07x16 - Water Logged

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR:
Tonight on The Curse
of Oak Island...

GARY:
Time to look into the Eye.

That's a big boulder.

Nolan's Cross stones
aren't that big.

‐TOM: We're the first ones
to ever see these.
‐Exactly.

‐MARTY: Whoa!
‐This year,

it's go big or go home.

What are you doing
with this itty‐bitty thing?

‐We ordered a big excavator.
‐(laughing)

JACK:
Geez, that's long!

RICK:
It's all about
the flood tunnel.

JACK:
Oh, yeah! Did you see that rush

of water come in down there?

You can see it squirting up
like a geyser.

♪ ♪

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,

mysterious fragments
of human bone,

and a lead cross
whose origin may stretch back

to the days
of 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.

♪ ♪

(creaking)

GARY:
That sounds like you're ripping
into wood.

I think we're ripping
into another shaft, mate.

Another hand‐carved timber.

That's the second one out
of that same hole.

‐JACK: Really?
‐It's hardwood,

but it's got a square notch
in both ends, pointed.

‐JACK: Yeah.
‐GARY: Oh, yeah.

‐That's impressive.
‐BILLY: Yeah.

NARRATOR: As a new day begins
on Oak Island,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagin,

along with members
of their team,

are convinced
their ongoing excavation

in the Uplands area
near Smith's Cove

will finally lead them
to the main flood tunnel,

the one
which has been thwarting

treasure hunting efforts
at the Money Pit site

for more than two centuries.

(creaking)

GARY:
Wow.

JACK:
Look at the size
of those boards!

‐BILLY: Man, those are big.
‐GARY: Oh, yeah. Look.

This is an older shaft.

You can see the wall
of the shaft going down.

JACK:
Yep.

That's how deep it is.

There's no bottom, either.

‐This might be Shaft Five.
‐MARTY: Really?

NARRATOR:
One week ago,

while excavating
in this same spot,

the team unearthed
what they believed to be

a vertical searcher shaft

constructed in 1850 by members
of the Truro Company,

which was successful
in intercepting‐‐

although not shutting off‐‐

the main flood tunnel.

Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR:
Incredibly,

it was near the bottom
of this same shaft

that Jack Begley discovered

a large quantity
of coconut fiber,

which signaled
that they may be closer

to their target
than they thought,

as coconut fiber,

which is not indigenous
to the Northern Hemisphere,

was known to be used
in the construction

of the original booby‐trapped
flooding system

that guards the Money Pit.

(whirring)

(creaking)

JACK:
Wow!

Those are
some big pieces of wood.

People were quite confident
it was worth

their time and effort
to dig down here,

to try to intercept
the flood tunnels.

Well, I've got to get busy.
That is...

Oh, man. That's sweet.

I may as well go over there
and detect that.

JACK:
That'd be a good idea.

(beeping)

Four inches.

So, it's in this pile.

I'm on it, whatever it is.

Ooh!

That is a nice old spike.

How old?

You can tell
with the weight of this.

Nice, chunky.

Easy 1700s.

BILLY:
Mm.

GARY:
Yeah, that's nice.

BILLY:
Yeah.

All right, mate.
Carry on.

(whirring)

♪ ♪

Careful, mate.

I'm getting a signal over here.

Hang on, Billy!
I got a target here to dig.

‐Is that it?
‐Found it.

Yeah, that's another big spike.

Oh, look at that.

Nice and heavy.

That is sweet!

1700s on this one, baby.

JACK:
So it's definitely an old shaft

‐from the 1700s.
‐Yeah, it's an old shaft.

NARRATOR:
Two 18th‐century iron spikes?

If they can be verified
to predate the discovery

of the original Money Pit
in 1795,

they could offer key evidence
that this structure

was most likely built not
by members of the Truro Company

but by the same people
who are believed to have hidden

something of great value
on Oak Island.

These are old...

bloody iron spikes.

Well, we'll see if it gets wet
the deeper we go down.

Maybe it is connected
to the flood tunnel system.

GARY: We've got to get
to the bottom of this.

JACK:
Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR:
As efforts to pinpoint

the flood tunnel continue,

later that morning...

‐MARTY (over Skype):
Hello, guys!
‐RICK: Hey.

‐ALEX and DOUG: Hey.
‐How you doing?
‐Hey, mate.

NARRATOR:
Gary Drayton has joined

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

for a meeting in the w*r room.

They have gathered to find out

the results about the massive
seismic scanning project

that was conducted
on the island by Eagle Canada

earlier this year.

Joining them
via videoconference

from their offices
in Traverse City, Michigan,

are Rick's brother, Marty,

and their partner,
Craig Tester.

MARTY:
Okay. Craig and I had a little

scientific powwow
with, uh, Jeremy

from Eagle Canada,
and he gave us kind of a...

an interim report.

And we wanted to pass it along
to you right away.

‐Right, Craig?
‐Yep. Definitely.

MARTY:
Cool.

NARRATOR:
The seismic scanning process

involved the detonation
of some 18,000 dynamite charges

that were each placed
at six‐foot intervals

all across most of
Oak Island's eastern drumlin.

The sound waves produced
by the explosions

were then measured as they
traveled through the earth.

This data was then used
to create a virtual map

of any possible voids, tunnels
or other man‐made structures

that might be hidden
beneath the island's surface,

down to depths
of as much as 300 feet.

CRAIG:
So, the sonic logs that we ran

are working well.

It's tying into the seismic,

so he's getting better, uh,
depth interpretations.

The two most exciting things
by far:

He says he sees something
off the southeastern edge

of the Cave‐In Pit.

He called it
an obnoxious anomaly.

CRAIG:
And, uh, you know,

he feels he's seeing
some tunnels down there.

When he gave you the tunnels,
where‐where was that?

The one he's described
runs from...

the Cave‐In Pit area

and then a‐a very distinct
linear feature

towards the Money Pit.

And, of course,
I asked him about flood tunnel.

But he just alluded
to linear features

that he thinks
could be tunnels.

CRAIG:
It appears, you know,

where tunnels come in

and where the flood tunnel
comes in.

But it apparently is
a rather glaring anomaly,

and it's at about 60 feet.

NARRATOR:
A possible tunnel?

At a depth of some 60 feet

and located in the Uplands,

just south
of the nearby Cave‐In Pit?

Earlier this year,

while core drilling
near this same area,

the Oak Island team
obtained evidence

of a possible wooden tunnel

more than 50 feet deep
underground.

When tested,
these samples dated back

to as early as 1735,

60 years prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit.

Could the anomaly detected
by seismic scanning

be connected
to this same wooden structure?

And could it also be part
of the same booby trap

protecting
the original Money Pit?

Is it worth investigating?
Absolutely.

It's‐it's what we were hoping
to see,

a tunnel that connects
Smith's Cove to the Money Pit.

From the human heart,
hope springs eternal,

and‐and I'm excited about that.

I would move this
to the top priority.

‐Yeah.
‐RICK: No, I agree.

‐You know? It's all about
truthing it, right?
‐Yes.

‐All right.
You guys got work to do.
‐We do.

Get after it. We'll be out
to help you as soon as we can.

‐Okay.
‐CHARLES: Okay.

‐Thank you. See you.
‐See you.

MARTY:
Bye.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Two days after
receiving the seismic data,

Rick and Marty welcome
representatives

from Delway Enterprises,

who are delivering
a massive 30‐ton excavator

to allow them to dig
in an attempt to confirm it.

MARTY:
Hi.

‐How you doing?
‐Good. I'm Marty.

‐Devin Matchett.
Nice to meet you.
‐Devin.

‐Nice to meet you, Devin.
This is Rick.
‐Yeah.

‐I'm Rick, Devin.
Nice to meet you.
‐How you doing, Rick?

‐Nice to meet you.
‐Hey, uh,

what are you doing
with this itty‐bitty thing?

‐We ordered a big...
‐(laughing)

We ordered a big excavator.

No, that's...
That looks like quite a tool.

Yeah. Hopefully it does the...
does the trick for youse.

Okay. Well, I think we need
to get this bad boy working.

All right.

NARRATOR:
Because the seismic data

indicated
that a possible tunnel

might lie
some 60 feet underground,

Rick, Marty and Craig
have obtained an excavator

equipped with a long‐reach arm,
or boom,

capable of reaching
their target depth.

MARTY:
Got to say,

that does look pretty...
(chuckles): impressive.

RICK:
It does.

MARTY:
So, what's different
than a regular...?

I mean, other than the obvious.

DEVIN:
60 foot... feet of boom,

compared to 35.

‐30, 35 feet.
‐MARTY: Otherwise, controls

and everything
are basically the same?

DEVIN:
Yeah. Everything's the same.

The only thing you really got
to watch for‐‐ it's quick.

And it... you're gonna feel
that boom out here.

Well, I'll be real gentle
for a little bit.

All right, well,
I'm gonna try it.

‐(laughs)
‐Get at her.

♪ ♪

MARTY:
I'm all for getting
this long reach excavator.

I mean...

I'd like to find
the flood tunnel,

not ancillary things.

I'd like to see it.

Well, that would be
very significant to me.

So that, to me,
is the most important part

of the dig here.

So I am excited as hell and...

crossing my fingers.

How'd you make out?

‐Oh, man, like a Cadillac.
‐(chuckles)

But let's get going, because
we need to put that guy to work.

Time's a‐wastin'.

NARRATOR:
Later that same day,

expert heavy equipment operator
Billy Gerhardt

has made impressive progress
with the excavator.

He has reached a depth
of some 50 feet,

just ten feet shy
of the team's target.

CRAIG:
Quite a bit of wood.

JACK:
Hey, Billy. Craig and I are
gonna take a peek real quick.

Yeah, okay.

CRAIG:
See anything from there?

Let me look on the other side.

JACK:
I don't see a... a seam of rocks

or anything like that yet.

CRAIG:
Probably coming below yet.

JACK:
So let's let Billy dig

‐and see if we run into
this flood tunnel.
‐Okay.

CRAIG:
We gotta be pushing 50 feet.

More wood.

‐CRAIG: Posts at the bottom.
‐JACK: Oh...

‐Did you see that rush of water
come in down there?
‐Nah.

‐No, it's still coming in.
Can you see that?
‐No.

Walk more over there.
I'll grab your belt buckle or...

Oh, yeah! You can see it
squirting up like a geyser.

Here, stand where I am.

‐CRAIG: Oh, yeah.
‐JACK. Yeah!

It's freaking awesome.

JACK:
Marty, come look at this.

NARRATOR: After being alerted
to the discovery of a potential

flood tunnel in the Uplands
near Smith's Cove‐‐

possibly the same one
identified

by recent seismic imaging‐‐

Marty Lagina joins
Craig Tester, Jack Begley,

Gary Drayton and Billy Gerhardt
to inspect the site

and continue the investigatio.

JACK: The water's squirting up
from the bottom.

‐You'll see it
in the back corner.
‐MARTY: Oh, yeah.

Do we know if it's fresh
or salt?

Don't know.

MARTY:
Can't say we found
the flood tunnel itself, but...

what I see and hear
is a lot of water rushing in.

And it appears to be rushing in
from the up‐hole side.

In other words,
from the landward side.

This, to me, is very impressive.

The face is giving a little bit.

‐Now you can see it cr*ck
up in through here.
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Suddenly...

JACK:
Oh, wow, that whole edge
is about to go!

‐MARTY: Oh, man.
‐JACK: Yeah.

‐Yep. Let's go.
‐Yep.

MARTY:
This is all getting
kind of dangerous.

GARY:
Yeah, this is not safe.

That was a big enough piece
where that

‐whole bridge could go.
‐Yep.

Yeah, we're getting out of here.
It's not worth it.

NARRATOR:
Unfortunately for the team,

the flood tunnel did
what it was designed to do

more than two centuries ago:

frustrate the efforts
of would‐be treasure hunters

to shut off the flow of water
to the booby‐trapped system

that guards the Money Pit.

JACK:
It's all caving in now.

‐MARTY: He's lost a ton of hole.
‐Oh, he's lost a ton.

BILLY:
Do we need to see
anything more there?

I just think it's gonna
cave in too fast.

I'd say put enough in there
to make that stable.

‐Yeah.
‐GARY: All right, mate,
let's reposition.

NARRATOR:
In order to stabilize the area
against further cave‐ins,

the team will now need
to act quickly

in order to backfill the hole.

Unfortunately, this also means
that any further digging

in search of the main
flood tunnel will have to wait

until the ground has settled.

We take some risks out here,
and this is a dangerous place.

It'd just be foolhardy
to keep digging.

It wouldn't have made
any sense.

It was sloughing all the time.

CRAIG:
It did hit significant water.

You can put a line on that
towards the Money Pit.

GARY:
I think we may have to

‐give up on that one.
‐JACK: For now.

NARRATOR:
The next day, as efforts
to stabilize

the Uplands area continue...

MARTY:
Today we take on the Eye.

The oculus. Right?

‐Yep.
‐That's the hope.

NARRATOR:
...Rick, Marty, Craig and
other members of the team

are eager to resume efforts
to uncover what may be

another breakthrough discovery
in the triangle‐shaped swamp.

The other hope is that
those metal hits that Gary got,

‐that they really
turn into something.
‐Yes.

‐(metallic banging)
‐Ooh, that's a clang.

I can feel this one.
This is the biggest one so far.

NARRATOR: Earlier this year,
while probing

near the northernmost tip
of the swamp,

recently dubbed
the Eye of the Swamp,

Marty Lagina
and members of the team

discovered a mysterious
circle of stones

featuring embedded iron

beneath the brackish water
and muck.

‐You getting more metal?
‐Yeah, getting more metal.

Now, if you would draw the lines
to find the center...

CORJAN:
There you go.

‐CHRIS: Right on
the Eye of the Swamp.
‐RICK: Wow.

NARRATOR:
It is this very location

that researchers Corjan Mol
and Chris Morford

believe may mark the spot where
members of the Knights Templar

buried a cache of priceless
religious treasures.

According to their theory,
this secret knowledge

had been passed down to
the 17th‐century French painter

Nicholas Poussin,
who encoded it

within a series
of three paintings.

Gentlemen.

‐Hey.
‐Hello, chaps.

So you're done with the swamp?
This is the last little bit?

No, we're just checking
the back of the swamp.

‐Okay, well, let's go back
and drain the Eye.
‐Yep.

MARTY:
I'm most excited about getting
to the Eye of the Swamp.

If there's something
in the swamp of interest,

I think it's gonna be there.

This is the best part
of the swamp dig, I think.

Oh, I'm chomping at the bit.

I remember last time
we was here, Marty,

‐all those targets,
those mystery targets.
‐Everywhere.

We're gonna find out, mate,
once we scoop this

bloody soup out.

Yeah, it's time.
It's‐it's time to dig.

It's time to look into the Eye.

NARRATOR:
Before excavation of the site
can begin,

the team will need
to drain the area dry

using a six‐inch pump.

Meanwhile, Marty and Billy
will dredge out

water and debris
using a 36‐ton excavator.

As Marty Lagina leads
the effort to drain

the Eye of the Swamp...

GARY:
I've been chomping at the bit

to get back to Lot 17.

NARRATOR:
Rick and Gary head to Lot 17,

located just southwest
of the Money Pit area.

Following a hurricane, which
hit Oak Island five weeks ago

and caused significant erosion
along the island's coastline...

RICK:
Let's find something.

NARRATOR:
...they are eager
to search the area

for any important clues
or artifacts

that may have been moved
closer to the surface.

GARY:
This area's been good.

(device chiming)

RICK:
Sounds good, don't it?

‐GARY: No.
‐RICK: No?

GARY:
Not worth digging.

‐(device beeping)
‐Ooh, that sounds good.

See how good that sounds, mate?

That's good, mate.

And now we'll check and see
if you've moved it.

(beeping)

‐Ooh, that water's cold.
‐(chuckles)

(sustained beep)

Hmm. Look at that.

This is so cool.

NARRATOR:
While searching for clues
on Lot 17,

located just southwest
of the Oak Island Money Pit...

GARY: That's a big old
chunk of lead. Look at that.

NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina
and metal detection expert

Gary Drayton
have just made a potentially

significant discovery.

‐Scrap lead.
‐Mm‐hmm.

Been here a long time,
by the look of it.

I thought I saw a number
in there, but...

Yeah, it doesn't look like
a patch.

RICK:
You know what lead means.

Maybe we have laser ablation
done on it.

GARY:
Yeah.

The cross, strip on 21,
and now this.

The same era
would be interesting.

Yeah, that would be.

NARRATOR:
Could this object be connected

to other important
lead artifacts

that the team has discovered
on Oak Island

over the past two years,

such as the 700‐year‐old
lead cross

found at Smith's Cove,

which was scientifically linked
to a region of southern France

with deep ties
to the Knights Templar?

I know for certain that whenever
Gary finds a piece of lead,

he's now much more interested
in it than he was before.

Hopefully, it will explain
what happened on Oak Island

hundreds and hundreds
of years ago.

GARY:
Not a bad start.
I like finding lead.

Let's keep moving.

NARRATOR:
The following morning,

Rick and Gary have rejoined

Marty Lagina, Craig Tester
and other members of the team

in the area known as
the Eye of the Swamp.

JACK:
We're starting to make
some good progress here.

‐We've just got to clean
this hole out, don't we?
‐Yeah.

NARRATOR:
Now that it has been
drained enough

to begin excavating,
the team is eager

to further investigate
the mysterious

rock and metal formation

that Gary and Marty discovered
several weeks ago.

‐Hey, Gary, what's that?
‐Yeah?

Is that just clay, or is that
a... That's a rock, eh?

GARY:
That's a bit of rock.

‐You want to have a look at it?
‐Yeah.

Tell you what, guys,
if you could step back there,

I'll swing this way

‐and dump it right there.
‐GARY: Okay.

GARY:
That looks like
one of the conical rocks.

‐JACK: Look at the clay.
‐GARY: Yeah.

It's just packed onto it.

‐Do you see that?
‐GARY: Yeah, look...

But look at this blue clay
packed onto it, too.

‐GARY: Yeah.
‐JACK: Well, we haven't really

seen blue clay in the swamp yet.

‐We've seen that grayish till.
‐MARTY: That's right.

But some of this is
distinctively blue.

What's it doing
back in this back pond?

MARTY:
No, I‐I... I think
you're right, Jack.

I don't think
we've seen that blue clay

underneath any of this.

NARRATOR:
Blue clay found on the base

of a large stone at the
so‐called Eye of the Swamp?

In 1804, while excavating
the original Money Pit,

Daniel McGinnis
and his partners were struck

by the discovery of a
water‐tight layer of blue clay

covering the platform of
oak logs at the 40‐foot level.

Could this blue clay
actually be further evidence

that the mysterious
circular rock formation

at the Eye of the Swamp is,
in fact, a man‐made feature?

And if so, could it have been

placed here to act‐‐
just as in the Money Pit‐‐

as a water sealant
to protect something

of great value
buried somewhere below?

GARY:
That's one of the boulders.

I just remember standing
over there and‐and just putting

my feet down the sides of 'em.

CRAIG:
What is that? It's a stump or...

Wash that stump off!

Is that doing any good?

RICK:
Oh, yeah.
That's a big one there.

NARRATOR:
A tree stump... in the swamp?

Because trees cannot generally
grow in bodies of water,

the fact
that this stump was found

in the Eye of the Swamp
further suggests

that this area may have,
at one time,

been part
of a beachfront or dry land.

It also supports
the scientific findings

of geoscientist
Dr. Ian Spooner,

who believes that significant
human activity took place

at the swamp
during the late 1600s.

I'm very confident
we're looking at 1680 to 1700...

MARTY:
Hmm.

...that that disturbance
took place.

Really interesting.

That's a big stump.

It's about...
it's about that big.

Are you checking to see

if there's any rocks
underneath the roots?

RICK:
There's another stump
right there.

There's another one there,
I think.

Another stump?

RICK:
These stumps
should not be there,

unless there was a transition
from dry to wet conditions.

MARTY:
It just is so obvious

that something
changed radically

between when those trees
were growing and today.

And if that's a natural process,
okay, doesn't mean anything.

So, if it's man‐made,
then it sure means something.

Well, what does it mean?

And most of the tree trunks

seem to be around the perimeter
of this Eye.

RICK:
Yeah. Pretty much.

GARY:
I'm gonna have a little
metal‐detect around here.

(chiming)

(beeping)

Hey, I'm getting
a signal over here.

What in the heck is that?

A big piece of iron
attached there.

Marty!

There's a big clump of iron
attached

to the side of that trunk.

‐Is there really?
‐Yeah.

That's what it looks like.
There's like an iron rod.

I think it goes into that trunk.

MARTY:
We know the swamp
has been there

for at least a hundred years,
because we have pictures.

So that means the tree
that grew there

is probably far older than that.

So, I guess
your initial thought is

that the piece of metal is
as old as the tree.

So, we're hoping
it's significant, but...

what are massive trees doing

growing under
those wet conditions?

To me, the most interesting
feature is the stumps.

JACK:
Well, it's almost like
the stumps grew on top of

‐some of the boulders.
‐Yeah.

GARY:
We're getting close
to that Hail Mary find.

NARRATOR:
As a new day begins...

...and while the investigation

at the Eye of the Swamp
continues...

Craig Tester, Alex Lagina

and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse

have traveled some 50 miles
northeast of Oak Island

to Saint Mary's University
in the city of Halifax.

‐Hey.
‐CRAIG: How you doing?

‐Good to see you again.

‐Dr. Brosseau.
‐Hey.

NARRATOR: They have arranged
for Dr. Christa Brosseau,

an associate professor
of chemistry,

to scientifically analyze

the possible 18th‐century
iron spikes

that were found in the Uplands
earlier this week.

If these spikes can be dated
to a time

before the Money Pit's
discovery in 1795,

they could not only offer
important evidence

that the team is close to
locating the main flood tunnel

connected
to the fabled treasure shaft.

They could also offer evidence

of who built the elaborate
Money Pit treasure vault

and when.

Alex has got some gifts for you.

‐Brought me some goodies?
‐I do. Yeah.

We have, uh, two iron spikes.

So, what do you know
about these so far? Anything?

They're kind of
of an older design.

I think it's fair to say that.

And this, uh,
sort of rose head on the top.

So, what do you want to know
about these spikes?

So, just elemental analysis?

‐Yup.
‐All right. Sounds good.

ALEX:
We've worked with Dr. Brosseau
in the past.

We've brought
some of our artifacts to her.

One of the things
I'm hoping that we get today

is some sort of clarity on what
it's made of and how old it is.

Hi, Xiang. How are you today?

NARRATOR:
Working with her colleague,

Dr. Xiang Yang,

Dr. Brosseau
will examine the spikes

using a high‐powered
scanning electron microscope,

capable of magnifying objects

up to 200,000 times
their actual size.

In addition, it can also

help identify
their chemical composition.

ALEX:
Mm‐hmm.

CHRISTA:
So...

Yeah, we see a little bit
of phosphorus here.

‐Mm‐hmm.
‐I think this is the first time

we've seen phosphorous
in an iron object, though.

Hmm.

‐Oh, wow.
‐So, it's typically called

"phosphoric iron."

Early methods
for making cast iron

were not very good
at removing phosphorous.

‐Mm‐hmm.
‐And so, you would
see it all the time.

It's a good indication that...
more likely pre‐1840s.

ALEX:
That's really cool.

NARRATOR:
Commonly found in minerals,
such as iron ore,

phosphorus has a great effect
on the durability of metal.

Because high concentrations of
it will cause iron and steel

to become extremely brittle,

the practice of extracting it
for manufacturing purposes

became common beginning
in the mid 19th century.

ALEX:
We found a lot of searcher
stuff. This is different.

‐So, maybe this is original.
‐CHRISTA: Yeah. So, right.

A more modern manufacturer
of a spike

wouldn't have used
an iron ore with phosphorous.

‐That's very interesting.
‐Yeah. Very much so.

CHRISTA:
Yeah, it's really interesting,
um, but...

This is the second spike.

(computer trilling)

‐Basically, the identical
composition, so...
‐Okay.

So, likely these two originated
from the same

‐batch of manufacture. Yeah.
‐Right. Right.

‐That's good news.
‐ALEX: Yeah.

CHRISTA:
And so, it may...

that may help you trace
an area of manufacture.

Some places in the world
where we have,

uh, iron ore rich in phosphorous
includes,

uh, Britain and Northern Europe.

‐Oh, wow.
‐(soft laughter)

NARRATOR:
Two iron spikes,

potentially predating the
discovery of the Money Pit,

and of possible
European origin?

GARY:
Ah. It's a coin.

NARRATOR:
Two years ago,
while investigating on Lot 16

near the swamp, Rick, Marty,
Gary and Dave Blankenship

discovered two
17th‐century British coins.

RICK:
I see 1600‐something.

MARTY:
Looks like 1673.

RICK:
That's 120 years

before the find
of the Money Pit, for sure.

NARRATOR:
Could these iron spikes,

found deep underground
in the vicinity

of the believed flood tunnel,

be an even more important clue

connecting people
of European origin

to the Oak Island mystery?

So, we've got
some sources in Europe...

‐Yeah.
‐...that we can start
asking questions about maybe

defining an area it came from.

I think we have
a promising indicator

that these might be original,

‐to put it that way.
‐CRAIG: Mm‐hmm. Mm‐hmm.

I get excited every time
there's a new item,

a new science,
that can advance our search.

Is it French? Is it British?

W‐We don't know for sure.

And we've got the potential
to be original,

and that'd be huge.

Well, we thank you
for the information.

‐It's great news.
‐ALEX: Mm‐hmm.

I mean, pushing it back
as old as it is,

but, you know, it's science,
and it's the truth,

‐so we'll pursue that, so...
‐Yeah, exactly.

‐Yeah. It's a little bit
of more... new information.
‐Okay.

‐Yeah. Absolutely.
‐Thank you.

ALEX:
Thank you again.

NARRATOR:
Following their meeting

with Dr. Christa Brosseau

at Saint Mary's University...

‐Oh, here we are.
‐Hey, guys.

NARRATOR:
Craig Tester and Alex Lagina

meet with Rick, Marty
and other members of the team

at the Mug & Anchor Pub
in nearby Mahone Bay.

You got the goods?
Or the data, at least?

‐Alex has got the goods.
‐Got both. Yep.

CRAIG: These are those spikes
that you found.

Yeah. These are little beauties,
these are.

Yeah, 'cause of where
they came from.

I mean, we dug down there.
I mean,

these came
from way down the hole,

packed in clay.

Here's the interesting thing
about it: pre‐1840.

Looks good.

CRAIG:
This is definitely before then,

and maybe with this analysis,
we push it back into the 1700s.

Was there anything else
she could

‐tell you about it?
‐CRAIG: Yeah.

And this is kind of new.

Uh, it had phosphorus in it.

It tends to be
when they used furnaces

that aren't quite as hot,

which tends to make it,
also, potentially older.

And the phosphorus is part
of the original ore, and, uh,

we might be able to determine
an area that this came from.

Boy, that is new. That's your...
that's your holy grail.

But were any shafts, uh,

down by the beach
older than that?

No.

RICK:
The early searchers,

uh, e‐even in the modern era,
if they came across

an old tunnel or‐or artifacts
such as those,

they would be a big deal,
you know?

It's not what we're looking for.

So, the suspicion that these
might be far, far older,

they just, they came
across an older dig,

and they said, "Well,
this‐this means nothing to us."

MARTY:
It's very frustrating,
isn't it?

So, this could've been held
by the original people.

You know, I mean, we can
go back. We can go back.

I mean, look at the dendro
that we got from the bump‐out.

17... What was that? 1741?

'41. Yeah.

Billy!

We want to get a piece of dendro
off of it for dendro testing.

NARRATOR:
Earlier this year, after
discovering what appeared to be

evidence of a massive wooden
shipping wharf at Smith's Cove,

a sample of wood taken from it
was analyzed using

a tree ring method of dating
known as dendrochronology.

‐Perfect!
‐There you go.

NARRATOR:
Incredibly, it was determined

that the structure was
most likely built in 1741,

more than half a century
before the discovery

of the original Money Pit
in 1795.

It's actually a short spike
for how massive it is,

‐which means...
‐What about two‐by‐fours?

‐(chuckles)
‐Well, I mean, i‐it seems like

the most it could hold
would be about

a two‐inch board
to something else.

It can only attach
a not very big thing.

Well, remember
all those planks we got, though.

They were only about
two inches thick.

Yeah. True.

Yeah, these could be original.

I want to say early depositors,
because these are called

rose‐head spikes
after they're bashed in.

I wouldn't have thought
this was that old, Gary,

'cause this is
very exquisitely made.

Oh... no, that's a nice one.

That's a bloody old spike,
that is.

Both of them are.

So, maybe it was when they
came here, whoever they were.

Well, to me,
these are fantastic,

not only aesthetically.

I mean, they're beautiful
pieces of art, really.

I think this is evidence
of, you know,

maybe unrecorded workings
in Smith's Cove.

Possibility
of being original, Alex?

I think there's a‐a distinct
possibility, yeah.

There you are.

Here we go with another mystery,

and we come up with a spike that
could be part of original works,

because if you construct
a flood tunnel,

the men have to breathe as
they're traveling the distance.

There would have been,
I imagine, air shafts.

There might have been, you know,
auxiliary entrance points.

So, it could be original.

Well, then let's keep digging

in Smith's Cove,
in the Upland area, right?

No point in stopping now.

NARRATOR:
As a new day begins
on Oak Island...

Any luck, Gary?

Uh, not with
the metal detecting.

NARRATOR:
Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt
have been joined

at the so‐called
Eye of the Swamp

by fellow landowner Tom Nolan,

the son of the late Oak Island
treasure hunter Fred Nolan.

They are continuing
to investigate the site

where, earlier this year,
Gary located an unusual,

man‐made circle of stones
containing traces of metal

buried beneath
the mud and muck.

It is also a formation
that Oak Island researchers

Corjan Mol and Chris Morford
believe may mark the location

of a treasure vault hidden
in the swamp centuries ago

by members
of the Knights Templar.

Corjan Mol and‐and Chris Morford
have done

a tremendous amount of research

coming up with what I think
is a rather elegant theory.

Certainly,
we hope they're right.

GARY:
We just started
washing this off.

I know Billy's ready to dig
that hole

you want him to dig over here.

‐We all have to have
eyes on it...
‐Yeah.

...because the most simplest
thing might have an explanation.

So, as you dig,
Gary can metal‐detect,

and Tom and I will keep watch.

‐All right.
‐Surgical strike, Billy.

Yeah.

RICK:
What I found curious about
the theory as it was presented‐‐

I have a representation
of it here.

‐You can see the pond
right there.
‐TOM: Yeah. You can.

RICK:
And you can see that location
right there.

‐Wow.
‐GARY: Wow.

That is massive.
That's‐that's a big boulder.

Another one.

‐That one may not be coming out.
‐No.

I mean, Nolan's Cross stones
are easily that big.

‐TOM: Oh, easily.
‐But here in the swamp?

‐They're not buried
under a bog, though.
‐Exactly.

NARRATOR:
A large boulder,
matching the size

of the five megalithic boulders
that form Nolan's Cross?

Could this boulder be part of
some other, similar structure

that might be related to the
so‐called Eye of the Swamp?

RICK:
You've got, like,
a boulder field there.

What does that mean?

Look, don't you think
that is unusual?

That's the area that's pinged,

and there's this
massive boulder there.

It's interesting.

Hey, Bill!

Just try to take this
down a bit,

and maybe I can shovel that off
and then you can wash them.

Well, let's see what's here.

I never would've suspected...

this type of boulders.

TOM:
All clumped together,
just like this, in one area.

GARY:
Yeah.

‐Look at all the little stuff
in there.
‐GARY: Yeah.

‐Almost looks like it's all
stacked in there, doesn't it?
‐Yeah.

‐GARY: Kind of reminds me
of the paved area.
‐Yeah.

TOM:
That's what it looks like,
isn't it?

NARRATOR:
Could the stacked boulders

that the team
has just uncovered

be evidence that this
mysterious location

and the paved area are part
of an even larger construction,

one built to hide something
of great value on Oak Island?

It's a lot of broken granite
and angular stone.

Slate.

And seems strange
that the big rocks

are on top of the small rocks.

It's really just
nothing but rock.

There is no clay.

There's rock sitting on rock.

GARY:
Do you think your dad
ever saw these?

No. We're the first ones
to ever see these.

I hate to do much more
disruptive digging here,

because we have no idea
if these are purposeful or not.

What's your thought?

If Dad was here, the first thing
he'd say is: "Don't move those."

Let me get them plotted
before you do anything.

Why don't you do this, Billy.

Dig that.

We'll leave this face
and that face alone.

We'll have to call Dr. Spooner
and have him take a look at it.

It's strange
having all of these

large boulders
in a very central location,

because there are none
in the general area.

The good news about this
is that we have

Dr. Ian Spooner
working with us, and...

the key point
to address here is:

Are these boulders
placed by the hand of man

or are they just
glacial erratics

in a somewhat localized area?

Well, that's all
we can do for now.

GARY:
There's so much going on
in the swamp.

RICK:
Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR:
For the Laginas
and members of their team,

the triangle‐shaped swamp
has proven to be much more

than a geological curiosity.

Instead, it appears that it
might hold the key to solving

the entire Oak Island mystery,

just as Fred Nolan predicted.

But as they continue to dig,
will the team's efforts lead

to the discovery
of a treasure vault

filled with untold riches?

Or will they uncover
something else,

something more astounding?

Or something that was never
intended to be found?

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

IAN:
There's no doubt at all

that somebody was digging here

‐a long time ago.
‐RICK: Wow.

CHRIS:
That artifact has
a lot of mercury.

Sir Francis Bacon
did experiments

in preserving documents
in mercury.

RICK:
You're gonna take this down
as deep as you can go.

TERRY:
See that, right there, Rick?

They're all hand‐hewn.

That's 1769.

BILLY:
We struck something there,
Marty.

MARTY
There's wood on the left,

and it looks like a tunnel
going that way.