Narrator: Tonight
on The Curse of Oak Island...
- (electronic squeal)
- gary: I've got a hit here.
- Ooh, it might be gold.
- Jack: That's gold, isn't it?
Wow! Hey, hey!
This is more high-end. Somebody with
money. It could have been for a secret box.
Aaron: We're getting remnants
of maybe the money pit.
Wow. Okay,
that's wood well below any expected depth.
- Wow. That is an "aha."
- yeah. -Marty: We got
to keep drilling,
because that could be the money pit itself.
- Yes, it could. - Drill.
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.
♪ ♪
(wind whooshing)
craig: Hey, guys.
- Hey, craig. - How we doing?
Not too bad.
Interesting stuff.
In situ.
In situ material here.
Okay.
Narrator: It is the start
of another exciting
day on oak island,
as brothers rick
and marty lagina,
along with their
partner craig tester
and members of their team,
continue a strategic
core-drilling operation
in the money pit area,
in search of a
fabled treasure vault
that people have been
trying to unearth since 1795.
Marty: The drilling
program needs to be done,
because a lot of our wells
stopped short last year,
the year before.
We weren't... We
weren't looking that deep,
and when we ran into
difficult-to-drill conditions,
we stopped.
So we need to go deeper,
because that's
where it's possible
any treasure fell to.
And before we give
up on the money pit,
we need to know that.
Did that go right into
a full piece of wood,
- too, it looks like?
- Terry: Yeah, it looks like
a pretty good chunk of beam.
What depth is that?
- That's at 156, exactly.
- Okay.
- Yeah, I think it's encouraging.
- Yep.
It went from formation rock
directly into a full-sized beam.
- And so it... - Yeah.
It had to have
completely pushed over,
- or we're coming on down on top of a tunnel.
- Yeah.
Narrator: As part of
a strategic drilling grid
designed by craig tester,
the team is currently
drilling borehole de-9.25,
which sets some ten
feet from the oc-1 shaft
that was constructed
one year ago.
It was in oc-1 that the
team discovered evidence
of a wooded tunnel some
150 feet underground
that was dated to 1706,
meaning that it could
very well be connected
to the original money pit.
So, embedded sediment,
as in undisturbed,
and then into some wood.
You got to really hope
that we have finally found
- our elusive tunnel.
- Scott: That's really the only thing
that it could be right
now that we know of.
- That's right.
- Terry: So, for as far
as proceeding on this hole,
would you like to carry on
- just a little deeper to see if
we hit the bedrock plateau -yes.
- For the information? -Yep.
- Steve g.: I think if we
can confirm this is the
potential tunnel from 1706,
- we keep on taking sh*ts.
- Terry: Yep.
I mean,
we could have 300-year-old wood.
- We need to bring up more.
- You got to chase it.
- Absolutely.
- Craig: I wouldn't mind
- having a treasure, too, coming out of there.
- That was my thought.
You take the wood,
I'll take the treasure.
Terry: A chunk of gold
or silver would be nice.
I'm gonna go talk
to mike and tell him
- we're gonna go a little deeper.
- Okay. Sounds good.
Hey,
mike! We're gonna take it a little deeper.
At least ten feet,
if not 15 or so,
- to try and get into the bedrock plateau, if it's there.
- Okay.
Terry: However you want
to proceed with due caution
and try and get us the next sample below,
that'd be great.
- Use your best instincts and go for it, okay?
- Tedford: All righty!
Craig: I wanted to
follow that tunnel
to see where it goes,
so that's what I'm all about this year.
I've got four or five
locations picked out
to see what direction
that tunnel will go.
Is it the vault that
we've been looking for?
Is it a flood tunnel?
Or is it a tunnel that
leads far away? So...
We just have to find
out where that tunnel is
and where is it going.
Terry: One, two, three! Yeah!
- All right. - There you go.
Craig: Well, I'm hoping there's
a little more wood in there.
Terry: That is pretty murky.
Whoa. Okay,
there's a little chunk of woody.
We seem to have little
splinters periodically.
Scott: We got a big piece
right here. Look at this.
- Charles: Yeah. -Terry: Yeah.
- Scott: That's strange.
- Oh, yeah. - That is odd.
Craig: We're way too deep,
though. This is 185.
- Charles: Yeah.
- Wow. Okay, that's wood well below
any real expected depth.
That is some of the
deepest wood we've seen.
That's too deep for what the
hamilton extension would be,
- for sure.
- Charles: Yeah, exactly.
So that's unexplained.
Narrator: In the summer of 1940,
team members working
under professor erwin hamilton
constructed a
six-by-six-foot extension
onto the hedden shaft...
A 12-by-24-foot structure
built by treasure hunter
gilbert hedden in 1937,
down to a depth of 124 feet,
which was believed at the time
to have intersected
the original money pit.
According to historical records,
the so-called
"hamilton extension,"
which reached 170 feet deep,
is the deepest
man-made structure
to have been built by
searchers after the discovery
of the money pit in 1795.
Is it possible that
craig and the team
have found the workings
of someone prior to any
search operations on oak island?
And if so, could it be the key
to locating the money
pit treasure vault?
You know,
but just seeing where this is going...
- Charles: Yep.
- I think we need to be taking it deeper.
- Terry: I vote yes.
- Craig: Why don't you guys
kick that around while I
head back to the swamp.
Uh, let me know
if you hit anything
on this next run.
- Okay. - Okay, guys.
- Charles: Okay, see you later.
- Craig: See you in a bit.
Narrator: While
the drilling operation
continues at the money pit,
in the triangle-shaped swamp,
as rick lagina, dr. Ian spooner,
and metal detecting
expert gary drayton
continue searching
for valuable clues
along the mysterious
stone-paved pathway
discovered earlier this year
in the southeastern corner,
archaeologists dr. Aaron taylor,
liz michels,
and miriam amirault,
along with jack begley,
continue to carefully clear
away the muck and mud
from the feature's surface.
How's it going?
Jack (laughs): Hey, craig!
- Look at the road we found!
- Craig: It is amazing.
Jack: There's no mistaking,
this is a cobbled road.
There is no doubt. I mean,
this is obvious.
Jack: Yeah.
(clacking)
- gary: That's solid.
- Yeah, that's a good one.
Narrator: Over
the past two years,
rick,
marty and the oak island team
have discovered
incredible evidence
of man-made workings
within the swamp.
It began with a
200-foot-long anomaly
detected some 50 feet
deep by seismic scanning,
resembling the shape and
size of an ancient sailing ship.
Gary: Oh, look.
Narrator: This find was
followed by numerous pieces
of burnt metal and wood
that were all determined
to have come from a ship.
However,
the most astonishing finds
included a circular
formation of boulders
at the northernmost point,
known as the eye of the swamp,
which dated to 1680,
as well as a massive
stone-paved feature
dating all the way
back to 1200 ad.
Now, could the discovery
of this stone pathway,
which the team believes
may also be heading
in the direction
of the money pit itself,
be the key to revealing
the swamp's ultimate secrets
and solving the
oak island mystery?
Well, this is amazing.
- Aaron: It doesn't get better than this.
- Craig: Yep.
- Okay, well, I'm gonna see how they're doing.
- All right.
Craig: You guys find
anything more over there?
No. Surprisingly little.
Okay.
Rick: What I wouldn't
give for a whole keg
to be down there,
full of something.
Craig: Right.
Ian: I'm interested in if
we find another structure
or an artifact that
puts the whole...
- Operation here in perspective.
- Yeah.
- (scraping) - rick: Whoa, whoa.
Craig: Is that a...
Square beam there,
or is that just a log?
Rick: Looks squared off.
Ian: I'll get in there,
craig, take a look.
Heads up, bill.
Are you gonna pull it out?
Yeah.
But, again,
it's a squared-off beam
with... But it ain't fancy work.
No.
Narrator: A wooden beam?
Discovered next to
the stone pathway?
Could they be connected?
Or has billy gerhardt just found
a different man-made structure?
Ian: Well, that's good.
Gary: Rick!
I've got a hit here.
(beeping)
I got a definite hit, rick.
- (beeping) - it's just in there,
mate.
Anywhere you like.
Just on the top here.
Then I can see it.
Oh,
you got it out. Let's see what we got.
(detector beeping)
(gasping)
(laughing)
look at that.
- Whoo-hoo! - (laughs)
gary: Look at that!
Wow. That's bloody brilliant.
It might be actually gold.
Narrator: In the
oak island swamp,
metal detection
expert gary drayton
has just made an exciting
and potentially
important discovery
while investigating a
man-made stone pathway.
That's in great condition.
What is it?
Gary: That is a-an old handle.
And it looks like it would be off a boat,
probably.
Narrator: A gold-colored handle,
possibly from a ship,
and found near the stone
pathway in the swamp?
Could it be connected to the
mysterious ship-shaped anomaly
found last year in the
middle of the swamp?
And could it also help explain
the purpose of this pathway,
or possible wharf,
in the southeastern corner?
Look at that.
Very fancy.
Look at that. Could
be a low-grade gold.
Feel the weight of it.
For its size, it's heavy, mate.
I wouldn't be surprised if
that ain't gold-plated, mate.
- Whoo-hoo! - (laughs)
gary took his pinpointer
and found this object.
You could... I always look
at gary's face when he's...
Got the pinpointer looking
for whatever's in the hole,
and his face lit up
like a christmas tree.
Come over here, dr. Spooner.
Rick: It's what appears to be a knob,
and it seemed
very, very heavy.
But the metal is untarnished,
and gold
would remain
untarnished in that ground
for however long this
item's been in the ground.
- Ian: What is it?
- To me, it looks like a...
Looks like a-a fancy knob.
- For a drawer. It looks like a...
- Yeah. Yeah, like a dr...
- Fancy drawer knob or...
- Gary: Yeah.
Like,
it looks like it was on a...
- Like, a-a ship or something.
- Yeah.
- Jack: Wow.
- Gary: And, obviously,
in this area,
it was probably off a ship.
- Jack: Really?
- Gary: But that's a really fancy handle.
I wouldn't be surprised
if that ain't gold-plated.
Jack: You think
it could be gold?
Uh, laird-laird's coming over.
Gary: Look at that color,
man. That...
There's a good
chance that is gold.
Jack: I think you're right,
though, gary.
- That's gold, isn't it?
- Rick: Come on in, laird.
Look at that.
I always burst people's bubble,
though.
Uh-oh.
- Uh-oh. - That's all right.
What is it?
Laird: It looks like gold paint.
Oh, but then that looks better.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, that-that back. That's what really caught
our attention, the back.
I mean, that looks solid,
doesn't it?
And I was thinking maybe it's
gold-plated or low-grade gold.
If it was ten-karat gold,
a lot of gold off the shipwrecks
in florida,
spanish gold comes up,
and it's got that same patina.
Didn't like that.
I like that.
Well,
it looks relatively soft. I mean,
- it looks like it was a knob.
- Gary: Yeah.
To me,
this looks like it was
off an old sailing ship.
And if it was,
it came off a captain's quarters.
We can definitely
get that tested.
Did you find anything
else with the knob?
Not yet,
and that's why we need to get back to it.
Gary: This is fantastic.
Narrator: While rick
lagina continues to oversee
the exploration in the swamp,
later that afternoon...
Terry: This material is
somewhat soft and loose.
I think it's close to something.
It's pretty deep, though.
Narrator: Craig
tester has returned
to the money pit area
to supervise the
core-drilling operation
of borehole de-9.25
as they continue to drill
through a mysterious
wood structure
more than 185 feet deep.
This is definitely unknown.
Terry: No,
that's unknown. We've never hit wood
that deep or...
not at that size.
Craig: The other thing is,
this is darker,
which, to me, is just verifying
that for an extended
period of time,
it's been in this dark material,
where this one's
actually absorbed
kind of this... Whatever's
causing the darkness
out of this muck here, so...
No, the grains are running this way,
too, here.
I just wanted to make sure.
Okay, I'm good. We can bag her.
Charles: You know,
the deepest anybody's ever excavated
in the money pit
area is 171 feet.
This is at 180.
This is deeper than
anybody that we know of
has ever gone in the money pit.
This has turned into
confusing and then,
wow, you know,
some great revelations.
Deepest wood ever.
(chuckles): Which is neither
here nor there unto itself,
but what the heck's
it doing down there?
- Craig: Yes.
- Who put it there?
Is it part of an
old collapse zone
- or part of a tunnel nearby? Yeah.
- Terry: Yeah.
Possibilities for this hole
are-are very interesting.
I mean, there-there is
nothing in the historical record
of any, you know,
shaft or-or tunnel
that went that deep.
You know, especially a tunnel.
- Yeah. - Absolutely.
- Craig: Okay, guys. - Okay.
- I'm gonna get after it.
- Charles: Catch you later. -Okay.
Keeps getting more
and more interesting.
Narrator: Later
that afternoon...
Marty: Hey,
craig. What's the update?
Narrator: Craig tester
meets with marty lagina
in the w*r room to update him
on the latest developments
from the drilling operation
at the money pit.
- So, this is oc-1. - Yep.
Craig: You know,
where there shouldn't have been
any wood. It was
definitely a tunnel.
So, that's why we decided
to put oc-1 here.
Brought up that wood
that dated to 1706.
- You got to chase that. Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. Yeah.
So, there was a number of
places that this tunnel could lead to.
Um, so I started out
right here on e-12.
Unfortunately, as you can see,
this one walked this way.
- Yep. (laughs) -
that ended walking
under where we dug.
It's a pity,
because that means that hole
- gave you no data whatsoever.
- Exactly.
- It didn't hurt, didn't help.
- Yep.
Okay. Where'd you go next?
Well, then I moved up to, uh,
de-9.25.
This is the location right here.
So far,
it's going off to the southeast,
which is directly towards oc-1.
- Marty: Mm-hmm.
- Craig: We got to 180 feet.
- Marty: Yeah?
- Craig: And we brought up
two pieces of wood. Um...
One at 180, one at 181,
I believe it is.
Uh, basically,
the size of this pen.
Well, what could have been
from the record at 180 feet?
Nothing from any of the
records we have. I mean,
could it have been...
Especially when it's,
you know,
a splinter this size...
Could it have been a collapse
of the money pit? I mean,
- we have no idea how far it collapsed.
- Oh, there you go. There you go.
That seems like... Well,
I mean, if you look
at the historical record,
that's the only thing
- that was down that deep, right?
- Right.
It's subtle, craig,
but that could be an indication.
I mean, you-you can't...
You can't ignore data.
- No.
- So, and-and much as I'm tired
of finding wood,
wood at 181 feet
eliminates an awful lot.
It's definitely a mystery.
Well,
that's cool. Maybe keep... I would say
keep drilling. Are you all d...
You're still running,
right? Right now?
Well,
we're debating whether to go deeper.
- Marty: No, go deeper. We got to keep drilling.
- Craig: Okay.
Because that could be
part of the collapse
of the money pit
or it could be the
money pit itself.
Yes, it could. Definitely.
- Drill. - Okay. We'll do that.
- We will keep after it.
- Get on out there. Don't...
- Don't let them stop. All right.
- Okay.
Marty: I'll see you out there
- in a little while. Thanks.
- Craig: Okay.
Narrator: While the
excavation continues
in the oak island swamp
and as the core-drilling
operation resumes
in the money pit area...
- Aaron: Hey, scott.
- Scott: Hey, aaron.
Thanks for coming.
Narrator: ...Archaeologists
dr. Aaron taylor,
miriam amirault,
and liz michels,
along with scott barlow,
are concluding
their investigation
of a mysterious feature
that has come to be known
as the serpent mound
due to its oddly
perfect snakelike shape.
Aaron: So, we, uh,
been spending the morning
with trowels and
sifting all this stuff.
I'm wondering if we
can just pull this back?
- Sure.
- Aaron: What do you think the likelihood is
of doing a cross section
on the other side
of this birch tree?
Pulling back right here,
if you can get a setup.
'cause that'll give us the body,
the egg and the mouth.
Okay. Just let me
get set up over here,
and we'll get to work.
There are serpent
mounds in canada
and in, uh,
in the united states.
The body is quite
easily identifiable
as a serpent, and at the mouth
of some of these mounds is
what they call an egg.
This sort of looks
like it. It's much cruder.
But the only way
to figure it out is to...
Is to excavate it.
So, you've,
you've gone to till there.
You want it widened out any,
or just that one swipe...
If you could widen it out a bit,
- that would be great. - Okay.
Oh, that's interesting.
Narrator: Over
the last two weeks,
the oak island team has found
not only an early 18th
century handwrought spike
matching one recovered
from borehole oc-1
in the money pit area
but also burnt charcoal
that, incredibly,
dated back much earlier.
Craig: That one had a date
of 1320 to 1440.
- Jack: What? - Rick: Wow.
Narrator: These
discoveries have led the team
to speculate that the
so-called serpent mound
is not only man-made
but possibly connected
to a previous excavation
of the original money pit.
The questions they are
still trying to figure out
are: Was it deliberately
shaped like a serpent?
And if so, why?
And what else might
be buried within it?
That's perfect.
- Just like that?
- We're at till, yeah.
- Okay.
- That's great. Thanks, scott.
- No problem. - (engine stops)
all right,
well I'll let you guys do your thing,
and hopefully you come up
with something good and...
- All right. Yeah.
- ...Something exciting.
Thanks. All right.
We're at the bottom.
If it was something,
there'd be, definitely,
intentionally placed stones,
but there's none of that.
Yeah. No.
Yeah,
you can see the old root layer
- right here. - Mm-hmm.
Looks like fill,
feels like fill.
Aaron: Yeah.
- Whoa. Yeah.
- Wow, they've done a lot of work.
Definitely. These
are all new spoils.
Rick: This looks
a lot different...
- Miriam: Hi.
- ...Than the other day.
(laughs): Yeah.
Rick: We have aaron
and miriam working
quite diligently at the
so-called serpent mound
to determine whether
or not this mound
was a significant
archaeological find.
Uh, I was just tidying up the profile and,
um,
there's no structure to this,
it just looks very rubbly.
- Did you guys want to come by and take a peek?
- Gary: Yeah.
Want to get in there, rick?
Aaron: That's the
original forest floor.
Gary: So,
that's the interface from the forest floor
- to the fill. - Yeah.
Rick: That's forest floor there?
Aaron: That's forest floor.
- Rick: Hmm. - Aaron: Yeah.
Rick: So neither of you think
this is built.
I.E., it's just rubble.
It's rubble.
- Yeah.
- Rick: So, as far as this feature is concerned,
you're both comfortable
with an acknowledgment
that this is not what we had
- initially believed it to be?
- This is absolutely not
a serpent mound, no.
There's no structure. It-it's a,
it's a depo...
It's a spoil pile.
- Mm-hmm. - From where and when
- is the really interesting question.
- Right.
- Yeah. - Rick: Scott and doug,
I believe, have put this forward,
is that this
are spoils from the money pit,
and they were dumped
up here to keep them away
from the dig location.
That's the only
possible explanation.
- And, again, more questions than answers.
- Yeah.
Absolutely.
Is it really a...
A-an original human
construct from long ago
or is it an
amalgamation of both?
Maybe an original feature
there and then it was destroyed
or at least added to by
some sort of modern work
with mechanized equipment.
Again,
we're at a confidence crisis
in terms of our belief of-of
what this structure represents.
So,
now that you've made a definitive statement
that this is not a serpent mound feature,
I mean,
I would like you to devote
your efforts now to the swamp.
Yeah, I-I completely agree.
Yeah. While the weather's still good,
I think our priority
- should be the swamp. - Mm-hmm.
Narrator: Now that archaeologist
dr. Aaron taylor and his team
have concluded that
the mysterious mound
is most likely a spoils pile
from a previous excavation,
and likely not a feature
that will yield any more clues
or objects of value,
they will now
refocus their attention
back to the swamp and
the stone-paved pathway.
Our focus at this point should
be the stone road feature.
- Yeah.
- I'd like to concentrate on where the road does go.
Whether it goes
to the paved area
or whether it comes upland.
Wherever it goes, that's what
we need to concentrate on, so...
- I agree.
- If we can do that tomorrow
- and in the forthcoming days, that'd be great.
- Miriam and aaron: Yeah.
Well, we're gonna head there
right now and see what we find.
- Rick: Okay. Perfect. Thank you.
- All right.
Rrator: As a new day
begins on oak island...
- Craig: Hey, here comes rick.
- Terry: Yep.
Narrator: ...In the
money pit area,
rick lagina and oak island
historian doug crowell
have just arrived at the
site of borehole de-9.25
after being alerted that more
evidence of man-made workings,
possibly connected to
the original money pit,
have just been discovered
some 180 feet underground.
- How you doing, rick?
- Hey, rick. -Hi, guys.
Well, you've certainly piqued our interest,
that's for sure.
Terry: Very, very interesting
wood hit at depth in de-9.25.
A relatively thick chunk of
beam with no particular origin
that we can think of at a depth
where it seems to match well
with the f-11 tunnel series
that we confirmed
last year with oc-1.
Rick: No way to tell if this is
vertical or horizontal?
It appears horizontal.
Terry: The top of a tunnel
support beam perhaps.
So,
we liked it. It looks like a tunnel.
The question is: Which tunnel?
One of the options is,
we could be inside the money pit.
- That's pretty exciting.
- Craig: Yes. Oh, wow. -It is.
- It is. - Yeah, definitely.
And then, at 180 feet, we found
these two pieces of wood.
- 180? - 180. Yeah.
- Wow. - Terry: Way too deep.
Craig: We've got this
vertical-looking pieces of wood
that don't look anything
like the stuff from above.
We've never found
anything that deep before.
And there was,
what I would consider,
good, solid, competent rock
for at least five
feet above this.
- Wow. That-that is an aha.
- Yeah.
Terry: Absolutely.
Narrator: A tunnel
beneath a five-foot
layer of solid bedrock?
If craig's assessment
is accurate,
it would mean that this tunnel
may very well be connected
to the original money pit
and hopefully provide
a direct pathway
to the fabled treasure vault.
Terry: Something's going
on in this whole area,
uh,
whether it's tunnel or collapsed money pit.
That's what we got to try and
figure out a-as we go forward.
What about for this hole,
craig? What are you thinking?
Keep going.
- See what's down below. - Yeah.
Rick: What's the thought,
then, about
carrying this down to 200? 210?
I think absolutely.
Rick: When you
get the results here,
any information we get
from these deeper holes,
please send it on.
The truth is,
we don't know exactly what this means.
- That's why we're here. - Yes.
And if my brother's right
and if we're close
to a treasure vault,
then kudos to everybody.
- (chuckling) -
it's a great day.
- Terry: Absolutely.
- And it's only just begun.
- Exactly. - Okay?
- Thanks. -Thanks, guys.
- Yeah. Okay.
Appreciate it.
Steve g.: I think we should
probably run this to bedrock.
210 and to two feet
later... That's all we need.
Yeah, for sure.
♪ ♪
all right.
Charles,
I'm gonna operate, okay?
Go ahead.
(grunts)
narrator: Having now reached
a depth of some 210 feet,
terry matheson and
charles barkhouse
inspect the final core
extracted from de-9.25
for any more potential evidence
of the original money
pit treasure shaft.
What do you think, charles?
Pretty undisturbed material,
I'd say.
- Terry: Look at that bedding.
- Yeah.
It's beautiful till.
It's a little soft.
Very clay rich.
No particular
evidence of a tunnel
or any kind of a structure,
though.
All as mother nature left it.
Narrator: Unfortunately,
no more evidence of human
activity has been found,
as rick,
marty and craig had hoped.
However,
since they did find incredible evidence
of a wooden tunnel at a
depth of some 180 feet,
they can now drill
a new adjacent hole
along craig's grid plan
to hopefully continue
tracing it to where it leads.
Clear.
You all good,
terry, on this one?
Uh,
yes. Let's note it and move on.
Narrator: While terry
and representatives
from choice drilling
prepare to
reposition the drill rig
at the next borehole
on craig tester's grid,
charles barkhouse
joins rick lagina
as they meet with rare coin
and artifact expert sandy campbell
in the oak island
interpretive centre...
Sandy.
- Hey, rick.
- ...To get his analysis
of the gold-colored object found
one day ago by gary drayton.
Charles: It's from the swamp.
Sandy: Wow.
- Rick: And-and deep. - Yeah.
- Oh, really?
- Rick: About three or four feet down.
Sandy: Wow, that's cool.
Rick: Gary believed
that it was gold.
♪ ♪
sandy: You know,
I-I think it's quite yellow.
But let's... You know,
let's clean it up.
- Sure.
- Let's put some water in here
and have a peek.
I'm curious what we might see.
Well, if you're curious,
- we certainly are.
- Yeah. -(chuckles)
narrator: An ultrasonic cleaner
is a device that
works by creating
high-frequency pressure in water
to thoroughly but
gently clean objects
without causing abrasions
or damaging them.
Charles: You know,
after sandy's initial impressions,
he decides to put it in
the ultrasonic cleaner
to pull out any details
either on the obverse
or on the reverse of the knob.
Sandy: Let's take a peek.
Definitely found in a swamp.
There's a lot of dirt
coming from inside.
Rick: Hmm.
Sandy: This is really...
Quite odd.
I mean,
you can tell by the workmanship,
it's far from modern.
Or it could be some kind of
a-a knob from a jewel chest.
Does that mean that it's
something from more high-end?
- Oh, I-I would think this is more high-end, yeah.
- Yeah.
Sandy: Yeah, for sure, you know,
probably somebody with money.
It could have been
just for a secret box.
(stammers) who knows?
My question is,
what was inside it? (chuckles)
- yeah. - You know?
I know. What was inside the box?
It's funny, though,
out in the field
we thought that had
the appearance of gold.
Sandy: No,
this here screams brass.
Really?
If it was gold,
that color would
be a higher karat.
- It wouldn't be ten or...
- Mm-hmm.
It'd be, like,
18-karat or-or 20-karat.
It would have a
little more weight
'cause gold is much more dense than,
than copper and, and zinc.
Although, you know,
under a loop it does have a really,
you know,
close resemblance to gold.
Rick: So, sandy affirmed
that it was not
gold or gold-plated,
but what he did
attest to is the fact
that this was an item
not of common usage...
It was indeed a high-end item...
And that, in his belief,
that it came from a chest.
That's interesting,
but it's not definitive.
What is a high-end
chest pull doing
three or four feet
down in a swamp?
It's certainly an
interesting piece.
I think we've done
as much here...
You've done as much
here... As we possibly can.
- Yeah.
- I can't say it often enough...
We thank you for
your assistance.
Well,
the journey is really the treasure.
- It absolutely is.
- Uh, but let's not rule out,
- you know, a big bag of gold at some point, so...
- (laughs)
we appreciate the help,
sandy, we really do.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity.
- Charles: See you later.
- Sandy: Take care.
Narrator: Later that afternoon,
as archaeologists laird niven,
miriam amirault, liz michels,
and dr. Aaron taylor,
along with charles barkhouse
and surveyor steve guptill,
search through the spoils
removed from the
stone-paved pathway,
rick lagina and metal
detecting expert gary drayton
are searching
the feature itself.
Okay, so,
what have you found so far?
Uh,
all the orange flags are mine.
- These? - Yeah.
Rick: Really?
Gary: Yeah,
all the orange-red flags
- are us.
- So, are we going to dig it?
I'd like to dig 'em up.
Do you want me to start?
- Yeah, please. - Which one?
Two flags over here.
Okay.
(detector beeping)
yep,
it's underneath that branch here.
My guess is,
it's right underneath her.
(rick grunts)
rick: Does not want to come out.
Did it come up?
Uh, it'll snap off.
It's really loose on that end.
I don't think that's
going anywhere.
(both grunt)
rick: Let's see if we
can get it out anyway.
Oh, that's a, that's a timber.
That's big.
That's a nice-looking piece of timber,
isn't it?
Yeah, it is.
There is wood there
and it's got iron in it.
- Mm-hmm. - And it's got a...
Some kind of
iron fastener in it,
which will be interesting
if it's still in the wood.
- This could be something.
- Yeah.
Narrator: A wood timber found
alongside the stone pathway in the swamp?
And giving off strong
signals for iron?
Could it be part
of the structure?
And if so, could it offer clues
to help identify
when it was made?
What do you think is the
best plan of att*ck, rick?
I don't know.
I don't want to damage it.
But you can't leave that
iron fastener there, mate,
not without knowing what it is.
I know you.
Oh, no, it's coming out.
- (laughs) -it's just a
matt... it's just a matter of,
are we going to manually dig it
or are we going to
mechanized dig it?
Scott,
can you come on over a minute?
We've got a piece
of wood in there,
but gary has detected
a piece of iron.
- Right, gary?
- Yeah, there's definitely
an iron fastener in that wood,
and...
- That's right. - ...It looks,
- that wood looks old, scott.
- You see right here?
Scott: Yeah.
So,
I just want to get this out of here
and maybe this and
then just gently scrape.
Don't-don't dig.
- Just kind of scrape. - Yeah.
Then we'll try to dig it out.
Plow that back in the bucket.
- Yep. - All right.
Gary: We have a
signal in the wood.
This is deep, and that gives
us real good context for this find,
'cause if this is
an old iron fastener
and it's still in the wood,
then the wood and the fastener
is really old.
Rick: Get that out first.
Gary: That's a big old boulder,
isn't it?
- Rick: Yeah, it is.
- Wasn't expecting that.
No.
Can you just move it?
Well, it's right here.
That is an impressive piece of timber,
rick.
It is, and it's cut.
And it's cut.
(detector beeping)
put your metal
detector down there.
- See it? - (beeping)
ooh, yeah, look at that.
Yeah, that's a screamer, mate.
That's a good
chunk of iron in there.
(laughs)
that's a beauty. Look at that.
That is gorgeous.
That is a really old spike.
That kind of dates this timber.
I mean, that is really old.
At least 1700s by
the look of that spike.
Narrator: In the
oak island swamp,
rick lagina and gary drayton
have just made what could
be another important discovery
while investigating the
massive stone pathway:
A hand-cut wood timber
containing a potentially
ancient iron spike.
We need to find
the extent of it.
I think it's hand digging at this point,
right?
- Gary: Yeah.
- Scott: I think so, yeah.
You don't want to move it,
and if she's butted up against there,
it could snap it.
Yeah, we'll dig it up by
hand and then we can put it
in the bucket and
take it over there
- and wash it off. - Yep.
Gary: Whoa, watch yourself...
Look at that spike
sticking out of there.
- We got two of them.
- Wow, look at that.
Gary: Let's stand
it up and get it out.
That is gorgeous. Look at that.
And the fasteners in situ, look.
Rick: Well,
they're spiked two different ways.
Scott: Yeah,
that's what I was just thinking as well.
The head's coming in this way,
and this one's
coming in that way.
Why is that?
This is a big spike.
This looks boat-related to me.
Scott: Well,
if you were going to build a dock,
you'd want to build
it out of timbers
- sized like this. - Gary: Yep.
Narrator: Could gary drayton be
correct that he and rick have found
the remains of a ship's
dock in the swamp?
And connected to the
massive stone pathway?
If so, could it offer more
evidence that the stone feature
was used to transfer something
of great value onto oak island?
Rick: The wrought iron
spike was an outlier.
That was an aha moment because
in my mind I'm
framing up this concept
that this is just a cobbled together,
uh, structure
that facilitates some
sort of cantilever bridge
for probing in the swamp.
And then gary
pulls out this spike...
It's certainly handwrought,
it's certainly old.
Hey, steve, can you come over?
We need you, young man,
to gps this log,
which was found in that trench.
Sure.
So, this would have been
roughly the surface location?
- Gary: Yep, that's correct.
- Okay.
(device chimes)
here we go.
Rick: It's confusing.
Surely they would use
that spike in this structure.
It's an oak island tease,
you know.
You-you think you
have an understanding
of what you're looking at and then,
all of a sudden,
you pull up something
that's just an outlier,
so then you start
extrapolating on that idea.
"okay, we need to dig further,
we need to dig deeper."
marty: We clearly have
to follow the stone pathway
all the way 'cause
it's enigmatic,
it's got artifacts on it,
it's very old.
So what's it there for?
You know,
how does it fit in with the treasure story?
So we have to find it,
we have to follow it to where it leads.
I believe we're going
to get some answers
off this, rick, for sure.
I hope so.
That was worth fighting for.
Oh, yeah.
It's just one little
iron hit can lead
to something
fantastic like that.
Rick: That was pretty cool.
Narrator: For rick, marty,
craig, and their team,
the clues that may
soon reveal the answers
to the 225-year-old oak
island mystery continue
to emerge both near the
surface and deep below ground.
However,
they also offer more tantalizing questions.
Might the team
really be on the verge
of discovering the
original money pit
and a vault filled with
incredible treasures
and priceless documents?
Or does the swamp
ultimately hold the secrets
that generations of
people have searched for
and so far have cost
six men their lives?
The laginas are now
on a promising path,
but just where is
it leading them?
Next time on the
curse of oak island...
- Marty: Wow.
- Charles: This is the tupper shaft,
- which was ten feet away from the money pit.
- Great, guys.
Ian: I think we're sort of on
to something right in here.
- There's a lot of rocks.
- Yeah, they're fitted.
- Ian: Oh, yeah, something was built here.
- Yeah.
- Oh. - What is that?
- That's leather.
- Looks like a heel from a shoe.
Yeah, something like that
could be a breakthrough.
Craig, what do we got?
95% sure, 1492.
How about that?
Medieval, baby.
(laughter)
08x11 - Rocky Road
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Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.
Follows brothers Marty and Rick as they search for the infamous treasure on Oak Island.