08x13 - The Fellowship of the Ringbolt

[bunniefuu]

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

BILLY: I'm ready for a bobby‐dazzler,
Gary.

Look at that! This is
probably one of the eye bolts.

‐Wow. ‐(laughs)

‐STEVE G.: 28! ‐TERRY:
There's wood at 24.

‐Wow! ‐This is
what we want to see.

It's completely virgin ground.

I got a signal, guys.

Ooh,
it's a lock! What's a lock doing in here?

This is part of a lock.

I'm gonna say it's for a box
or a trunk or a heavy chest.

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.

♪ ♪

RICK: What do you think?

What is that?

RICK: That's the proper question

to ask: what is that?

That is not something
that should be in a swamp.

NARRATOR: As another exciting
morning begins on Oak Island

for brothers Rick and Marty
Lagina and their partners...

TOM: That is absolutely
amazing to see in a place like this.

You would never think
this would be here.

RICK: I mean, it's just awesome.

They continue to uncover two

of the most incredible
discoveries ever made

in the 225‐year search
for a legendary treasure.

Massive stone pathways
that have been unearthed

in the southeast corner of
the triangle‐shaped swamp.

One of which may
be leading directly

toward the original
Money Pit treasure shaft.

RICK: You've got a stone road

in the middle of a bog.

‐Why this? ‐Why this?

And why here?

I can't come up with an answer.

What do you think your
father would make of this?

He'd love to see
it. I know that.

He was such a big
proponent of the swamp.

‐Yup. ‐And

felt it played such a big role
in whatever happened here.

To see something like this now,
I just don't know what he'd say.

"I was right. I told you so!"

(laughing)

I kind of say that
to my brother.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: For Rick and Marty,

these discoveries represent
more credible evidence

that something of great value

really does lie
buried on the island.

But for fellow landowner
Tom Nolan‐‐ who happens

to be the son of the late,

legendary treasure
hunter Fred Nolan‐‐

it offers validation for
the more than 50 years

of tireless work Fred
spent here trying to prove

that the swamp was an important
key to solving the mystery.

Dad believed that the answers

to Oak Island certainly
laid in that swamp.

And hopefully,
it will bring a lot of his dreams

and aspirations to light.

Whatever this is,
you got to get some answers.

Let's go down and talk to Aaron.

‐See what their
thoughts are. ‐Yeah.

NARRATOR: To ensure

that the continued
investigation of the swamp

is conducted as completely
and as carefully as possible,

they have enlisted the help of
archaeologist Dr. Aaron Taylor.

Tom has some questions for you,

and he'd probably
like to hear your opinion

to date as to what
you think this might be.

Sure. Uh,
if I had to give you my opinion

of what it is, right now,
I'd say it's a road

leading up to the Uplands.

And then we have
sort of a rubbly pathway

‐all the way down
to here. ‐Yeah.

Possibly they had
built a little harbor,

somewhere to unload things.

And it was a road that would've
taken a lot of work to build.

TOM: This is an
incredible discovery.

‐I've never seen
anything like it. ‐Yeah.

Question is: what's
keeping the stone up?

And we're finding
pieces of wood.

So we're thinking, possibly,
some cribbing underneath.

‐Yeah. ‐So that's what
we've got right now.

RICK: What's that? Right there?

There's no wood or anything.

Aaron, you thought there
might be some wood here, right?

‐Some timbers? ‐Yeah.

Yeah, so...

Or some sort of cribbing.

There's another layer of stone
underneath this one, though.

Right here. It's really...

‐Careful. ‐It's
really firm right here.

Feel how firm that is.

AARON: Yeah.

‐RICK: Here's a stone here. ‐Yeah,
and then you've got that

real thick whatever‐it‐is.

A cut stake.

That's very interesting.

Yeah,
there's some sort of cribbing or support.

NARRATOR:
Another layer of stones

and wood cribbing?

Has Rick discovered another
feature in the construction

of this stone road in the swamp?

Or could it be another
structure below it?

If so,
just what is it and why was it built?

RICK: That might be something
Spooner wants to look at, eh?

AARON: Mm‐hmm.

‐RICK: It's cut.
‐AARON: It looks cut.

Definitely not natural.

And it's running right
under that big stone there.

So we'll take that, sample it,

and see if we can
get some testing.

Ooh, look at that chunk.

Coal?

‐Yeah. ‐SCOTT: Nice. ‐TOM: Wow.

So that's the
coal we're finding.

Yeah,
we've found some pieces fairly large.

We have pounds of it now.

TOM: What would coal
be doing down here?

SCOTT: Well, coal doesn't float.

‐So it's not like it came in
here floating in the water. ‐No.

No, somebody left it here.
I'd say whoever did this.

Yeah. That shows that
there was a burn event.

‐Yeah. ‐NARRATOR: Charcoal,

found on the stone
pathway in the swamp?

‐Yes. ‐MARTY: Really?

GARY: That's what we're
looking for in the swamp.

NARRATOR: One year ago,

metal detection expert
Gary Drayton discovered

a badly b*rned strap identified
by blacksmith Carmen Legge

to have come from an
early 18th century ship.

NARRATOR: This
offered compelling evidence

of a long‐held
theory by Fred Nolan

that at one time Oak
Island was two islands

and that a treasure galleon
had been sailed in between them,

unloaded of its precious cargo

and then b*rned and sunk
in a man‐made swamp.

Could the discovery of
charcoal on this stone pathway

be corroborating evidence
that Fred's theory is true?

The only time we know
coal was used in any volume

on the island,
at least as far as the search goes,

was 1860 or beyond.

There's no need to
burn coal on that island,

in the search, until then.

So what's the coal for?

Another mystery.

Here's another one.

AARON: Another piece.

So we're finding these
stakes that are cut stakes.

Well,
something would have to hold all this up,

you know, in a bog.

‐Yeah. ‐SCOTT: You get excited
about all these things we find,

and we're just left
with more questions.

‐TOM: Yeah,
bigger questions. ‐(laughter)

RICK: Well,
it's a mystery. That's for sure.

TOM: Absolutely.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,

while the investigation
continues in the swamp...

RICK: Well,
guys. We have a little metal find.

An item that was found as
part of the drilling program

in the Money Pit.

NARRATOR: Rick gathers
with his nephews Alex Lagina

and David Fornetti,
along with Jack Begley

and other members
of the Oak Island team,

in the w*r room for an
important scientific report

on a recent discovery.

Doug, if you could bring
Dr. Brosseau and Craig up,

of course Dr. Brosseau will
tell us what she has found.

‐Hey. ‐Hi, Craig.

Hi, Dr. Brosseau.

‐Hi, guys. ‐Hi, everybody.

NARRATOR: Joining the
meeting via videoconference

are Rick and Marty's
partner Craig Tester

as well as Dr. Christa Brosseau,

a professor of chemistry
at Saint Mary's University

in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

RICK: So, Craig,
if you could bring us up to speed

about the item, where it was found,
the provenance.

You were there at the drill
table when it was found.

CRAIG: Okay.

Yeah, it was, uh,
well number, uh, C‐9.

There was that new shaft that,
uh, we found,

and found quite a bit of wood,
and then, uh,

Gary found that piece of metal.

So hopefully,
looking at this piece of metal,

we can, uh, get a‐a rough date,

to see if it's possibly
the Tupper Shaft.

(device beeping)

GARY: Hmm. Interesting.

I would say that's the
end of a square nail.

CHARLES: Wow.

NARRATOR: One week ago,

while conducting a
core‐drilling operation

in the hopes of finally
locating the original Money Pit,

the team obtained a square
nail from a depth of 95 feet

in Borehole C‐9,

which they believe
could be connected

to the so‐called Tupper Shaft,

a shaft named for Adams Tupper,
a member of the Truro Company

who constructed a
wooden shaft in 1850

just ten feet northwest
of the original Money Pit

in a failed attempt to retrieve
the fabled treasure vault

from below while avoiding
the man‐made flood tunnels.

It is the team's
hope that if this nail

could be part of
the Tupper Shaft,

it could mean they are
within striking distance

of locating the Money
Pit treasure vault.

So, what can you tell us,
Christa?

All right, well, I'm gonna share
my screen and show you the data.

So, what you'll see is that

this square nail does contain manganese,
at about .68%.

So that's right in the .1%
to one percent manganese,

um, that we use as a‐a
marker for more modern iron.

So,
I would say this is most likely

a post‐1840 wrought iron nail.

‐That's great. ‐Yes.

RICK: That's an aha moment.

Uh, that... it's stunning,
actually.

Because the
relationship was known

between the Tupper
Shaft and the Money Pit.

That means that if we
find the Tupper Shaft,

then it's a simple hop,
skip and a jump to the Money Pit.

So we've got some work to do,
but it's definitely exciting.

Dr. Brosseau's analysis

has affirmed that
what we are doing

in terms of our drill program

right now is appropriate.

So, we're very appreciative.

And it could be, Dr. Brosseau,

that we are close
to the Money Pit.

And if that be the case,

we would certainly like you to
come out and celebrate with us.

Oh,
that's my pleasure. I'm glad it's helpful.

RICK: Well, i‐it certainly is.

We thank you. Till the next time,
Doctor.

‐Absolutely. Take care.
‐Bye‐bye. ‐GARY: Bye.

DOUG: This is a very
good thing for our hunt.

‐GARY: Yeah.
‐RICK: Let's get after it.

Following the meeting
in the w*r room...:

TERRY: So, Steve,
have you, uh, got a number?

We are actually on this one,
Terry.

CD 8.5.

NARRATOR: Geologist
Terry Matheson

along with surveyor
Steve Guptill

and project manager Scott Barlow

are supervising the team's
core‐drilling operation

in Borehole CD 8.5,

where they are hoping to
confirm that they have located

the Tupper Shaft,

a searcher shaft
constructed in 1850

that sits just ten
feet northwest

from the original Money Pit.

We want to look
for anything loose.

Any sign of, you know,
timber. Anything like that

to tell us we're either
in or near a shaft.

‐Yep. ‐Possible collapsed shaft.

‐Yep. Uh... ‐So,
if‐if something does come up of interest,

we‐we may want
to pursue it deeper.

And try to find the definition

‐of the physical bounds
of all the walls. ‐Yeah.

Looks like we got ten
feet of core over there.

STEVE G.: I'll go grab it.

Okay, good. Thank you.

Eight to 18.

‐18? ‐Just that one.

‐That's to 18? ‐Yeah, that's 18.

‐You got wood. ‐Oh, yeah.

We've been... That
whole thing's wood.

‐So, 18 here. ‐Yeah.

‐And then what's
the one? ‐That's 24.

‐Okay. ‐That one's 28.

18, 24, 28.

MARTY: If this is
the Tupper Shaft,

it's made hope spring.

It's made hope spring
from our hearts again

about the Money Pit.

Great.

MARTY: That maybe
they left sufficient tracks

that we can find it.

So that's what I'm hoping,

because this is a
pretty good possibility.

TERRY: Some wood at 24.

There's some loose,
disturbed material already.

From the looks of it,
there's a lot of wood there.

TERRY: Wow!

‐This is what we want
to see. ‐TERRY: Wow.

That's a significant
intersection

of stacked timber.

We're into the wall already.

NARRATOR: The possible wall

of the so‐called Tupper Shaft?

If the team can verify

the orientation
of the structure,

they may be able
to finally pinpoint

the location of the
original Money Pit

and the fabled treasure vault.

That's gold.

Because that helps us to
determine the shaft, right?

If‐if we can stay in
it right to the bottom.

TERRY: So,
we're going to the bottom on this one,

‐probably. ‐SCOTT: Yes,
sir. It'd be great.

It'd be nice if we can
come out of the wall

and walk down the
inside so we get...

‐so we get the floor.
‐TERRY: Agreed.

Let's‐let's get
more confirmation.

Let's go right down
the center and find out...

be sure of the bottom.

‐I like that. ‐There we go!

Things are going
according to plan.

NARRATOR: Later that day...

‐DOUG: Hey, Carmen. ‐SCOTT: Carmen,
how we doing?

Oh, lookee here.

NARRATOR: Oak Island
historian Doug Crowell

and project manager Scott Barlow

have traveled some 50
miles north of Oak Island

to Northville Farm in Centreville,
Nova Scotia,

to meet with blacksmith
expert Carmen Legge.

So, what brings you here today?

Well,
we've got an artifact we'd like you

‐to take a look at. ‐Oh,
one of those days.

‐DOUG: Yeah. ‐I really
look forward to that.

Let you have a look at it.

CARMEN: Oh,
we'll have a look‐see.

(clears throat)

Very interesting.

DOUG: Lot 13,
so that's a swamp lot.

That is a large piece of iron.

NARRATOR: Two months ago,
while searching on Lot 13,

located near the eastern
edge of the Oak Island swamp,

Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton
made an unusual discovery.

GARY: You know what this reminds me of,
actually?

It's like a cabinet drawer lock.

‐It's not big enough
for a door. ‐Yeah.

Wonder what it's doing out here.

NARRATOR: Now,
after having the item cleaned and conserved

by Laird Niven,

they are hoping Carmen
can shed more light

on just what it is

and also what it might
have been used for.

CARMEN: Well, this is, uh,

a latch or a part of a lock.

And you can see
it's double‐bolted.

So, this is for a very
secure door or lid for a box.

You can see that there's, uh,

some little inserts
that go in there.

You can see these,
uh, e‐embedded

‐into the iron plate
there. ‐SCOTT: Yes.

CARMEN: This is
a higher‐end lock.

It was more secure.

I'm gonna say it's
for a box or a trunk

or that sort of thing.

NARRATOR: A double‐bolted lock,

used to secure a trunk
or possibly a chest?

Look at that.

Wow. That's bloody brilliant.

It might be, actually, gold.

NARRATOR: Two weeks ago,

Gary Drayton discovered a shiny,
gold‐colored knob

in the mysterious
triangle‐shaped swamp,

which, according to rare coin

and artifact expert
Sandy Campbell,

may be a critical piece
of the Oak Island puzzle.

SANDY: Could be some kind of a,
a knob

from a jewel chest.

NARRATOR: Could
these two discoveries

be connected?

If so,
what happened to the chest

and whatever it contained?

And you can see
that it's quite elaborate

on the inside of this mechanism.

And the, uh, center rivet
holding the two parts together.

So there's o‐other
parts that go with this.

So, as it was turned,
both bolts came‐‐

‐extracted around the
corner. ‐DOUG: Right.

Well, that's interesting.

It's a very typical heavy chest.

You want something
that's gonna be

really, really secured.

Not a simple traveler's trunk.

DOUG: Well,
we really appreciate your thoughts on this.

We find out exactly
where this came from

and, uh, see if we can go back
there and take another look.

Well, we'll get out of your way

'cause I know you're
busy making things.

See you soon, I hope.

‐CARMEN: Very good. Yep. ‐SCOTT: Thanks,
Carmen.

CARMEN: Have a good day.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

IAN: So, Rick, we're gonna start

working our way down here.

NARRATOR: after
returning to Oak Island,

Scott Barlow joins Rick Lagina

and geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner

as they continue uncovering more

of the second
mysterious stone pathway

recently discovered
in the swamp.

IAN: I‐I should actually jump
down and help you with that.

(grunts)

RICK: A lot more wood in here.

‐And no rock. ‐IAN: Right.

But my guess is, it goes...

That way?

Yeah.

Well, then,
maybe we should get Scott to...

Yeah, I would, I would agree.

Scott, could you peel this away?

Give it a little pull.

MARTY: When you
see the stone road,

what immediately
springs to mind is:

where does it go?

If this is hidden and massive
and used for some, uh,

arcane purpose,
we need to know where it goes.

There's probably the wall,
right there.

IAN: This curve was with purpose,
too.

(Ian laughs)

Somebody was notching
out a ton of wood here.

There's chips from
axes everywhere.

RICK: Yeah, it's everywhere.

NARRATOR: Chipped
pieces of wood,

hand‐cut by someone using an a*?

But for what purpose?

And so they were cutting the,
the heck

out of something here.

Whether it was cribwork or...

But, again,
that was underneath that rock there.

RICK: Hey, Scott.

Just that‐that
chunk right there.

Billy might be able
to get that better

from that side because
if I pull this way,

I'm gonna pull up into the rock.

IAN: Okay. We'll let him do it.

Look at all those
layers of sticks there.

IAN: Right here.

Wow.

RICK: There's something.

IAN: That's very important.

Holy crow.

IAN: Hey,
here. Take a look at this.

‐That's cut wood. ‐RICK: Wow.

They were able to build the
stone road because of this.

NARRATOR: In the
Oak Island swamp,

Dr. Ian Spooner and Rick
Lagina have just discovered layers

of hand‐cut wood
used as a foundation

for the massive stone pathway.

All the woodchips that we see

are from them cutting
all this‐‐ these saplings,

throwing them down on the swamp,

so they could put the
rocks on something

when they built the road.

NARRATOR:
Confirming that this wood

is actually part
of the stone road

could provide the team
with a critical breakthrough:

a timeline for when it
was actually constructed.

Basically we can
date any of this

and get a bit of an idea of
how old that stone road is.

RICK: I think this is really,
really old.

200, 300 or more years old.

Oh, absolutely.

MARTY: That is a buried,

hidden, well‐constructed,

massive road.

RICK: It's not just the
one‐day effort by one person.

It's multiple human beings,

some sort of engineering
principles were involved.

There's interior framework,

some sort of cribbing
to carry the weight.

This is very complex.

It's a very strange a‐area
worthy of further investigation.

It's a feature that
no one knew about

and‐and it's providing some
very interesting possibilities.

‐IAN: Yep. ‐RICK: Tomorrow,
then,

we have to follow
up on these clues.

IAN: Absolutely.

NARRATOR: The
following morning...

BILLY: Do you think we
should pull this out and pile it,

Craig,
or put it in a pile in here?

Yeah,
I think it's gonna be easier here.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: Craig Tester,
along with

metal detection
expert Gary Drayton,

join Dr. Aaron Taylor

and heavy equipment
operator Billy Gerhardt

in the southeastern
corner of the swamp

to continue investigating the
two mysterious stone roads.

CRAIG: That sure smells good,
Gary.

‐(laughter) ‐AARON:
Ugh. Fresh baked bread.

(device beeping)

I got a signal.

A clear, two‐way repeatable.

‐Right on the surface,
or...? ‐Yeah, just there.

Ooh.

It's this, whatever this is.

Something in here.

Should I break it‐‐ ooh,
it's ch‐‐ uh, is it a chain

or is it a lock?

NARRATOR: A possible lock

found near the stone
road in the swamp?

Could it be in some
way connected

to the double‐bolted
latch discovered on Lot 13,

or perhaps the gold‐colored knob

that possibly came
from a jewelry chest?

AARON: That's very interesting.

CRAIG: Yeah.

Yeah,
what's a lock doing in here?

Yeah. Yeah.

GARY: Might be
old. You never know.

Well, we'll get it cleaned up.

Okay, mate. Thanks.

CRAIG: Nice find.

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

RICK: Are you hitting
rock down here or...?

Yep, for the most part.

I just don't want to
get too aggressive.

No, you'll feel it.

NARRATOR: while Rick Lagina
works with members of the team

to expose more of the second
stone pathway in the swamp...

CRAIG: Hey, Marty.

Oh, hey, guys.

NARRATOR: Craig Tester meets

with his stepson Jack
Begley and Marty Lagina

in the w*r room to
discuss the current progress

of their drilling operation
at the Money Pit.

Anyway,
what's going on out in the field?

I want to show
you where we're at.

Because of these
deeper woods finds,

we decided to go ahead
and drill CD 8.5 right here.

And it appears that
we've hit the Tupper Shaft.

Mm‐hmm.

CRAIG: And, uh,
we either want to go

southeast towards OC‐1

or west towards C‐1.

And we think we can get a better handle by,
uh,

one,
drilling in this area to define the shaft‐‐

‐how big is it‐‐ that
may help us. ‐Yeah.

NARRATOR: Although the
team has been encouraged

that they have located the
19th century Tupper Shaft,

because of its close proximity
to the original Money Pit,

they have had
difficulty confirming

the orientation
of the structure.

CRAIG: We don't know where

in the Tupper Shaft we are.

I mean, if it's ten by ten,
we can be

‐at one end or the other. ‐Yeah,
okay.

Well, couple comments.

Number one: I'm so
sick of finding wood.

(laughter)

I'm really sick of finding wood.

But th‐the real question
you're asking me is:

should we go this way first?

Yes. We're limited on
time. We really think,

to know which direction to go,
we really feel

we need to define this.

Yeah, define it for sure.

If it is the Tupper Shaft,
then we're zeroing in,

yet again, on the,
uh, Money Pit.

‐JACK: Yeah. Mm‐hmm.
‐MARTY: That seems to be

‐dodging us all the time.
‐That's really exciting.

It is. So which way
do you want to go?

CRAIG: Well, the next one

we want to look for
the shaft is right here.

So,
just moving a little bit off this last one

where we found the edge of it.

To try to find out, you know,
if we're in the heart of it

and how deep it is.

That's the key, Craig.

Of all the things you‐you said,

the one that
resonates with me is:

we‐we never had a landmark
that close to the Money Pit.

So I would say we go out there,
we delineate this thing,

and then if the historical
data supports the delineation

that this is the Tupper Shaft,

then we're within ten
feet of the Money Pit.

‐Yep. ‐Well, that would be big.

‐(chuckles): Yeah. ‐Well,
look, I'm on board with that.

‐Okay. Okay. ‐Let's chase it.

MARTY: Here's what I am

excited about on this
so‐called Tupper Shaft.

As we've been trying to zero
in on the original Money Pit,

man, has it been elusive.

We keep having dimensions‐‐ like,
from Shaft Nine,

I think it was 90
feet or something.

Well,
that's a big arc and a lot of territory.

So,
if we're within ten feet of the Money Pit,

yeah, we're zeroing in on it.

JACK: Looking at this map, too,

if this is the Tupper
Shaft up here,

‐that would leave a lot of area
around it for exploration. ‐MARTY: Yes.

It would explain why
we haven't found it

with this spaghetti
mess down here.

Yep.

From the human heart,
hope springs eternal.

I'm on board.

Why don't you guys go find Rick?

I'm totally on board.

‐Let's do it. ‐CRAIG: Okay.

Great. Thanks for the update.

Appreciate it.

As another new day begins
on Oak Island... ATOR:

MARTY: Gonna be
real curious to see

what Laird and
company have got going.

NARRATOR: Marty
Lagina and his son Alex

arrive at the old
homestead of Samuel Ball,

who owned this
property on Lot 25

from the late 18th to
the mid‐19th century.

‐Hey, Laird. ‐LAIRD: Hey, guys.

‐How are you? ‐Good.

NARRATOR: Due to a number
of compelling discoveries

that the team has recently
made in and around the swamp,

such as the gold‐colored knob,

as well as the
metal lock and latch

also believed to have
been part of a chest,

Rick,
Marty and Craig have directed

archaeologist Laird
Niven and his team

to help them look deeper

into one of Oak
Island's most intriguing

and controversial
historical figures.

MARTY: This is not the foundation central,
right?

LAIRD: No, no.

This was a stone‐lined pit.

Lots of organics in it.

Not a huge number of artifacts.

Some handwrought
nails and some pottery.

Samuel Ball had
quite an estate here.

ALEX: Yeah, he did.

NARRATOR: In 1765,

Samuel Ball was born a sl*ve
on a plantation in South Carolina.

However, at just 11 years old,

he bravely escaped
and made his way north,

eventually achieving his freedom
when he joined British forces

during the American Revolution.

At the w*r's end,
he would once again make a brave journey,

this time to Nova Scotia, Canada

where he would buy
Lot 25 on Oak Island

for a reported eight pounds.

Although he was
known to his neighbors

as a simple cabbage farmer,

Samuel Ball would
mysteriously become

one of the wealthiest
landowners in the province,

owning a total of 36 acres here

and several more
on the mainland,

leaving many to
wonder over the years

if he discovered something
of great value on Oak Island.

‐Liz has a really interesting spot over
here. ‐MARTY: Let's go look at that.

NARRATOR: Because the surviving
foundation of Samuel Ball's home

has been designated as
a protected heritage site

by the Canadian government,

Laird Niven has
obtained a special permit

allowing for an official
archaeological excavation

of the area.

MARTY: Hi, Liz.

‐Hi, guys. ‐ALEX: Hey, Liz.

What have you
found? What is this?

LIZ: Well,

we've been getting a
lot of artifacts out of here.

Which have been nice.

Um, we got, like,
this piece here.

It's a really nice piece of,
uh, of redware.

It's almost a
tortoiseshell design.

MARTY: Oh, yeah.

ALEX: Oh yeah, I see it.

‐On the inside. ‐Yeah,
right there.

LIZ: I haven't seen
too many of those yet.

That's the first
one out of here.

‐Age? ‐Uh, eight‐‐

end of the 18th
into the 19th century.

MARTY: Mm‐hmm.

There's a lot of stuff hiding around here,
right?

LIZ: There's a really
good assortment

of pottery here, so we know he had,
uh, quite a few pieces.

Which is a form of wealth at that time,
right?

I mean, to have a lot of stuff?

LAIRD: The variety? Yeah,
the variety's surprising.

Some things I've
never seen before.

‐Yeah. ‐And it's all solidly
within Samuel Ball's life.

NARRATOR: Although
it is generally reported

that the discovery of
the Money Pit in 1795

was made by three young
men named Daniel McGinnis,

Anthony Vaughan and John Smith,

according to an alternate
version of the story

from an 1870
publication entitled

History of the
County of Lunenberg,

it was McGinnis,
Smith and Samuel Ball

who found and first excavated
the legendary treasure shaft.

Is it possible that Samuel
Ball really did discover

part of the fabled
Oak Island treasure?

If so,
could there still be evidence,

or possibly valuables,
on his former property

to prove it?

What about last year?
We were looking for the end

‐of that tunnel on the other
side of the foundation. ‐Yeah.

‐Did you ever find
that? ‐I believe we did.

‐Oh, you think so? ‐Yeah. Yeah.

There's an opening here, Gary.

‐What is that? Like a little
tunnel? ‐(laughs): Yeah.

NARRATOR: Last year, while searching
just outside the stone foundation...

RICK: I mean,
if this is a tunnel,

it's an aha moment.

The team uncovered

what appeared
to be a large drain

or, potentially,
a narrow tunnel.

DEREK: We're getting
jammed right now.

‐MARTY: You're stuck
right there? ‐Yeah.

NARRATOR: But, unfortunately,

when they ran a pipe
inspection camera inside it,

they encountered a large
stone blocking their path.

I find Samuel Ball to be

an incredibly
interesting character.

Does it have anything to
do with treasure? It might.

Because some of
the old stories say

he was one of the ones
who found the Money Pit.

He might have a role to play.

ALEX: Do you have

‐any better idea
what it is? ‐LAIRD: No.

I might put in a‐another
test pit offset by a meter.

And we'll find that out
once we get this cleared out.

LAIRD: Once
everything's cleared out.

This is just the very,
very start.

Okay. Well, find the vault where
he hid the gold that he found.

‐LAIRD: Yeah. ‐(laughter)

Positive start so far.

NARRATOR: While Marty and Alex

continue working with
Laird and Liz on Lot 25...

‐(machinery whirring)
‐TERRY: Here we go.

NARRATOR: and while
the core‐drilling operation

in the Money Pit continues...

BILLY: Gary,
can you check over here

‐for a little bit? ‐GARY: Yep,
I can.

CRAIG: Yeah,
find something in there for us.

NARRATOR: Craig Tester,

along with Gary Drayton,

Steve Guptill
and Billy Gerhardt,

are searching the Uplands

on the eastern edge of the swamp
for evidence of which direction

the mysterious stone
pathway may be heading,

as well as for any
important clues or valuables.

(device beeping)

‐(chiming) ‐Oh!

Yeah, it's iron.

(device chiming)

It's right in there, Craig.

There it is.

Yeah, you got it out.

The moment of truth.

What the heck is that?

I don't know.

CRAIG: Let's get
Aaron over here.

Aaron... can you come here?

It's not big enough to
be some kind of shackle.

What do you got?

I dug it out of this
hole right here.

It's broken.

It's iron.

But it was way down there.

It's got to be old, right?

AARON: Oh,
it's really interesting.

GARY: That is unusual.

Wow.

About it. got a clampl

That's how it fits together.

NARRATOR: In the Oak Island swamp,
Gary Drayton has just made

what could be an
important discovery.

GARY: I was thinking it's some kind of,
like, a iron

bangle bracelet‐type thing.

AARON: It does
look a little bracelet‐y.

GARY: Or even some
kind of decorative handle.

Well made by the look of it.

NARRATOR: A decorative
handle or possible bracelet?

Could it be yet
another part of a chest

found in the swamp
near the stone pathway?

Or could it be a
piece of treasure

that the chest once contained?

And when that's cleaned
up and they can connect it

and then we see the shape and...

I think we'll be able
to tell what it is then.

Excellent. So we potentially
have got an artifact.

‐Oh, yeah. ‐Got that old feel about it,
this has.

A bit of oldness here,
mate. That's what that is.

Bag it and tag it.

GARY: Well, this is a fancy,
scrolled, ornate iron artifact.

To me,
this would look in place at the Money Pit.

Maybe this is a connection
between the Money Pit

and the swamp.

It's got a very old
feel about it for sure.

I wouldn't be surprised
if this is from the 1700s.

Yeah,
we can send that off to Dr. Brosseau.

She can test that.
And I'd wager money

that that is pre‐1830s.

I'm gonna tag that location
while we have it open.

Right here.

I'm gonna call it "C Wall Iron 2,"
Aaron, for your bag.

I'll be right back. I
got to go move the rig.

‐All right,
mate. ‐I'm gonna go see

‐what they're doing over
here. ‐See you in a bit.

‐Yep. ‐Okay.

‐So I'm going over there now,
Billy. ‐Yep.

I'm ready for a bobby‐dazzler,
Gary.

Oh, long overdue.

(device chiming)

(inhales deeply)

Ooh, good target.

That sounds fantastic.

Yeah, Billy,
you might want to come see this, mate.

This sounds really, really good.

‐Let's see. Yeah. ‐(chiming)

This could be what
we're looking for.

A clear,
two‐way repeatable signal.

Sounds like a coin.

Definitely got something here,
mate.

BILLY: I hope so.

(device trilling)

Now I'm getting
a rapid vibration.

This is iron.

I think there it is, Billy.

Oh, I can feel it. (grunts)

Look at that.

It's an anchor, right?

GARY: This is really old.

I wonder if this is
one of the ringbolts.

This is fantastic.

Yeah, looks like a ringbolt.

We could have found a ringbolt,
mate.

I've always wanted to see
what one of these looked like.

This was probably in
a boulder in this area.

And you can just
tell the weight of this.

This is hand‐forged.

A piece of Oak Island history.

NARRATOR: After purchasing eight
lots across the middle of Oak Island

in the 1960s,

Fred Nolan,
who was a surveyor by trade,

mapped his entire property,
taking note of

numerous man‐made markers,
such as the megalithic

boulder formation now
known as Nolan's Cross.

He also discovered
three iron ringbolts

embedded in large rocks.

It was Fred's suspicion
that these ringbolts

had been used to
anchor a treasure galleon

on what is now the eastern
edge of the man‐made swamp

so that its precious
cargo could be unloaded.

Is it possible that Gary has
found another such ringbolt,

used during the
deposit of a vast treasure

on Oak Island centuries ago?

‐Everybody's gonna be
excited about that. ‐Yeah.

CRAIG: What are you guys doing?

That looks huge.

Yep. We made a fantastic recovery,
Craig.

Wow.

One of the missing ringbolts.

‐Oh, really? ‐Yep. ‐We figure.

Well, it's a good find. Uh,
I'm gonna give Rick a call.

‐Yeah, definitely. ‐For sure.

GARY: I know this was on
Rick's "to find" list for sure.

RICK: I always used to judge

the quality of the find

based on Gary's
Cheshire cat grin.

(laughter)

I just wish I had a
bigger top pocket.

In the Uplands on the eastern
edge of the Oak Island swamp,

Rick Lagina and Laird
Niven have just arrived

after being alerted to a
potentially important discovery.

RICK: Wow.

(laughter)

GARY: Oh, wow, indeed.

RICK: That is incredible.

DOUG: Where'd you find that?

Just here. In situ.

‐It's amazing. ‐Yeah.

Laird, what do you make of it?

I mean, it's old.

‐GARY: Yeah,
you can tell. ‐Yeah. Yeah.

GARY: It's definitely pre‐1830.

I have no problem with
it in the 18th century.

It's well made.

Be interesting to
see where this turns.

‐Right. ‐Yeah.

‐(laughs) ‐(indistinct chatter)

I know that my
brother's a proponent of

‐"if you dig,
you find something." ‐Yeah.

Well, you dug and you found something,
so let me see

if he's available.

(phone line ringing)

MARTY: Hello?

Yeah, you know, we're,
we're out here in the swamp.

Hang on one second.

How you doing, Marty?

We've just made a
heck of a discovery.

We found one of the ringbolts,
the famous ringbolts,

and it is magnificent.

Oh, it's hand‐forged.

This is a nice
old piece of iron.

Even Laird's going back
into the 18th century.

Actually, the next person I'd
like to have look at it is Tom.

Yup.

Yeah.

‐Yeah, potentially. ‐Yeah.

‐You're welcome. ‐Cheers, mate.

‐Good find. ‐Great find.

RICK: The swamp,
it continues to be the keeper of secrets.

Will we be able to unravel or
to come to an understanding

of what those secrets are
and how relevant they are

to the Money Pit work
or the Money Pit story?

I don't know.

That's yet to be determined.

But get down and
dirty every day,

you'll eventually figure it out.

Beautiful piece of old iron,
and maybe it has a story to tell.

‐Yep. ‐Great day, everybody.

‐Yep. ‐Thank you.

GARY: We've just got to
keep digging in the swamp.

NARRATOR: For Rick,
Marty, Craig,

and the Fellowship of the Dig,

the path they are following
in the hopes of solving

a 225‐year mystery
continues to reveal promise

that soon a vast
treasure will be found.

And the many faithful
searchers who came before them

and those who
may have discovered

more than anyone ever
knew also play a critical role

in how the epic
story of Oak Island

may finally come to an end.

A story that, once fully told,

could rewrite the
history of the world.

Next time on The
Curse of Oak Island...

What type of things
would this be used for?

Why put a ringbolt
in a rock here?

‐Working with block and tackles.
Heavy cargo, heavy stuff. ‐Right.

Oh,
that's nice. Musket decoration.

‐It might speak
to wealth. ‐Yeah.

Which way do you think
we should chase this?

‐Everything's telling me it's turning
up to the Money Pit. ‐That's great.

‐TERRY: Wow. ‐Look at this.

TERRY: It's exactly
what we hoped for.

We're heading to the Money Pit.