounds.

Well, I-I think we
did extremely well

with the cards we
were dealt with this year.

- We have a road that we don't know where it started.
- Yeah.

Well, bureaucracy
is holding us back.

That was the most
promising area, wasn't it?

- The southeast corner?
- IAN: It's closest to the Money Pit.

It's right by the road.

And I think there
was a ton of promise.

So for me, it was
also a disappointment

that we couldn't continue the
work that was very carefully

and very respectfully...
To history... being done.

Yeah.

So, I hope we can move forward
with the work we've been doing.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: Laird, are we gonna

get relief on this issue?

I don't really hold
out a bunch of hope

that that's going to happen.

No? Really? You think,
six months from now,

we'll still be off-limits down
in that southeast corner?

Uh, you know, I don't know
which way it's gonna go.

Oh, boy.

NARRATOR: In the w*r room,

as Rick, Marty,
Craig and the rest

of the Oak Island
team contemplate

the future of their
quest to solve

the 227-year-old
treasure mystery...

I'm not that optimistic.

NARRATOR:
archaeologist Laird Niven

has just shared his concern

that key areas of interest in
the triangle-shaped swamp

could remain off-limits
in the coming year.

LAIRD: Hopefully,
we'll have an opportunity

to suggest radical changes.

- Yeah.
- What would our proposal be?

- Just go back to what we were doing, right?
- LAIRD: Yeah,

and trust that we
know what we're doing.

There you go. Yep.

BILLY: You know,
for me, I have hope

because the premier
came to the island.

- Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.

We have a commitment
to meet with,

you know, new management
and new government at CCH,

and I-I have... I have
great hope going forward.

So do I.

Yeah.

MARTY: This is
the fabled Money Pit.

NARRATOR: Earlier this year,

after the Provincial Department

of Community,
Culture and Heritage

restricted the team's search
activities in the swamp...

- CAROL: Wow.
- MARTY: Those are something, aren't they?

- [laughter]
- A little big.

NARRATOR: Billy Gerhardt
arranged for the newly elected

premier of Nova
Scotia Tim Houston

and his wife Carol
to visit Oak Island.

Anything that's worth doing
is worth doing right and, uh...

- Agree.
- And you guys are doing it right.

- We're trying very hard.
- Yeah, I feel that way.

NARRATOR: Although
no guarantees were made

about lifting any restrictions

that have been imposed
on the team's search agenda,

Premier and Mrs. Houston
offered support for the quest

and acknowledged how
it has positively impacted

the province of Nova Scotia.

It's a big thing that's
happening here,

and I think it's gonna
have a happy ending.

RICK: I hope so.

[laughter]

RICK: Like Billy, I
hold out great hope.

We need to get in
a room with CCH

and have a very frank
and proper discussion.

And I think we're-we're
close to doing that.

And I really am quite
positive about that.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: All right.

So there's hope for
the swamp. Oh, good.

- Yay. I'm happy.
- Yay.

[laughter]

I hate that thing.

GARY: And treasure's
where you find it.

I mean, look at the table.

These finds are from
all over the island.

- MARTY: Yep.
- GARY: All these artifacts...

Bona fide artifacts...
Because we've been searching

for anomalies on different lots,

Lot 8, Lot 4.

Some of my favorite finds
have come off the western side.

Yes.

CRAIG: It's right
in through here.

- I'll lead the way.
- All right.

NARRATOR: This year,
Rick, Marty and Craig

commissioned a
magnetometer survey

across the western
side of Oak Island

in an attempt to
locate the so-called

Hole Under the Hatch,

a site marked on a
believed 14th-century map

that the late author and
researcher Zena Halpern

believed to have been created by
members of the Knights Templar.

The data revealed two
compelling anomalies.

The first was on Lot 4,
where the team would unearth

a number of compelling clues,

including copper sheathing
from a possible treasure chest

and a fragment of a
cannon that chemist

Dr. Christa Brosseau believes
could be of Portuguese origin.

The second anomaly
was located on Lot 8,

a lot that Freemason
Scott Clarke suggested

may have once been
the site of Masonic rituals

memorializing the burial
of holy Templar treasures

believed to be
buried on Oak Island.

JACK: If we
explore Lot 4 further,

we might actually, really
discover where the hatch is.

But we haven't cleared
the lots well enough yet

to allow metal detectors
and other technologies

to go in there.

- MARTY: That would be a project for next year.
- Yeah.

MARTY: And there's
the Lot 15 road

to put on the
agenda for whenever

- we gear back up.
- SCOTT: Yeah.

Yeah, in regards
to that lot 15 road,

- my thought goes to the road in Portugal.
- Yeah.

RICK: It does look
like the stone road.

That type of
technique has survived,

certainly in Portugal,
for generations.

And to me, this Portugal trip,
it presented another culture

that might explain what happened
here on Oak Island long ago.

ALEX: When you ask
yourself, who was responsible

for what happened or may
have happened on Oak Island,

the Portuguese
have to be on there,

- on the list of suspects.
- Yeah.

- Mm-hmm.
- ALEX: It's not impossible

that the Knights
Templar or a group

that traced their lineage
through the Knights Templar,

through the Order
of Christ, came here

with something important
that they wanted to hide.

RICK: I don't think
anybody can deny the fact

that the Portuguese,
they were here in the area.

Oh, yeah. True.

DOUG: The Portuguese,

they are a very likely suspect

for involvement
here on the island.

They were in the
neighborhood probably earlier

- than most other countries...
- Mm.

At a very early date.

BILLY: When you
think about it, if you're...

if you got this most
valuable treasure

in the world, you're
gonna put it on your ship,

you'd want to go somewhere
that you'd know, right?

Yes.

You look at these things

on the table in front of us,

they all tell the story.

NARRATOR: With the
discoveries that the team has made

in recent years
across the island,

from the stone-paved area
in the middle of the swamp,

which could date to 1200 A.D.,

and the 500-year
or older stone road

in the swamp's
southeastern corner,

along with the discoveries
on Lots 4, 8 and 15,

could the team
finally be zeroing in

on just who was behind
the Oak Island mystery?

If so, then what is it that
was so ingeniously hidden

deep in the Money Pit?

There is a nice
progression here,

at least in terms of metals.

I mean, lead...

copper, silver, in the water.

And then, early this
spring, gold in the water.

And then, later on in the
year, gold out of the Money Pit.

And those trace elements of gold

on those pieces of metal, mate,

they're just our
starting p*stol.

It's down there.

We just got to put
our hands on it.

[laughter]

RICK: We have a huge opportunity
with the muon technology,

which will... that data will
not come in for another

- seven or eight months.
- JACK: We got to just wait

until the muon collects
the data and see

- what's in the Money Pit.
- Seems like it.

- Yeah.
- SCOTT: Right now, I think

- the muon is the way to go.
- Yeah.

RICK: The hope is that the muon,

uh, technology
will actually find

a target "treasure"
in the Money Pit.

And that... we can
say to ourselves,

"We put a rig or a
caisson at that location,

we're going to
find the one thing."

Well, I feel better. I don't
know about you guys.

DOUG: I will say one thing.

I feel very fortunate to be
able to participate with you all

in a world-class mystery, so...

- IAN: Hear, hear.
- No question about it.

- Definitely.
- Yeah.

For me...

it's been an absolute
pleasure and a, and a...

uh...

I owe everyone a
sincere thank-you

for continuing to stay involved

in what I have always thought
since we were little kids.

This is a wonderful
story, a wonderful mystery,

and it has only gotten
better because of all of you.

And now it's inspirational.

That's real treasure.

And I am grateful
for the experience.

And I thank you all for it.

And then he makes
me follow that.

- I mean, come on.
- [laughter]

No, look, here's...
I would just say,

we didn't win this year,
but we can no longer lose.

It's not possible to
lose anymore because...

there's gold on Oak Island.

There's gold in the Money Pit.

We ain't gonna give
up. It's down there.

- We're gonna find it.
- MARTY: Yeah.

We got a good thing going,
and we need to think about it

and advance the ball next year.

- Hear, hear. Yep.
- Yes.

- Shall we?
- Cheers.

NARRATOR: When
they were just boys,

Rick and Marty Lagina

dreamed about a
legendary treasure

buried deep in the
Money Pit on Oak Island.

As grown men, the fact that
so many capable searchers

had tried for more than
two centuries to find it

inspired the brothers to
take a chance themselves.

- ALEX: See you.
- MARTY: Gary, bud.

- [laughter]
- See you.

Till next year.
Charles. And Billy.

NARRATOR: And now, after
more than a decade of tireless work

with the help of their
dedicated team...

- Keep the faith, guys.
- We will.

They have not only proven
that the Oak Island mystery

is more profound than
anyone ever thought possible

but are closer than anyone
who came before them

to finally recovering
the treasure.

MARTY: Honestly, I feel better

about this whole
thing than I ever have.

There's no way to say we
were on a wild-goose chase,

because we can prove,

for sure, that there's
gold down there.

RICK: Now the
hunt for information

is every bit as important.

And it will
ultimately, hopefully,

yield results.

It will find what we seek.