12x25 - Uplifting Discoveries

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR: Tonight
on the thrilling season finale

of The Curse of Oak Island...

- MARTY: Here we go.
- ALEX: Airlift time.

JACK: Today's the day
we find Rick's one thing.

MARC:
Let's find some gold.

- Oh, baby.
- JACK: Oh, h*!

You can see that it's hollow.
It keeps going in there.

And then there's something
down at the bottom of that rock.

- JACK: Oh, no way!
- It's remarkable.

Ooh! That's a nonferrous hit.

- FIONA: Ha-ha! Look at that!
- Ka-ching!

The arsenical copper
indicates the medieval times.

Medieval, baby.

[laughter]

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: Morning.
- ALEX: Good morning.

- See we're ready to rock and roll.
- SCOTT: Today's the day.

ALEX:
Airlift time.

NARRATOR:
A year that has been full

of historic discoveries

and revelations on Oak Island

is about to reach
its culmination

for brothers Rick and
Marty Lagina and their team.

You know, one side
of the caisson hit the edge

of the solution channel and we
know there was a collapse here.

Oh, for sure,
but now we know it goes deeper.

- ALEX: Yep.
- JACK: The question is, what collapsed

down into the solution cavity?

- Was it the treasure?
- Had to go somewhere, yeah.

NARRATOR: In the
fabled Money Pit area,

the team has now
installed their sixth and final

seven-foot-diameter
steel shaft for the year.

A shaft they have dubbed
"the one thing" or "TOT-1."

It has reached some


and penetrated a
massive natural cavity

in the bedrock, known
as the solution channel.

A cavity that contains
more than 100 tons

of earth and debris
that collapsed

into it during one of the
team's recent excavations

and which may now also contain

the legendary
Money Pit treasure.

RICK: There still could
be something down

at the bottom of that caisson.

And they're gonna
vacuum it up literally,

and we're gonna look in there

and we're gonna hope
we find the one thing.

- Today's the day we find Rick's one thing.
- MARTY: Let's go, yeah.

NARRATOR: Now with
just a few days remaining

before the onset of winter
will force the team to suspend

their search activities
until next spring,

representatives from ROC
Equipment and SB Canada

will attempt to recover evidence

of the believed
valuables from the bottom

of the solution channel
using an airlift system.

He's in.

NARRATOR: The process
will work by blasting air

at a rate of 300
pounds per square inch

down the TOT-1 shaft and
into the solution channel.

This will create a
powerful vacuum,

forcing tons of dirt and
debris to the surface,

which will be deposited
into a massive container.

The spoils will then
be carefully searched

for evidence of treasure.

Okay. We're ready.

- And you're ready, it looks like.
- Yep.

Let's get the
guys lined up here.

- Mickey, you all connected up?
- Yeah.

- You good, Denny?
- Yeah.

We're gonna fire that pump up.

- RICK: Here we go.
- ALEX: It's going.

Rough start.

There you go.

- MARTY: Oh, baby!
- There it is, there it is.

ADAM: Lots of muck, buddy.

RICK: The weather's
closing in, our time here

on the island is closing.

The expectations are high

that within the TOT-1,

"the one thing" caisson, that

some significant
discoveries will be made.

ALEX: It's really
sputtering though,

as if there's a lot more
material in the caisson

- than we thought.
- SCOTT: Yeah.

RICK: We're hoping
to find a treasure.

Something that will
help us ascertain

the what of this mystery.

What was buried
here so long ago?

- That thing's gonna fill up...
- Really fast.

RICK: really fast.

JACK: Wow!

It's obvious that everything's
working beautifully.

We can see massive amounts

of material entering
the big tank.

After all these years digging
and drilling underground

in the Money Pit,

I'm hoping there's
some treasure in there.

Just little update:
we're pulling now.

You can hear the chunks
and solids coming up now.

- So...
- Okay.

- Keep you in the loop.
- Okie-doke.

Thank you.

So let's fill that up.

And then develop a
proper excavation plan

- for the rest of the day.
- Yep.

We all know we can't stand still

because time is
running away from us.

SCOTT: Yep.

MARTY: All right,
well, this seems

to be working
quite well actually.

There's stuff going in the tank.

Maybe there's some
good stuff going in the tank.

Maybe the one
thing is in the tank.

I'm waiting for the
Bravo-Tango, Rick.

- RICK: Exactly.
- MARTY: Might be over there.

NARRATOR: While
the airlifting operation

continues in the Money Pit area,

nearly half a mile to the west

on Lot 5...

You got a whole crew here.

- Everybody's busy.
- ALEX: Hey.

- Digging away. Find anything?
- ALEX: Yep.

Well, you guys can tell me.

Laird noticed something
at least a little unusual

that I thought you
might be interested in.

It's down here.

Rick and Marty
join archaeologist

Laird Niven and other
members of the team

to look for more
potentially critical clues

in the stone foundation
near the shoreline.

Laird was scraping away
down here in the wall.

And, Laird, tell them
what you observed.

You can see that
it's-it's almost hollow.

It's... it keeps going in there.

And then I noticed something

down at the very
bottom of that rock.

Ooh.

It's actually a nail.

NARRATOR: After
uncovering this feature in 2022,

Laird and the rest of the
team have not only found

evidence that it may have
been used as a campsite

by different groups over
numerous time periods

prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit,

but have also unearthed
several stunning artifacts

that suggest it was directly
related to the treasure mystery.

These include a
mortar-like substance

that matches soil samples

from more than 100 feet
deep in the Money Pit area...

five Roman coins

and a 14th-century
lead barter token

which may be connected
to the Knights Templar.

And four Venetian trade beads,

along with two ornate
buttons that could be related

to the Knights of Malta.

Incredibly, some
researchers believe

that the Templars and
the Knights of Malta

may have conspired
to hide priceless,

religious artifacts,

including the Holy Grail

and the Ark of the
Covenant on Oak Island

between the 12th
and 17th centuries.

Does it help at all
explain what this thing is?

- LAIRD: No.
- Mm, fair.

Other than... odd?

Other than odd.

How about if we have
Gary go around once more?

LAIRD: Yeah. That's fine.

I mean, he's kind of our
first line of offense, right?

- Yeah.
- RICK: Okay.

Okie doke, Gary.

- It's all yours.
- Let's get going.

RICK: Given all the
artifacts that have been found

in this localized of an
area with this feature,

it presents the possibility
of some real answers.

All right. We'll get stuck in.

RICK: My hope is we can
find an artifact that will really

give us a proper
framework to understand

the earliest activities

associated with Lot 5.

[metal detector beeping]

Nonferrous.

That's a nonferrous target.

Sounds like a shovel test to me.

Fiona, could you, uh, bring that

talented trowel of
yours over here?

We got one that's
especially interesting.

Yep. We can do that.

- Is it this one here?
- MARTY: Yes.

FIONA: Okay.

Oh, here's something.

But it's actually ceramic.

Got a nice piece of
hand-painted pearlware in here.

- GARY: You just got a bit of pottery?
- Yeah.

- But that wouldn't have been setting your...
- No.

- Metal detector off.
- No.

What is the date range
on that piece of pottery?

- MARTY: Can I see it?
- Yeah, when you start getting

into the hand-painted,
now you're looking

at 1770 onwards for that.

GARY: That's still
older than the original

story of the discovery
of the Money Pit.

We're getting down a
little deeper here now.

So I'd be surprised if
it's too much deeper.

Nothing surprises
me about Lot 5.

Oh, what's this?

Oh, wait.

Ooh!

- There you go, Gary.
- Yeah, ka-ching!

GARY: It's a coin! Hey, hey!

- It is.
- GARY: Hey!

- There you go, Gary.
- Ka-ching!

NARRATOR: Just a few
feet outside of the mysterious

rounded foundation on Lot 5...

Wow.

Gary Drayton and other members

of the Oak Island team have

just made a potentially
valuable discovery.

Is it a coin or a button?

FIONA: Well, it doesn't
have a shank on the back.

It's pretty flat.

I would suspect it's a coin.

And it's even got a bit
of a copper patina to it.

It's very thin.

It doesn't have
a lot of heft to it.

So it could be a token as well.

It's a coin or a token,
but it was down there.

It was. It was very deep.

NARRATOR: A
possible coin or token?

If so, could the team

have found a similar artifact

to the possibly
Templar-related barter token

that was unearthed here in 2022?

- That's a...
- [laughter]

That's going in my pocket.

Yeah. Yeah, it is.

Oh, that's fantastic.

- LAIRD: So I heard some yelling.
- Yeah. Look at this.

- This kind of popped out.
- Oh, wow.

- Do you see that copper patina on it?
- Oh, yeah, yeah.

Well, that's worth getting
back to the lab, obviously.

GARY: I've got a bag here.

That little nice clean one.

That's what we want for this.

This is a productive
couple of pits.

Yeah, it has been.

There's a building
body of evidence

that there was a relationship

between Lot 5 and the Money Pit

and the mystery in total.

It's hard to refute that.

This find, obviously,

comes at the end of the year

and my hope is that we will
come to an understanding

of its relative importance.

You know, it might
be the end of the year,

but it's not the
end of the interest

in this area, that's for sure.

I mean, that continues
to be remarkable.

- Yeah.
- And it reaffirms the fact

that this treasure hunt,
this mystery, is island-wide.

That is quite remarkable.

And it's never too late
to pull up a Hail Mary find.

RICK: Pull up another.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

RICK: How's that one look?

Still likely a good

foot and a half or two
feet of stuff in here.

Yeah. There's a lot more in here

than I thought there would be.

NARRATOR: Rick Lagina joins
operations manager Scott Barlow

and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt

in the Money Pit area.

There's lots there
to go through.

Well, the first thing would be

get it out of here, right?

NARRATOR: Now that
the airlifting operation

in the TOT-1 shaft
has been completed

and the excess water
has been drained

from the spoils container,

they are eager
to begin searching

through the solid
debris and soils for clues

and hopefully
evidence of treasure.

Should be a lot of silt in here,

but we could definitely
hear the sound

of things tinging
off this dividing wall

- when it was sh**ting in there.
- Mm-hmm.

So hopefully one of those
things is what we're looking for.

The one thing.

Yeah, the one thing.

Okay, well, let's
get it started, right?

Get the vac truck in
and see what we've got.

Okay.

RICK: If there's
anything in here

that is of metallic nature,

it has been airlifted
from more than 200 feet

underground in the Money Pit.

So now it's up to...

us to make sure that
the container gets clean

and then it's up to
Gary, really, to try to find

any metallic objects.

[truck beeping]

- There's the rig for the job right there.
- Yep.

Hi, Marc, I'm Rick.
Nice to meet you.

We have some suspicion
that there might be something

in this container and
that's why you're here.

- Let's get after it.
- Let's do it.

NARRATOR: Utilizing a process
known as hydro evacuation,

Marc will use an
industrial-grade water jet

to break up the
sediment and earth

at the bottom of the container

while a powerful suction pump

will draw the liquids and spoils

into a 3,500-gallon tank.

All right, guys,
let's find some gold.

RICK: We're about to find out.

MARC: All right, light her up.

Voilà!

NARRATOR: Once
the spoils are removed

from the container, they will be

transported to
nearby Smith's Cove

where metal detection expert
Gary Drayton will scan them

for clues and
potential valuables.

It looks like he's making some
pretty good progress there now.

He'll be done with that...
what's left in there in short order.

RICK: Look, we all
want to find something.

The only way to
find something is

to have Gary come
in and metal detect.

All right.

Let's get treasure
hunting again.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

- GARY: We got a busy day ahead of us.
- CRAIG: Yes, we do.

- Quite a mess you made down here, Bill.
- Isn't it?

NARRATOR: Rick, Craig
and Gary Drayton arrive

at Smith's Cove to begin
searching the TOT-1 spoils.

Now it's had a
chance to dry off.

So we have a little
chance for a better visual.

I believe today we're
gonna find a diamond

in the rough, right
in that pile there.

Okay. You got
two guys to shovel.

You get the metal detector.

Billy, if you can
scrape that off?

- All right.
- Let's get stuck in.

This is great that
we're doing this.

We got a chance to
metal detect it and use

- the twin optical scanners.
- Yeah.

Yep.

RICK: We've got
work in front of us.

We recovered a
container full of mud,

a tremendous amount
of cobbles and, hopefully,

some potential
discoveries to be made.

We have to do everything we can

to make certain that we
find whatever lies within.

GARY: It'd be nice
to find one great find.

CRAIG: Yep.

Hold up, Bill.

What is that?

That was a dowel.

CRAIG: Yeah.

- That's worth keeping.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: A wooden dowel?

Found in the TOT-1 spoils?

Dating back to
the 7th century AD,

dowels are wooden fasteners
that were used in construction

to lock planks or
timbers together.

According to historical records,

all previous treasure hunters

are believed to have
used metal fasteners

in the construction
of shafts and tunnels

in the Money Pit area.

Is it possible that the team
has recovered evidence

of the original Money Pit
in the solution channel?

If so, might something
of great or even

priceless value also be
contained in the TOT-1 spoils?

[metal detector whining]

Got a good signal.

Hey. Looks like
I'm just in time.

Something good, Gary?

GARY: Yeah. It sounds good.

MARTY: Let me
know if you need to dig.

Yeah. Got to do the honors.

- MARTY: Right there?
- GARY: Yep.

Right underneath
that pile there.

All right. I'll have a regroup.

And a pinpoint.

See where this is.

- Ooh, ooh!
- Wow!

- Something.
- GARY: Yeah!

That's nice.

Yeah! That's nice.

It's the end of a
pick by the look of it.

- So, it is.
- Yep.

NARRATOR: While
searching through the spoils

of the TOT-1 shaft,

Rick, Marty and members
of the Oak Island team

have just found another
potentially important clue.

But it's in great condition.

It's heavy for its size.

- RICK: It's very small.
- That's what I like about it.

If you're tunneling you'd
need a little pick like that.

- Tunneling, not shafts.
- GARY: Yep.

Wouldn't it be ironic if
it's a match to that old tool

- that we found in TOT-1?
- Yes. Yeah.

NARRATOR: Part of a pickax?

What is that?

It looks like it's
part of a tool.

NARRATOR: One week ago,
while searching spoils that came

from more than 160 feet
deep in the TOT-1 shaft,

Gary and Marty found a
fragment of another pickax.

GARY: That could be
a really old tool, mate.

MARTY: Yeah.

NARRATOR: One that
blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge

believed to have
been used for tunneling

and may date as far
back as the 16th century.

RICK: I see a little bit of...

striation right here.

NARRATOR: Could
this be a similar tool?

If so, was it possibly
used by someone

who deposited something of
great value in the original Money Pit?

- All right, you want to swing some more?
- GARY: Yep.

MARTY: We could be seeing
and we're hoping we're seeing

more evidence that
something went on

deep in the Money Pit area
prior to its discovery in 1795.

I think it's exciting.

Anything in there could be
items from the original Money Pit.

I'd like to see some treasure.

Got a good signal.

[metal detector whining]

Right underneath that slab.

Ooh, it'd be nice if it
was a bit of treasure there.

[beeping]

Hopefully, it's old.

What have we got here?

Another real old pick?

Yeah. Look. Can
you see those lines?

- Yeah, that's hand-forged.
- Yeah.

That could be an oldie.

Quite chunky and
heavy for its size.

Yeah, this is, this is good.

Yeah.

It's got to be a pick or
maybe even a chisel.

MARTY: Could be a chisel.

GARY: That's a sweet find.

Check this out, guys.

RICK: It's a something.

- CRAIG: Good find.
- RICK: Yeah, it is.

There's a lot more to go through
but we're running out of time

in every sense of the word.

For the moment, for the year.

I think we're gonna have to
get the rest of the team to have

a meeting in the w*r room,
talk about what we did,

what we got to do, what our
hopes and expectations are.

It's an enormous
amount of material.

I wish we had
more time to search.

However, we will
finish this work

next summer and it's typical
Oak Island in terms of making

what could be a significant
find at the end of the year.

What it's saying is you
just got to keep going.

MARTY: The search has merit.

No real treasure but hints

and indications and
intriguing possibilities

that maybe this
treasure has fallen

much deeper
and it's still there.

So, Gary, if you'll
get those to Emma,

we'll get quick
analysis going on that.

That'd be great.

All right then, we'll see
you guys in the w*r room.

- See you there.
- All right. See you.

NARRATOR: The
following afternoon...

MARTY: Hey, guys.

Here we be.

- Wow!
- Hey!

[overlapping greetings]

I am always overwhelmed
when I walk into this group.

- And today is no exception.
- [laughter]

NARRATOR: Rick, Marty and
Craig gather for the final time this year

with their fellowship in
the Oak Island Museum.

MARTY: I'm a bit
humbled and I'm in a bit

of awe of the amount of
brainpower and discoveries

as I walk into that room.

You know, there's a
bunch of happy faces

and interested people.

And they're our team.
They're our team.

RICK: You know, I'll
use a Gary Drayton term.

Gobsmacked. I mean,

it's quite remarkable to see

how many people
all gathered together

to do one thing.

Solve this mystery.

We owe each and every one
of you a huge debt of gratitude.

As I look around,
I see a willingness

to come together
for the greater good.

And the greater good to
me has always been solving

the mystery of Oak Island.

I want to start with something
I specifically asked for.

Well, I have in front of me
eight things and there are more,

that do not have
a question mark.

Items that are without question,

uh, not only
pre-1795, but pre-1760.

So, with that, I'll turn
it over to a discussion

of Lot 5 and, uh, Laird,
you can start over there.

Yeah, the Lot 5, this
work this year expanded

to the exterior of
the circular feature.

We're finding

the typical artifacts
from 1760 to 1820.

But we're finding more
hints that there may

have been an earlier
presence on that site.

I mean, if you look at
the artifacts just recently,

we have another button that was
previously thought to be a coin.

And for good reason, the area
of the shank is barely visible.

And the metallurgy is
suggesting is an early period.

- And you have results on what it is, Emma?
- Oh, I do.

[Marty laughs]

All right, so this is the coin,

or what was
thought to be a coin.

It is a button.

The body of the button
is made of a copper alloy.

But what's really
interesting about this,

is what's in the copper

and what's surrounding
it, so, first off,

it's a silver gilt.

Uh, so you're seeing
that-that composition

of silver throughout,
but the copper

has a unique
signature of a very,

very high arsenic content.

The arsenical copper
indicates the medieval times.

It's coming. Medieval, baby!

MARTY: How about that?

EMMA: Copper was often recycled.

A skilled person made it,

refined the copper
and created this alloy.

So, they're recycling
medieval copper.

MARTY: So if you
had to put a date on it,

most likely pre-1750?

EMMA: Yeah.

So the copper iron alloy
indicates 1600s, 1700s.

MARTY: Well, there you go.

NARRATOR: It is another
potentially critical moment

for the Oak Island team.

According to the
scientific analysis

of archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan,

a button that was
found two days ago

near the round feature on Lot 5

was most likely made
in the 17th century.

MARTY: That fits

- into your earlier occupation.
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: That means
it may have been left there

by someone who used the feature

nearly two centuries before
the discovery of the Money Pit.

This is also a major find.

- This is the other starburst button.
- LAIRD: Yeah.

And you still haven't identified

- the original starburst?
- No.

ALEX: The button
expert we showed it to

thought it might be Spanish.

GARY: Is that the expert

- in Malta?
- Yeah.

NARRATOR: Two weeks ago,

Rick Lagina, his nephew Alex,

and other members of
the team traveled to Malta

in order to research the theory

that members of the Knights
Templar and the Knights of Malta

made multiple treasure
deposits on Oak Island

between the 12th
and 17th centuries.

After seeing a number of
Templar-related carvings

that have also been found
over the years on Oak Island...

DENIS: How are you?

They met with Maltese
historian Denis Darmanin

to have him analyze the
so-called starburst button

that was discovered
in the rounded feature

on Lot 5 in 2023.

I did come across a
similar pattern here.

I would date it to about 1650,

not later than 1675.

That's crazy.

ALEX: One of the carvings we saw

on Gozo looks like sort of

a more primitive version of
this new starburst button pattern.

That right there.

NARRATOR: Incredibly,

upon returning from Malta,

Alex was stunned to realize

that another carving he had
seen at the citadel of Victoria,

a former stronghold
of the Knights of Malta,

where some believe holy
treasures of the Knights Templar

were once safeguarded,

was similar to a
second ornate button

that had just been unearthed
near the rounded feature.

RICK: Lot 5 remains

an enigma and possibly
an important enigma.

NARRATOR: Is it possible

that the three potentially


in addition to the


that were all found near
the rounded feature on Lot 5

offer key evidence that
both the Knights Templar

and the Knights of Malta
may have been connected

to the Oak Island mystery?

MARTY: What's the path forward

- on Lot 5?
- LAIRD: I think

there's more work to
be done on the exterior

- of the foundation.
- Mm-hmm.

LAIRD: And I think
we-we work with Gary

- to do more precise metal detecting.
- RICK: And run

- GPR again.
- Yeah.

JACK: 'Cause if they were doing

work over on Lot 5,
maybe there is a hatch

or a shaft or
something right nearby.

MARTY: Without
question, a-anything like that

would be worth investigating.

But let's go to
that favorite place

for just about everyone
here... the swamp.

Dr. Spooner, you played
a very significant role.

Why don't you tee off that
discussion from your standpoint.

Yeah, I-I think
we've moved, uh...

moved everything
forward significantly

in terms of
understanding the swamp

and just how sort of vigorous
an area of activity it was.

We find structures there...
[chuckles] that are enigmatic.

Yeah.

This is really cool.

NARRATOR: After previously
discovering structures

in the triangle-shaped swamp

such as the believed


near the center

and the potentially


in the southeast corner...

CRAIG: Seems to be
quite a few more rocks,

- at least right in through here.
- Yeah.

This year, the Oak Island
team once again discovered

numerous man-made structures
throughout the brackish bog.

These include multiple sections
of a cobblestone pathway,

which were bordered
by wooden survey stakes

that have been dated to
as early as the 17th century.

JACK: Whoa!

There's even more big
boulders down there.

NARRATOR: Near
the northern shoreline,

they uncovered a line
of stacked boulders

that appeared to be
an artificial seawall.

Doesn't that look like

- a vault to you?
- ALEX: Wow.

NARRATOR: But the
most compelling find

that may be related
to the treasure mystery

was an empty brick and
slate vault-like feature

that was also dated back to
as early as the 17th century.

STEVE: The swamp has

multiple dates.

It goes back to
as far as possibly

in the 1200s AD era.

You go to the northern end
of the swamp and that dates

late 1600s right
through the late 1700s.

The time period is 1630 to 1750,

and that was what I would
call the major construction

and major use of it.

BILLY: To find a
vault in the swamp,

along with all the
other evidence, to me,

just brings the whole
mystery up another notch.

It's irrefutable, uh, in
terms of it was worked,

manipulated... call
it what you will...

over an extended period of time.

It was intentional,
and it was purposeful.

I don't think we're anywhere
near understanding it,

because, all of our efforts,

probably there's maybe 30% done.

And you've said
it yourself, Tom...

if there are answers to
the Oak Island mystery,

they perhaps lie within the bog.

It was a lot of manpower
went into what we're finding.

Okay.

IAN: And this all fits into,

I think, a vision of
Oak Island at that time.

When you take Lot 5,
the swamp, as a place

for industrial activity.
A-Activity that was island-wide.

And the swamp would've
been a little bit like

a highway across the island.

And we find stakes
there that seem to point

towards basically
the western drumlin

and maybe Lot 5.

So, to me, what's
super exciting is

maybe the swamp is very,
very strongly connected

to Lot 5.

And, of course, if
you go from Lot 5,

cross the cobble
path, where are you?

But you're on the
eastern drumlin,

the Money Pit area.

Yeah. Exactly.

Uh, with that,

I think we can transition

to our favorite
spot, the Money Pit.

So let's go there.

And we got two really
interesting artifacts.

And I'll turn it over to
Emma to describe them.

EMMA: Well,

these two pieces.

So I think we were
calling this piece a chisel,

from the Money Pit spoils.

Yeah.

EMMA: And then a pick.

- This giant piece.
- MARTY: Yeah.

So I scanned the artifacts, and
they are both quite clean irons.

They're actually very
similar in composition.

And I would give a date
range on the artifacts.

They are at least
early to mid-1700s.

Potentially... before that.

How far back?

They could go back to the 1650s.

MARTY: Fantastic.

On, baby. -...the team

excavated a seven-foot-diameter
shaft known as RP-1

some 20 feet southeast
of the TOT-1 shaft,

hoping to unearth
evidence of treasure

nearly 120 feet belowground.

Unfortunately, no
valuables were recovered.

This is the largest
diameter pipe stem

we've ever found on the island.

Whoa.

NARRATOR: However,

the team did find
a clay pipe stem,

a disposable
artifact for its time,

which Laird believes
could date back

more than 100 years prior to
the discovery of the Money Pit.

Is it possible that the
Fellowship of the Dig

has unearthed at least three
items that were left behind

by those who buried something
of great value on Oak Island?

MARTY: We now have proof

that people were down
there way before discovery.

Just that this year
lends credence

to all the stories
about the Money Pit...

- Yeah.
- And credence to why

we first set foot
on this island.

So that would be
a smoking hot find.

- [laughter] -
MARTY: Yes. Exactly.

Smoking hot find.

We were able to put down

six large canisters in the Money
Pit this year, uh, successfully.

Uh, we didn't find
treasure, per se.

But I think we found
treasure in the sense

of a lot of knowledge that's
gonna help us proceed.

- STEVE: Yeah.
- ALEX: I went into the year thinking

that there's no possible way

that if there's
treasure down there

that we could've missed it

with the 600-some boreholes
that we put in the ground...

whatever the number is.

- Yeah.
- But when we did the caisson work

and everything
started collapsing down

into the solution channel,

that explains why we
might have missed it.

And so I think the
odds, in my mind,

of there still being something
underground in the Money Pit

are a lot higher.

MARTY: Let's talk
about this, then.

Because the other big
thing we discovered this year,

in my belief, is
this business about,

most likely, the solution
channel being able to swallow

whole material and
at copious quantities.

That was something we suspected.

- Mm-hmm.
- But I think it was proven this year.

- Yeah.
- So I asked Steve to do something for me.

So, Marty, you asked
me to put together a map.

This is a bird's-eye view
looking at the Money Pit.

This is what we've done.

MARTY: The exercise
was to say, "All right,

"if we know the original
Money Pit was here

"and it had treasure in it,

"the reason we haven't found it

is because it collapsed
way deep." Okay?

And so I wanted to see if,

statistically, that
was possible.

STEVE: At this
point, in the Money Pit,

for everything
we've ever drilled,

we've done just over 500
boreholes and 27 caissons.

We've really only dug
about 20 to 25 boreholes

at the bottom of
the solution channel.

- MARTY: And green is the solution channel.
- Yes.

So, each one of
these yellow depths

hit the bottom of
the solution channel.

We have four caissons,
really, that hit bedrock.

And the solution
channel isn't flat.

You've got 205
feet, 206 feet depth.

Well, there's pockets
mere feet away

where it's 215
feet deep, 210 feet.

So if a treasure did collapse
into a solution channel,

it potentially could have
fallen into one of these pockets.

Sure.

We have more than 80 square feet

of unexplored area in the
Money Pit at those depths.

MARTY: The solution channel,

this-this natural cave-like
system underground,

may have played a bigger
role in hiding this treasure

than we ever thought before.

Yep.

MARTY: It could
go down to 230 feet,

easy.

Yeah, it really could.

- Correct.
- MARTY: We're zeroing in

on this treasure.

But how are we going to get it?

How are we going
to actually find it

and get it to the surface?

JACK: There's
something down there.

MARTY: The solution channel,

this natural cave-like
system underground,

could go down to 230 feet, easy.

We're zeroing in
on this treasure.

But how are we going to get it?

We either have to
do a pretty intensive

deep drilling program
with a conventional rig,

some sort, sonic rig,
something, to test that out.

- Or a big dig in that area.
- Yeah.

Given all the information

and all the input from
everyone around this table,

your default position has
to be a potential big dig.

A system of caissons,
one next to the other.

Basically, a honeycomb design.

NARRATOR: For
over ten years now,

the Laginas and Craig Tester

have researched
excavation methods

to explore a much larger
region of the Money Pit area.

One of these is the
so-called honeycomb process.

This would involve
digging a series

of eight-foot-diameter steel
shafts next to one another

down to depths of
as much as 230 feet,

allowing the team to thoroughly
search the solution channel

for the legendary treasure.

CRAIG: For me,

I want to go deep.

Um, whether we...

drill for it or a, a
big dig of some sort,

um, you know, we need to
hammer those numbers out.

But, you know, I think we
advanced the ball on all fronts.

And I think the
team did a great job.

MARTY: To me, I
came onto this island,

I was absolutely mercenary.

I was here after treasure.

Rick always was more
colored towards, "Hey,

"this is a worthwhile
thing. This is historical.

The-the hunt
itself is worthwhile."

I've been moving gradually
in that direction for a long time.

And I would say this year
moved me even farther.

I still want to find
a great treasure.

But, you know what,

this is a worthwhile adventure
with worthwhile people

doing worthwhile things.

RICK: I asked you at
the beginning of the year

to inspire each other,

to do something which is more
than each of us individually,

and that is working as a
team, working as a unit,

working... together.

Look at the table.

Look around.

You know, as a
little boy, I, um...

I believed in Oak Island...
in the mystery, in the story,

and in the treasure.

And, uh, I believe it now.

But the thing that is really
quite compelling for me

is that...

Um...

- Mm.
- You can do it.

- Yeah, I know.
- [chuckling]

RICK: It has been...

one of the greatest pleasures...

[crying softly]

of my life... [shudders]

to not only have shared this

with all of you...

but with my two nephews

and David, who is not here,

and my brother, of course.

It's been... fantastic.

And without each of you...

we wouldn't be sitting
here the way we are.

And so, for that,

I am exceedingly grateful.

If it wasn't for you,

I don't think any of us would
be sitting here right now.

Yeah. I didn't come out here

'cause I believed
in the treasure.

I came out here

'cause I believed in
doing this with my family,

so...

And look how far he's come.

- Yeah.
- [laughter] - RICK: Yeah.

That-that is what
is really cool is,

I remember when Marty
first came to Oak Island.

You know, he came, and
he's brutally honest, you know?

He came here and thought
it was a bunch of madness,

- collective madness.
- That.

And I think Alex
had a little bit of that.

- Yeah.
- And-and Peter.

As everybody
knows, Peter was like,

- "Okay, I'll come,
but..." [chuckles] - Yeah.

RICK: And yet they
have been moved...

by the proof that each
and every one of you

have helped provide.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

MARTY: Hey, look,

I've always said this...
and I'm sure of this...

it's impossible to follow
a Rick Lagina speech,

so I am not going to even try.

I believe we're
done for the year.

- Sound good?
- Hear, hear.

- IAN: Sounds good. - Hear, hear.
- CRAIG: Thank you.

- Okay. Off we go.
- Here we go. - ALEX: Okay.

NARRATOR: The year is ending on
Oak Island for Rick, Marty, and their team.

But it saw them discover
more evidence than ever before

that profound and
perhaps priceless secrets

are hiding deep in
the Money Pit area.

Emiliano.

Ciao, buddy.

NARRATOR: So when
they return next spring

and conduct the biggest and
deepest digs ever attempted,

will the answers to a mystery

that has captivated
the world for 230 years

finally be revealed?

MARTY: It was a
good year. We put

an X-marks-the-spot...
[chuckles] in the Money Pit.

Now we just have to execute,

because we think that
the treasure dropped

into the solution channel.

And somebody was
deep in the Money Pit

way before the Money
Pit was discovered.

Just those two things
in a very general sense

make you pretty
enthusiastic to keep going.

There's a lot of
work left to do.

- Yes.
- ALEX: Almost feels like

as much work as we had

when we first showed up here.

Which is amazing.

RICK: I always believed.

I think now the world believes

that something unique happened
on this very special place.

I am exceedingly
grateful of the opportunity

that this story, this island
has given back to me.

But at the end of the day,
there really is but one goal.

Let's solve this thing.

This is a really amazing place.

[chuckles]:
This is an amazing place.