13x21 - A Sacred Symbol

[bunniefuu]

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

[Clarke] It's very possible
a holy relic

related to Jesus
may have been concealed

with a Templar treasure
on Oak Island.

-[Peter] Whoa.
-Wow.

-Got a hit in here. -You do?
-[Peter] You got something?

[Katya] Yeah. That's exciting.

-[whoops]
-[Scott] Oh, wow.

That's an amazing find.

We've never seen this
on an archaeology site.

-Wow.
-[laughing]

The peak use was in
the 14th and the 15th century.

These could have been dropped
by the depositors.

That's pretty exciting.

[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.

♪ ♪

-[Alex] Weather's changing
pretty quick. -[Laird] Yeah.

I mean, it's the same problem
we face every year

on the island, which is being

-at the mercy of the weather.
-Yep.

[Narrator] The bitter chill
of fall

has arrived on Oak Island.

Well, hopefully,
just down another six inches,

we come to the top of a vault

-or something and...
-Yeah.

...and-and we get
our questions answered.

[Narrator] But for the Laginas
and their team,

the trail of clues
that could solve

a 231-year-old mystery
has never been hotter.

Especially in the man-made
boulder feature

that they have been
investigating on Lot 8.

[Fiona] You know, we-we do feel
this is something very special.

It's certainly unique,
it-it's been

so purposeful and intentional.

It definitely doesn't
look like we're anywhere

near the bottom yet.

[Alex] We have
a lot of structures

-that date through potentially
the 1600s... -[Laird] Yeah.

...definitely the 1700s,

definitely into the 1800s,

and none of them are like this.

No.

We keep on coming
to that potential 1200s

-time period.
-Yeah.

[Narrator] One week ago,
lab tests

on cement-like mortar
that were used

to seal this cradle
of stones together

showed that the feature
may be as much as 800 years old.

Given the fact
that the cradle of stones

was covered by
a 40,000-pound boulder

and high traces of silver
have been detected

in the ground soil,

the team believes this feature
may be one of the oldest

ever found on Oak Island
and, perhaps,

hiding something of great value.

[Fiona] All right, I'm gonna
try a pry bar with this.

-There we go.
-[Fiona] Good.

-I can grab that now.
-[Marty] I have to say

that this man-made
boulder feature on Lot 8

is certainly the top tier
of amazingly unique things.

The most likely explanation,
to me,

is that it was placed there
to cover something.

A shaft, a grave, treasure.
Something.

This stuff is pretty cemented.

[Fiona] I'm hitting a lot
of slate here right now.

-Like, there's a couple
of layers of it. -[Alex] Yeah.

-Hey, guys. -[Fiona] Hello.
-[Laird] Hello. -Hey.

-Wow. -[Fiona] Finally,
we can get two of us in here.

-[Fiona] Took a while.
-[Laird] Yeah, so we started

working on the outside edges.

Where Fiona is seems
distinctly different than here.

-Huh.
-[Fiona] Even down

to the rock formations.

A lot of smaller rocks
on-on this top path,

whereas we had a lot of larger
ones down, down below here.

Even the soil
is a little bit different.

Yeah.

So, the plan moving forward,
then, is, I would assume,

dig down and dig out.

Yeah, I think we should excavate
here, too, just to make sure.

[Rick] I mean,
t-there's something there.

-[laughing]
-Yeah. That's exactly it.

-[Rick] Okay. We-We'll let you
get back to work. -[Alex] Yep.

-We'll keep you posted.
-Okey doke.

-[Rick] Thank you.
-[Craig] Okay.

-[Alex] See you, guys.
-[Laird] Later.

[Narrator] Later that morning...

[Gary] All right, Rick.

Today is the day.

We're at treasure depth now.

[Narrator] ...Rick arrives
in the Money Pit area

where the excavation
of the Peacock-1 shaft

is approaching
a depth of 150 feet.

[Gary] We're almost
in that void area

where Prohawk saw some objects.

I heard one of them
was a shiny object.

And I can tell you now,

all the ancient treasures
look lovely in water and mud.

[laughing]

[Narrator] Peacock-1
is another target location

where high traces
of silver and gold

were detected
in underground water samples

taken from some 200 feet deep
in the solution channel.

And during their core-drilling
operation this year,

this is also
where the team discovered

a ten-foot void
at a depth of some 150 feet.

Really, there were

interesting things that we kind
of noticed in the imagery.

[Narrator] A void
where an underwater camera

recorded enhanced video

of potential man-made workings
and metal artifacts.

This has made the team suspect
that they may have discovered

an offset treasure chamber

connected
to the original Money Pit.

What would we expect to see,

in terms of material pullback?

We'll see some rounded,
washed boulders

at this point.
If we see some wood,

everybody's gonna lose it,
I mean,

'cause that would mean
we're breaking into a structure.

-[machine beeping]
-Anyway, here we go.

[Rick] Okay.
Now we got something.

All right, got a lot of cobbles,
like you said.

Let's see if there's
any treasure

-in those spoils.
-[Peter] Yeah. -[Terry] Sure.

I think the most likely place

for a treasure
that's still there

is in the solution channel
or in a offset chamber.

[Terry] Some boulders.

[Marty] One of the sonic
drilling wells in the Peacock

hit some really
interesting stuff.

Maybe it has something
to do with the offset

chamber theory.
I'm hoping it does.

[Terry] Look at how washed
those boulders are.

We're definitely
into a relative open space.

That's clear, Billy.

Not in this one.

[Terry] That's the void
we're looking for.

[Peter] But there was
nothing in there.

We're into
the slushy, loose area.

Things could've moved around.

Perhaps things fell down
into the solution channel.

[Narrator] Could Terry
be correct

that the shaft has encountered

the same void the team
drilled into earlier this year?

But the possible artifacts
they saw in the underwater video

may have fallen through
the loose ground soil

to somewhere much deeper below.

[Rick] The area of interest
for me now

is the bottom
of the solution channel.

-Sure. -Because it could have
fallen anywhere.

-Yep. -You have to have
an expectation

that, in the Money Pit,
every scoop has a chance.

-Yeah.
-So, we just have to find it.

Yep. Treasure's where
you find it as well.

-There you go.
-When you least expect it.

-[Terry] Next bucket.
-[Peter] All right.

[Narrator] While the dig
continues

in the Money Pit area...

...later that afternoon...

[Peter] All right.
Back in the swamp.

I'm pretty excited
'cause we were finding five

and eight-sided stakes, and

-my guess is they continue.
-Right.

[Narrator] ...Gary and Peter
join Billly Gerhardt

on the western side
of the triangle-shaped swamp.

-[Billy] Well, we have a road.
-Yep.

There was big cargo
moving along these roads, maybe.

Yep. Hopefully, we find
some of that cargo today, mate.

All right.

[Narrator] They are continuing
to look for more sections

of a mysterious
sand-covered cobblestone road

which they have found
lined with five

and eight-sided
wooden survey stakes.

Now the team
is determined to find out

just where
this road will lead them.

See all the rocks
on the edge of the road, Gary?

[Gary] Yeah.

There's a lot of rocks here.
That is for sure.

That's crazy,
now it's uncovered,

you can actually see
the line of rocks

-[Billy] Mm-hmm.
-that represent the edges

of the road,
the sand in the middle.

It's definitely
a continuation of the sand road.

Right. The road signifies

a major effort by somebody
to do significant work

in the body of the swamp.

-Look at what we found
in the swamp. -Yeah.

[Rick] You know,
as we have chased

this so-called sand road,
you ask yourself,

"Is there any association
with all the known

construction features
in the swamp?"

No one knows why it's here.
I believe

that this road might represent

some very early work,

and we need to understand it
in terms of understanding

the mystery.

-Hey, Gary.
-Hello, mate.

-Figured I'd come help you dig.
-Yeah. Good.

[Alex] Anything yet?
Or not really?

Um, we can clearly see
the sand road now.

[Alex] Yeah.

[Peter] Oh. What's that?

[Gary] Well, that's interesting.

[Peter] I don't know
what to make of it.

Yeah, I think
this is an eight-sided stake.

Same dimensions, overall.

-Yeah. -[Narrator] After
discovering another section

of the sand-covered
cobblestone road

on the western side
of the swamp,

the team has just found another
potentially important clue.

[Peter] It looks like
there's sandy material

on this, which would
make sense that it was

running up
against the sand road.

Yeah, and I agree.

They seem to be following
the edge of the road,

-just like the row
of rocks does. -[Billy] Yeah.

[Peter] There's another one
right here.

-Another one.
-It looks like eight.

-Well, that's good. -They were
clearly marking this road.

[Billy] Yeah. I'm gonna go ahead

and I'll get more of it
it uncovered.

[Peter] All right, guys.

I'm gonna go check
on some other things right now.

Let me know if we find anything.

-You got it.
-All right.

Check the rocks
on the other side, Alex,

how they had them
laid along the road.

-[Alex] Yeah. -[Gary] You can
see both sides of road.

[Billy] Yeah, you can see both
sides of the road pretty clear.

Yeah, 'cause right now, it's...

-right here.
-Yeah.

-And then on the other side...
-Seems like over there.

[Billy] Yep.

-[Alex] ...you get rocks again
over here. -Right.

I mean, this is a road,
definitely.

But it seems like this
would have been built for oxen.

[Billy] Yep. We know there was
a lot of work done here.

There has to be
an infrastructure to support it,

-right? -Right. -Yeah.
And you know your Uncle Rick

would want to see this, mate.

-Yep.
-Maybe text him,

-get him out here.
-I will. I'll let him know.

When I first saw the sand road,

I didn't think it was
a sand road.

And now, digging where we are,

having followed this path
of sand all the way here,

this is unique.

-Okay.
-It's actually the only

old road with a sand topping

that we found on the island.

And this could be
something really important.

Well, you guys
are making a mess.

-[Gary] Hi, Rick.
-I hope you found something.

-[chuckles]
-A lot of stakes.

[Alex] Series of stakes
along the edge of the road.

What we found
that's interesting is

we now have both sides
of the road very clearly visible

with rocks on both sides.

[Rick] Oh, yeah. Here.

[Billy] Somebody
put the sand over the top

to make it smoother, I think.

But it's all that rock,
underneath there.

You wonder
if this is way back when.

Where else did we see
all hand-size cobbles?

We call it the Portuguese
stone road out of the swamp.

[Alex] Just kind of standing
where I am right now,

looking down the road, I mean,
i-it looks like it heads

right for where it would
intersect that old stone road

in the southeast corner
of the swamp.

-It'd be pretty spot-on.
-Right.

[Narrator] Could Billy
and Alex be correct?

Might this
sand-covered road connect

with the believed
Portuguese stone road

which the team uncovered

in the southeast corner
of the swamp back in 2020?

[Rick] I say
we get Dr. Spooner in,

guide us through some crosscuts,
and I think it needs

to be more than one.

We know the doctor
makes swamp calls.

Yeah. [laughs]

[Rick] We need to do a crosscut
because then Dr. Spooner

can look at the stratigraphy.

Perhaps he can find

a carbon-datable
organic specimen.

The hope is that
it will be very enlightening

because we could
find connections

to the Portuguese stone road.

-Well, let's keep digging,
see what's what. -Yep. -Okay.

[Billy] I'll just clean it up,
and then we can see

-how wide it is.
-[Alex] Yeah. -[Gary] Yeah.

[Narrator] The following
morning...

-[Scott] Hey, Scott.
-[Rick] Good morning, Scott.

-Hey, guys. Good morning.
-Welcome back to the w*r room.

You have brought a lot
of thoughtful discussion

to this table.

[Narrator] ...Rick
and members of the team

meet once again
with author, researcher

and 32nd-degree
Freemason Scott Clarke.

[Rick] Scott Clarke
has done some research lately,

and he has additional clues
to the idea,

the concept,
that a sacred religious treasure

has been buried on this island.

So, having said that, Scott,

we look forward
to your presentation.

[Clarke] Yeah,
thank you very much, Rick.

I-I've been presenting
research with you guys

quite a number of times.

My presentation is titled,
"From Nazareth to Nova Scotia."

I have additional clues

that I believe
really strengthen the theory

that Oak Island does conceal
a sacred religious treasure.

[Narrator] Two years ago,

Scott presented
a map of Mahone Bay

featuring Oak Island,

which was drawn in 1762
by Charles Morris.

That same year, Morris,

who was also
the surveyor general for England

and a high-ranking Freemason,

was responsible
for dividing Oak Island

into 32 four-acre lots.

[Clarke] So, I quickly realized

that the Masonic script "A"
was pointing

directly up to Oak Island


the discovery of the Money Pit.

[Narrator] It was Scott's
belief that Charles Morris

purposely used
a Masonic-styled "A"

in the word "Mahone" on the map

in order to point
toward the location

where priceless
religious treasures

of the Knights Templar
were buried.

[Clarke] So, as you guys know,
the Masonic script "A,"

with the V-shaped crossbar,

has definitely been used
at times, throughout history,

as much more
than just a simple letter.

It's been found
on Templar churches,

uh, throughout Europe,

carvings by
the Knights of Christ,

and of course
on the earliest map

of Mahone Bay,
which I've shown before.

The "A" in "Mahone"
has a V-shaped crossbar

which is very similar

to a Masonic compass
and square symbol.

So, I recently became aware

of this really interesting
artifact in Rome.

Uh, it's in a church called
the Basilica of the Holy Cross

that houses
several relics related

to the passion of Christ.

Now, these relics
are believed to include

a piece of the true cross,

one of the nails that was
believed to have been used.

And one of the relics
is actually called

the Titulus Crucis.

[Narrator] The Titulus Crucis,

or "Title of the Cross,"

was a wooden tablet
that was placed

above the head of Jesus Christ
when he was crucified.

It was reportedly inscribed
with the words,

"Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews."

[Clarke] So, as soon
as I saw the Titulus Crucis,

I was immediately drawn

to the letter "A"
at the bottom there,

uh, with the V-shaped crossbar,

highlighted in red
in the name "Nazarinus."

The Templars did have, uh,
a major presence in Rome.

The holy relics
that were housed in the Basilica

also held immense significance
for the Templars

who cherished and visited
this important religious site.

So, below is just, uh,
a comparison of the two:

the-the Morris map from 1762
showing the two different As,

and of course the place name,
uh, "Nazarinus"

on the Titulus Crucis.

And so, of course,
the big question is why.

Why was
this particular "A" carved

with the V-shaped crossbar
on the Titulus Crucis?

Why is it on the 1762
Morris map of Mahone Bay?

Uh, it seems to me

fairly possible that this letter
"A" with the V-shaped crossbar

is connected to Jesus.

So, additional clues
that I believe

really strengthen the theory...

on the map, at the far right,

is the name St. Margaret's Bay.

St. Margaret was known
throughout history

as having owned a piece of
the actual true cross of Jesus.

And Morris also incorporated
three of the As

within the name
St. Margaret's Bay.

And they have
that same V-shaped crossbar

whereas all the other As
on the map

do not.
And as I've shown before,

the last time in the w*r room,

by utilizing
those three small As

in the name St. Margaret's Bay,

if you created a circle
on the map

using the exact arc

created by
the three Masonic script As,

the circle will not only pass
directly through

the compass rose of the map

but also directly
over Oak Island.

Yeah.

[Clarke] So, uh,
Jesus was venerated

by the Catholic orders:

the Knights Templar,
the Knights of Christ,

uh, the Knights of Malta,

any of whom
may have been responsible

for depositing or incorporating

crosses on Oak Island.

I believe that
it's very possible

a piece of the actual
true cross of Jesus

may have been concealed

with the Templar treasure
on Oak Island.


Scott Clarke is presenting clues

found on an 18th century map

of Mahone Bay, which he believes

offers more evidence
that priceless

religious artifacts
may be buried on Oak Island.

And here's another example:

Corjan Mol, he took the photo

that's shown right here.

He informed me that an "A"
with a V-shaped crossbar

was found at the Convent
of Christ in Tomar, Portugal,

which is a Templar church.

-That's right.
-Recently, the Convent of Christ

displayed a number of
Portuguese Templar gravestones

which had these pentacles
engraved on them.

And the pentacle-- it's
a pentagram within a circle--

was adopted by Christians
during medieval times

as a symbol of Jesus

and the five wounds
that he suffered

during the crucifixion.

Every pentagram
consists of five letter As

in varying positions.

And as we can see, this includes

the "A"
with the V-shaped crossbar.

So it's interesting
that in all the world,

the only country
that incorporates

the five wounds of Christ

on its national flag
and its early coinage,

of course, is Portugal.

And by association, the Azores.

Both of their flags,
to this day, still have

the five blue shields arranged
in the shape of cross.

And on each shield,
we see the five dots,

which are said to represent
the five wounds of Jesus.

[Narrator] The Azores
are a Portuguese archipelago

of nine islands some 870 miles
west of mainland Portugal.

[Narrator] In 2022,

Portuguese researcher
Francisco Nogueira

met with the team
as they were investigating

a strange rock wall
on Lot 26 of Oak Island.

No way.

[Narrator] And curiously,

Francisco not only affirmed

that the wall appeared
to be of Portuguese design

but matched similar rock walls
found in the Azores.

And with the discovery
or the revelation

of the Pitblado coin this year,

I think, on a research note,

we'd have to turn
our attention back to Portugal.

And the Azores as well.

[Clarke] It would probably have

the cross with the five,
you know, wounds of Christ.

That was normal
for Portugal currency back then.

It does have that.

[Narrator] Is it possible

that the 14th century
silver coin, reportedly found

in the original Money Pit
by James Pitblado,

might be a corroborating clue

to support
Scott Clarke's theory?

Um, I'm not the only researcher
that's-that's found

a number of-of connections

with early Christian relics
and Oak Island.

I believe that with this
new information I presented,

regarding the "A"
with a V-shaped crossbar,

it is perhaps a clue

that there is something
on Oak Island

directly connected
to Jesus Christ

and these groups, the Templars,

-Knights of Christ.
-[Alex] It does track.

It fits with the history
that we know.

-Oh, absolutely.
-Yep, yep.

It's something we can
continue to investigate.

It's what we're looking for
if we can prove it out,

the thing that connects
the Old World

across the Atlantic
to Oak Island.

Right, right.

[Rick] I think
potentially going to the Azores

is-is an excellent thought.

So I say thank you to you.

Uh, continue
your excellent research,

because what you find may be
critically important to us.

Sounds good.
Thanks very much, Rick.

-Really appreciate it.
-[Alex] Thanks, Scott.

[Rick] Thank you, Scott.

[Narrator] Later that morning...

[Ian] So...

we're gonna do one trench.

[Narrator] ...Dr. Spooner joins
Rick and members of the team

on the western side
of the swamp.

The idea is to do it,
uh, across the road,

and what we're hoping to do
is see some kind of feature--

wood, cut wood--
underneath the sand.

Okey doke.

[Narrator] As Billy
digs a trench,

or crosscut, in the sand
and cobblestone road,

Dr. Ian Spooner will be looking
for man-manipulated clues

such as cut wood
to submit for carbon dating.

This could help him determine
when the road was created.

-[Rick] Still sand?
-[Scott] Yeah.

-Lot of material.
-Yeah.

Was it a road and then
the sand put on after?

Yeah, that's the one thing
we've got to take a look at.

-If there's rocks, then duff,
then sand... -Yeah.

...that's two generations, then,

-of construction.
-Right.

[Ian] So, we're digging through
the sand road, and what we saw

were these layers:

layer of sand on top,

organics below the sand,

then rocks under that

that might have
been used to reinforce

the sides of this road.

-[Rick] Let Katya go in.
-Yeah.

[device beeping]

-[Katya] Got a hit in here.
-[Scott] You do?

-Yeah.
-[device beeping]

It's iron.

I think it's out.

That's exciting.

What in the...?

I think we might have

an old ox nail.

[Narrator] After digging
into the sand and stone road

on the western side
of the swamp,

Katya has just found a
potentially important artifact.

-Yeah. -[Katya] And it
definitely is square,

which obviously isn't modern.

Hmm.

And the oxen would have been
towing the carts

-with everything, right?
-[Narrator] An ox shoe nail?

Could Billy be correct
that the team has found evidence

that heavy cargo was moved
along this road long ago?

If so, just what type
of cargo was it?

[Ian] That's encouraging.

An old nail makes me
more confident

what we're standing on
is something old.

Who knows what we might find
in the sand?

Let's keep going.

[Rick] If we can
make a determination

that the road is old,

then to me
it speaks eloquently to the fact

that the road was constructed
to gain access into a wetland

and that heavy loads
were transported across it.

[Scott] That's another cut piece
of wood there.

Yeah.

Right. Just as-as the teeth
are going by here, I mean,

-there's a lot of rocks here.
-Yeah.

Somebody laid 'em down
as a base.

-Yeah, that's cut, too.
-Yeah.

[Ian] So, something like that's
what we want to get a date from.

[Scott] Yeah.

[Ian] So, we're digging through
the sand road, and what we see

is cut wood above the stones
and below the sand...

Oh, look at this, Peter.
That log's cut at the end, too.

...which I think was put down
to help stabilize the sand

with the intent of actually
supporting a fair bit of weight.

What really stands out to me
is some of the layering.

It looks like brush that's been
just piled down, piled on top.

-[Peter] Yeah. -I mean, it's
pretty complex construction,

but it's hastily done.

The Portuguese stone road
is made the same way.

[Ian] Hey, take a look at this.

-That's cut wood.
-[Rick] Wow.

[Narrator] In 2020,

when the team
uncovered the stone road

in the southeast corner
of the swamp,

they found layers
of hand-cut tree branches

beneath the cobblestones
that served as support bedding.

Could these branches
offer a clue

that this sand road may indeed

connect to the road
in the southeast corner?

[Ian] But it's worth

trying to figure out
the timing of this...

-Mm-hmm.
-...because if it connects

to the stone road,

then maybe
it's all of a certain design.

That stick right there that's
still embedded in the side...

[Ian] Yeah.

I think that's gonna be
the one that's gonna

-tell the tale, would it not?
-Yes.

We might get a good date
off that wood, too.

-[Katya] Mm-hmm.
-But what I'd like to do is move

to another site,
do another trench,

-if you can do that, Billy?
-Yep.

-Okay. -Okay.
-Good luck. -All right.

-Thank you.
-See you, guys.

[Narrator] The next morning...

-[Ed] Morning.
-[Peter] How's it going?

We've already gone down
another 20 feet.

So, at this point,
the can is down to 170.

That's great.

[Narrator] ...in
the Money Pit area,

Rick and other members
of the team

monitor the excavation
of the Peacock-1 caisson.

I notice we're getting
full buckets as well.

-Yeah. -Which is good.
The more spoils we go through,

the more chance we got
of finding treasure.

[Rick] Everything points

to getting down to 210.

-All right, thank you. -Thanks,
guys. -Thanks a lot, Ed.

-Appreciate it.
-Appreciate it.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Yeah.

[Peter] What you got?

And you're smiling.

[Charles] That.
That came out of Peacock-1.

-What the heck is that? -That's
cement. -Let's have a look.

[Charles] This kind of jumped
out at him on the wash plant.

-[Rick] Yeah, that is cement.
-Yep.

You know what that
makes me think of?

My mind went
right to the vault. 1897.

Yeah, the vault.

[Charles] The vault
was encased in concrete.

[Terry] That's concrete.

-Not maybe.
-Wow.

[Narrator] In 1897,

treasure hunters Frederick Blair
and William Chappell

reported drilling into
a seven-foot-high wooden vault

that was encased in concrete
at a depth of 153 feet.

During this same incident,

they claimed
to have found traces of gold

and a piece of parchment
bearing the letters "V-I"

when they extracted
their drill bit.

Is it possible
that this concrete

could be evidence
of the so-called Chappell Vault?

That needs to go to the lab.

-Absolutely. -[Charles] I'm
gonna leave that with you.

I've got to get back down
to the wash plant.

-All right.
-See you, guys. -See you.

[Rick] That's why
the wash plant exists.

Because drilling,

the sinking of caissons,

metal detecting, uh...

you need all the tools
in the toolbox.

[Charles] Here we go.

Let's see if we find something.

Hey, Charles!

Down here.

This is pretty peculiar.

You know what that looks like?

[Narrator] At the wash plant,
Derek Couch has just made

a potentially
important discovery.

It looks like
a Portuguese stoneshot to me.

It's the fact
that it's coming out of this

-at 100-plus feet down.
-Okay.

[Charles] This is cool, man.

We found one before
in the Money Pit.

[Narrator] A possible piece
of stoneshot

found in the spoils removed
from the Peacock-1 shaft?

Dating as far back
as the 12th century,

hand-carved stoneshot
was a projectile

that was discharged
from both small cannons

and early handheld firearms.

Curiously, the team has found
two stoneshots in recent years,

one on Lot 15 and the other
deep in the Money Pit area.

Incredibly,
according to scientific testing,

both of those
may have originated

in the Azores islands
of Portugal.

[Charles] We got to have
Laird and Rick

come down
and take a look at this.

-Yeah, you'd better.
-Absolutely.

-I'm gonna text 'em.
-All right.

Have 'em come down.

[Narrator] Is it possible
that Derek and Charles

have found another
identical piece of stoneshot?

-Way to go.
-I'll keep an eye.

[Narrator] And if so,
could it be another key clue

to help identify just who was
behind the Oak Island mystery?

-[Laird] Charles.
-Hey, Laird.

Hey, you got a smile
on your face a mile long.

Well, take a look at that.

[Rick] Wow. Look at that.

What do you make of it?

[Laird] Well, i-it looks like
a stoneshot, for sure.

I don't see how
that would occur naturally here.

Emma and the CT scan
might tell us something.

Might see the chisel marks
or whatever?

-Yeah.
-Hmm.

It was found 100-plus feet down.

So it could come
from the solution channel,

it could come from
a little bit higher.

All I know is 100-plus.

[Laird] I mean, either way,
if it's a stoneshot,

it shouldn't be there.

In 40 years,
we've never seen this

on an archaeology site.

-[Rick] It has the appearance
of the other ones. -Yeah.

[Rick] There was a suggestion
that it could have

come from the Azores.

-So we have to check into that.
-Yeah.

-[Charles] Very curious find.
-Cool.

[Rick] If Laird is correct
in his assessment

that it is a stoneshot...

-Thank you. -Okay.
-Thanks, guys.

...I think it would be
quite remarkable.

It's amazing,
because now we have found three

in different locations.

And this one
was found in an area

where we've actually found
traces of precious metals

deep underground as well.

[Narrator] Meanwhile,
back in the Money Pit area...

-[Jared] Think we're at bottom.
-...the excavation

of the Peacock-1 shaft

has reached bedrock
in the solution channel.

-[Rick] So, how's it going?
-[Terry] Hey. Just saw

how it was turning but it really
wasn't going anywhere?

-[Peter] Yeah.
-They're on the bottom.

-Really?
-Teeth are on the bottom at 210,

-just about where we thought.
-Nothing else has come out?

-[Gary] Unfortunately not.
-[Terry] Most of the stuff

we're pulling up
is relatively loose.

There's some gypsum
from the bottom as well.

Sadly, the structure
that we thought or hoped for

doesn't seem
to have materialized.

Hmm. Unfortunately, we're done.

-Hey, guys.
-How we doing?

-You tell us.
-Yeah.

Hole's cleaned up.

We definitely are in the layer
of bedrock, for sure.

[Rick] I'll say it,
it's disappointing,

especially given
the clue we just found.

Charles says it better
than anyone, you know?

"Maybe you didn't find it yet,
but it's down there."

We've collected samples of soil,
we've collected water samples,

and they show precious metals,

so we may be close to something.

As everyone knows,
we didn't find the treasure.

But we're buoyed
by the fact that, you know,

we all stuck together in this,
including you.

Now we have a decision to make:
where do we go next?

We're certainly not giving up.

-Okey doke? -[Peter] All right.
Thank you, guys.

-All right. Thank you, guys.
-Thank you.

You know what? Okay,
the treasure wasn't right here,

but I'm confident
we're gonna find some treasure.

[Rick] You just keep
moving forward.

That's all it is.
On to the next hole, right?

I mean, at some point,
this will get solved.

There it is.

[Gary] On to the next.

[Narrator] The following
morning...

[Rick] Everybody knows
why we're here.

The find on the far end
of the table here

came from Peacock-1.

[Narrator] ...Rick
and other members of the team

gather in the lab.

Well, what's unique, I mean,
to find one in the Money Pit,

one on Lot 15,
and now another one

came from the Money Pit as well.

[Narrator] They are eager
to hear Emma's

preliminary scientific analysis
of the believed stoneshot.

[Jack] Oh, wow.

What do you see, Emma?

So, there's these
two little divots,

uh, from the cross section.

Up on this end,
there is a divot up here.

So, these are all wear marks,

or working marks
of being worked at.

-By humans, not nature, correct?
-I would assume so.

-[Laird] Yeah.
-Yeah.

I mean, this one's
a little rough,

which is a good thing,
because the original stoneshots

were made by, by stonemasons.

Um, the way they were created

is you'd have, uh, a stonemason,

and basically just hitting it.

And this one, you can
clearly see the peck marks.

[Emma] Which does
identify this as a stoneshot.

Hmm.

[Rick] We believe
that some of these fit

swivel g*ns in Portugal.

Uh, we know that
because we took them.

[Narrator] During their trip
to Portugal in 2021,

Rick and members of the team

visited the Military Museum
in Lisbon...

[Corjan] Oh, look at that.

[Alex] This is pretty close.

So I would say
that's a match to this.

...where they were
amazed to discover

that both of the stoneshots

matched with a 15th century
Portuguese cannon.

Let's pin down
a time frame, then,

when these were used
and when they went out of use.

Yeah, I mean,
the peak use of stoneshot

was in the 14th
and 15th century,

and cast-iron cannonball
was introduced in 1450s, so...

it replaced these
pretty quickly.

[Jack] Well, the 14th century,

that fits into
the same time frame

as the Portuguese coin
that Pitblado found

while drilling in the Money Pit.

-Yeah.
-[Rick] An early date like that

would be highly suggestive
of that, absolutely.

[Narrator] In the lab,
the team has just learned

that the object found
in the Peacock-1 spoils

is a potentially


[Jack] And if it is, then these

-could have been dropped
by the depositors. -Yeah.

[Rick] The timeline associated
with the use of stoneshot

predates the accepted history

of the discovery
of the North American continent.

This type of stoneshot
would have been used

in the 1300s, 1400s.

We know that there's
a strong connection,

possibly, to the Order of Christ
and the mystery.

And they had the ability
to get to the New World.

This could be an important clue.

I know what your brother Marty
would say.

"This is nice, but go out there
and find some more."

-So let's give it a shot, Rick.
-Only if we get out there.

-[Gary] Yep. -[Rick] All right.
Thank you. -[Laird] Okay,

-see you later. -[Jack] Thanks,
Emma. Thanks, Laird.

[Narrator] Later
that afternoon...

[Rick] Hey, Marty.

[Marty] Hello, big brother.
What's going on?

A little bit of an update
for you in the Peacock.

-Okay.
-[Narrator] ...Rick meets

via videoconference with Marty,

who is currently back in
Michigan for business concerns.

So, we have reached the bottom
of the solution channel.

-Yeah. -And we weren't
finding much of anything

other than the proof
of unconsolidated soils.

-Mm-hmm.
-But somewhere between 100

and 150 feet,

this came up.

I don't know if you can see it.

Oh, yeah. I sure as heck can.

Its appearance, obviously,
is stoneshot, right?

-Yeah.
-You remember Gary found

the one at the surface
on Lot 15?

Yeah.

So, we have the Money Pit find,

we have the Lot 15 find,

-and now we have this.
-That's pretty exciting

because, Rick, that would imply
that those stoneshots

-are everywhere.
-Correct.

And those things,
are they not like...

you know, they quit using them,
like, in 15-something?

Yeah, in the 1500s.

Yeah.

This stoneshot means people
were down there a long time ago.

And again,

more evidence of activity

long before anybody thought
there were Europeans here.

Probably the 1400s,
maybe the 1300s.

So it's hard to overstate
the significance of this thing.

Really boggles my mind.

We can have, uh, Laird reach out
to Dr. Raeside at Acadia.

He did the previous analysis
of the stone.

We need to know
what type of rock this is

-and where it might have
come from. -Okay, well,

we need to do that.

-What else you got for me?
-You know, we are coming

-to the end of the search year.
-Well, that leads me

to ask you a question.

How are you feeling
about our efforts this year?

The year has been
very frustrating.

We made very educated,
uh, choices

in the Money Pit,
but it was less

than we had hoped for
at this point.

Yeah.

That's how I feel.
How do you feel?

The island is

just the most frustrating thing
I've ever been involved in.

-[chuckles]
-But we did, I think, prove

that the solution channel

played a huge role in this.

So, uh,

you know, I still think
there's a decent chance

that what we seek is down
in that solution channel.

-We just have to figure it out.
-Right.

It's been disappointing because

we have not solved the mystery.

But it doesn't mean
that you lack hope.

It doesn't mean
that you're not optimistic

about the next,
the next caisson.

[Marty] Why don't we
switch gears a little bit

and ask Dr. Spooner
and Dr. Michels?

You know, they're intimately
familiar with all the data.

Let's ask them
where they would dig

if they were treasure hunters.

I think that's a very
appropriate thing to do.

We'll get right on that,
ask them,

but we need an "X"
on the ground.

Yeah. Soon.

-Okey doke.
-All right. Is that it?

Then get back to work.

That's all we got.
We'll get back to work.

Thanks, Rick. Appreciate it.

-See you. Take care.
-Yeah. Yeah.

[Narrator] For Rick, Marty
and their team,

this week has underscored
the need for perseverance

in their quest to solve
the Oak Island mystery...

...because new finds
and research suggest

they could be closing in
on a sacred treasure

with extraordinary,
historic implications.

So now, as time
is running out for the year,

how can they zero in
on where "X" marks the spot?

Do they rely on science or luck?

Perhaps it will take both,

along with
their most precious asset...

...their faith.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

[Peter] I want to find something

-that we can date.
-[Gary] Exactly.

-There you go, mate. Wow.
-Oh...

Oh. What's under there?

Wow. I want to see
what's underneath here.

[Ian] Some of the highest
silver and gold values

-show up right in there.
-[Jared] HOLD ON, JOSH,

-HOLD ON!
-[Rick] Whoa.

[Jared] We're definitely
into some hard stuff.

-Wow. Check that one out.
-That's a great find.

That all adds up to a possible

human presence here
in the 1400s.

-That's really rare.
-That's amazing. -Yeah.