05x05 - Bone Dry

[bunniefuu]

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

They believed the Money Pit
was over here.

What we haven't got is what
direction they were drilling.

-We have to do more research.
-This is quite a document.

-Have you seen that before?
-No, I haven't.

ALEX:
It showed unmistakable evidence

of having gone into gold.

He's in some sort of void,
but he hit something.

RICK: Hopefully,
it's what we're looking for.

-TERRY: Okay,
that's interesting. -RICK: Wow.

DAVE: How are we
getting pottery at feet?

RICK:
We have one more piece.

What is that?

My immediate reaction
is it's bone.

NARRATOR: There is an island
in the North Atlantic

where people have been looking
for an incredible treasure

for more than years.

So far, they have found
bits of gold chain,

a stone slab with strange
symbols carved into it...

even a th century
Spanish coin.

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.

*

NARRATOR: As a new day begins
on Oak Island,

brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with their team,

remain singularly focused
on their efforts

to locate
the original Money Pit.

Getting lots of wood again.

-Just what we need.
-More wood.

More wood.

They have
recently completed

of approximately
six-inch-wide boreholes,

using what is known
as the Geotech system.

This involves drilling
each hole down to bedrock,

and then, after lining it
with plastic PVC pipe,

scanning the hole
with a metal detector

to locate artifacts
or possible treasure.

If one or more
of the exploratory shafts

offers positive results,

they can be marked as sites
for future excavation.

-Hey, John.
-Good morning, Marty.

How are you?
Good to see you.

-Terry.
-Hey, John. How are you?

Today, the team is joined
by geophysical engineer

and Oak Island researcher
John Wonnacott,

who, along with his partner,
Les MacPhie,

helped to develop
the Geotech grid map.

John Wonnacott is
an engineer's engineer.

He's a mining engineer,
and he and Les MacPhie

actually give me a lot of hope
about the Money Pit,

because those two guys,
they look at that data

and they conclude, with
a high degree of certainty,

that it's a man-made structure.

Well, where the hell is it!?!

(chuckling)

Where is it, John?

How come we got
holes drilled here

and we haven't found
anything yet?

Actually, how many? , right?

Yeah, that's right,
pushing that.

Nothing in the places
you looked, I guess.

(laughter)

Thank you. Thank you.

NARRATOR: To create
their Geotech drilling grid,

Wonnacott and MacPhie relied
on information compiled

over the past years

by generations
of treasure hunters.

But what has made their task
much more difficult

is that the Money Pit area

is literally cluttered
with drill pipes,

giant boulders, and a number
of abandoned searcher shafts,

including those built
by M.R. Chappell in

and Gilbert Hedden in .

There are very few knowns
in the Money Pit area.

We have lots of documentation,

we have lots
of archival records,

and we know them
to be inconsistent,

if not misleading.

I still believe
we'll be successful,

I still believe there's
something there to be found,

and that we will engage in a
large-scale engineering project

to recover whatever it is at
great depth in the Money Pit.

So...

I'm... not giving up.

MARTY:
Where's the treasure?

John, where's the treasure?
Put your finger on it, please.

-Well, actually...
-Yeah?

I think the Money Pit

is still where we've got
this dotted line on the drawing.

-Really?
-And William Chappell

gave us his notes
of his drilling,

and I'm relying
on this dotted outline

for the drilling platform.

What we haven't got
is any actual description

of where they set up the drill

and what direction
they were drilling.

The only logical thing
to conclude

is that they believed
the Money Pit

was over here at some depth.

I really want to see
what we're gonna get

in this band of holes down here.

What's the point of all those?

'Cause we're thinking
of scratching these.

I'll just be candid with you.

Well, the point was,
it completed the grid.

This is where we thought
the Money Pit would be.

If we're wrong, it could be
this way or this way.

But we're adding
a bunch of holes,

and if we can subtract
a couple...

-There's not an infinite supply
of money, is there? -Of course.

And I think it's correct
to not drill these yet.

I think the pattern that
we're on drilling down here,

-I think we get a...
-Finish up this way?

-Finish up this way. Yep.
-Yes.

To me, this was
the high-value target area here.

I always assumed that we
would come back to these areas.

-WONNACOTT: Yeah.
-I've always believed,

since we were knee-high
to a grasshopper.

-I believe it's here.
-I know you do.

-It's here.
-Right.

I worry about my brother.

Right now, he's carrying
the whole weight of this.

He is. And I don't know
how he's going to react

if we dig all these wells
and we don't find anything.

I mean,
he's passionate about it,

but he's got
a certain reverence about it

that could lead to,
you know, some really hard...

hard feelings.

Not between us, but on himself.

All right.
Let's keep drilling.

-You won't get an argument
from me. -Okay.

NARRATOR: As Rick, Marty and
the team from Brewster Drilling

continue their efforts
at the Money Pit site...

an additional search
is taking place

at the Beaton Institute,
located in the town of Sydney,

some miles northeast
of Oak Island.

Here, Alex Lagina,
Charles Barkhouse,

and Rick and Marty's nephew,
Peter Fornetti,

have arranged to meet
area historian Doug Crowell,

who has spent
the last several days

searching a number
of important documents

that were donated
to the institute

by legendary Oak Island
treasure hunter M.R. Chappell.

Documents which the team hopes
will offer fresh information

concerning the precise location

of the original
Oak Island Money Pit.

CHARLES: Here's
something interesting, Doug.

This is an affidavit
by William Chappell

in connection
with the drilling done in .

Now, that's, of course, where
they hit the suspected vault,

where they found
the piece of parchment.

NARRATOR: While drilling
in the Money Pit in ,

treasure hunters William
Chappell and Frederick Blair

encountered what they believed
was a mysterious wooden vault,

located at a depth of feet.

Even more astonishing
was the discovery

of a tiny piece of paper
on which were written

the letters "V-I."

But before Chappell and Blair
could dig deep enough

to retrieve
the mysterious vault,

the hole they were digging
caved in due to flooding,

and the vault's
exact location was lost.

For two years, they
attempted to find it again.

But, plagued by constant
flooding and scarce funding,

they gave up their search
in .

Since then,
dozens of treasure hunters

have come to the island
in hopes of finding the vault,

including Chappell's own son,
Melbourne,

also known as M.R.

In , he began constructing
a shaft of his own,

off which he built
a horizontal tunnel

in the last-known direction of
the so-called "Chappell Vault."

But, just like
his father's expedition

three decades before,
the Chappell Shaft was plagued

by flooding
and numerous cave-ins.

This is quite a document,
this-this thing right here.

It's a compilation of a number
of things: affidavits

and descriptions of
the whole Oak Island discovery

-up to that point. So...
-Have you seen that before?

No I haven't, no. So...

-Nice find.
-Absolutely.

That's the type
of information we want,

something closer to the source
and the time period.

ALEX:
Have you heard this?

This is a sworn statement
by Frederick Blair.

"Mr. Putnam was
too conservative and cautious

"to state publically
the important fact

"that when the drill came
to the surface,

"it showed unmistakable evidence

"of having gone through
or into gold.

"He did, however,
make such a statement

in confidence to me
and to a few close friends."

I have heard rumors that
there was indications of gold,

but I never knew the source.

ALEX:
This is a sworn statement

that they drilled through gold.

NARRATOR: While searching
through a rare collection

of documents once belonging

to Oak Island
treasure hunter M.R. Chappell,

Alex Lagina, Charles Barkhouse,

Peter Fornetti

and area historian Doug Crowell

have just made a potentially
significant discovery.

Well, I think
this is interesting enough

that we should call my dad.

They have found a sworn
affidavit attesting to the fact

that traces of gold
were on the drill bit

used by treasure hunter William
Chappell after he penetrated

a mysterious seven-foot-tall
wooden vault in .

(autodials)

(phone rings)

Hello?

-Hey.
-Hey, Alex.

We're here
at the Beaton Institute.

We've been going through
some of Chappell's old files.

... shaft that was drilled.

Um, this is Blair
making a sworn statement.

"I was well acquainted
with T. Pearly Putnam,

"who acted as manager
of the work done

"at the island for...

"He was a man
in whose honesty and integrity

"I would place
the greatest reliance.

"I heard him repeatedly tell
his experience

"with the auger and drill
in the drill hole

in which wood was first struck
at feet."

Yeah. Keep going, now.

All right? I want to hear this.

This is the interesting one.

"Mr. Putnam was too conservative
and cautious

"to state publically
the important fact

"that when the drill
came to the surface,

"it showed unmistakable evidence

of having gone through
or into gold."

-Wow.
-Wow.

'Cause Frederick Blair was
supposed to be really honest,

honest guy, right?

Yeah, and this is a sworn...

I mean, this is under oath,
basically.

You're right.
It would be probably criminal

to lie about this.

Wow, that is pretty impressive.

It was all apocryphal,
you know, in sense of,

"Oh, this guy supposedly
said that, and it's in a book."

I never heard
of a sworn statement before.

NARRATOR: Although the story
of gold being found

on William Chappell's drill bit
is not a new one,

finding evidence
of a sworn affidavit

by Frederick Blair

suggests that this is one
Oak Island legend

that is likely based on fact.

A fact that suggests

that the stories
of an incredible treasure

being buried somewhere
deep within the Money Pit

could also be true.

It just makes you believe
it's really there.

But why can't we find it?

I mean, that vault
has been an enigma

since the first time
we read about it.

All right, well, good job.

Keep digging.

(laughter)

-Will do.
-All right, cheers.

Touché.

Thanks. Bye.

NARRATOR: After a productive day
of searching

through M.R. Chappell's
personal papers...

All right, gentlemen,

this is-this is what caused me

to lose a little bit
of sleep here.

NARRATOR:
Alex Lagina,

along with Charles Barkhouse,
Peter Fornetti

and area historian
Doug Crowell,

return
to the Oak Island w*r Room.

In addition
to their earlier discovery

of Frederick Blair's
sworn affidavit,

they believe
they have found new information

concerning
the Oak Island Money Pit.

I think this may be affecting
the Geotech grid,

and we may be missing
an important spot.

So, one of the things
that caught my attention,

of course,
from reading the dig notes

for the Chappell shaft...

When they were digging
the Chappell Shaft,

which was basically
trying to hit

the Money Pit site at the time,

the bottom of the shaft

was ten to feet north

of where the top
of the shaft was.

I didn't realize
it was that far out.

Exactly.

If this information is correct,

they missed this area,

and they probably missed
the Money Pit?

Yes.

NARRATOR: The news that the
bottom of the Chappell Shaft

lies some ten to feet north
of its entrance

is hugely significant.

Until now,
Rick, Marty and the team

had assumed that the shaft
had been completely vertical

and had used that assumption

in the planning
of their Geotech grid.

But the new information

discovered in the papers
at the Beaton Institute

will allow the team

to choose
their next drilling targets

more accurately.

What he's saying is this
has not been investigated.

-Yes.
-Yeah, exactly.

At the depths
at which the Chappell Vault...

was encountered...

-They would have missed it.
-They would have missed it.

-Okay.
-RICK: The fact that

now we know the direction
in which it had deviated,

it exposes new ground
for this Geotech grid program.

We have may have to adjust
some of the holes.

Right now we're only putting
three in there.

I think we should look
to putting four

-in each of these sections.
-We may.

I think their discoveries

of where the Chappell shaft
deviated to

were basically
all I could hope for.

I didn't expect there
to be an "X" marks the spot.

I'd say it's about as successful

-as it could be.
-Right.

So, excellent new information,
guys. Well done.

-Yeah. -And now
let's get back in the field.

-Agreed?
-Agreed.

One day after learning
critical new information

on the actual location
of the Chappell Shaft,

Rick Lagina and members
of the Oak Island Team

head to the Money Pit
search area.

They are hoping that the new
drill sites they have chosen

will produce better results

than those
they have experienced so far.

-Hey, Rick. Good morning.
-Good morning, Terry.

-How are you? Good to see you.
-How are you? Good.

I think the consensus
is we'll just push on

-down the rock.
-That's the idea, yeah.

NARRATOR:
The Oak Island team

has now modified
their Geotech drilling pattern

by adding
eight new target holes

in an approximately
ten by foot triangle area

not covered
in their previous grid.

They are hoping
the first of these holes--

Borehole H- -- will allow them

to finally find
the elusive Chappell Vault,

originally discovered

by treasure hunter
William Chappell

in .

Let's get her going
and see what's down there.

-Hopefully it's what
we're looking for. -Let's roll.

IVAN:
Keep going.

TERRY: Ivan's got the touch,
doesn't he?

CHARLES: I think I know
what you're thinking.

What am I thinking?

You're thinking that, uh,

this hole's gonna be it.

The excitement ratchets up a bit

because we've now got data

which says
that we've got fresh ground,

that we've got
an area of interest

based upon archival records,

that today might be the day

where we actually find

the one irrefutable piece
of evidence.

It should be a good day.

NARRATOR:
As drilling gets underway

in Borehole H- ...

MARTY:
Let's go down to the beach.

NARRATOR:
Marty Lagina, Dave Blankenship

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

head to the area known as
the Boulderless Beach

located on the island's
northern shore.

Here, they hope to discover
more important artifacts--

and possible treasure--

that may have been exposed

by last winter's
powerful storms.

I like this area.

MARTY: You see here,
Gary, how it really is...

is rocks?

Yeah, it seems to finish.

NARRATOR: When veteran
treasure hunter Dan Blankenship

first came to Oak Island
in ,

the causeway linking the island
to the mainland

had yet to be built.

Arriving by boat,

he noticed
an unusual stretch of beach

which lacked
the large rocks and boulders

that are characteristic

of the rest
of the island's coastline.

Dan speculated
that the approximately

one hundred-foot-long
stretch of land

was man-made
and may be further evidence

of unusual activity
on the island

prior to the discovery
of the Money Pit in .

It doesn't look natural at all.
It really doesn't.

And we've actually
subsequently determined

that it extends out
into the water,

that there are rocks
in the water

to the right and to the left
of this spot,

but not here.

So, you know,
that implies strongly

it should be a good place
to hunt.

You can definitely see
a defined area

where the boulders
start and stop.

This is my go-to

"Spanish treasure hunting" rig.

NARRATOR: Instead of his usual
metal detecting search coil,

Gary will be using
the GPX ,

a high-performance
pulse induction rig

which specializes
in finding deep artifacts.

With strength equivalent

to eight metal detectors
in one,

its increased sensitivity
makes it an ideal choice,

especially
when searching in areas

that have been heavily scanned
in the past.

GARY: I can't believe the lack
of freakin' metal on this lot.

MARTY:
It's been metal-detected before,

but I was expecting that thing
to find some.

Well, whenever I get discouraged
is when he finds something,

so I'm gonna sit on this rock
and be discouraged.

-(metal detector beeping)
-Signal, guys.

-(Marty laughs)
-Just as you sit down.

What did I tell...
what did I tell you?

Oh, man. Great.

More than likely
a piece of iron.

-Yep.
-(metal detector beeping)

That's a strong hit.

That's definitely something.

Oh, I can see it.

Can you see
all that iron residue?

-No.
-Now you will.

-Where? Right there?
-Yeah.

-(metal detector beeping)
-Ooh. -There you go.

Right in the center of the hole.

-Come on, coin! Coin!
-Okay.

-It's rocky in here.
-DAVE: Gold!

-Do you want me to shovel
a bit more? -Oh!

-There it is. Look.
-Where?

-Ooh, look.
-There you go.

-Look at that.
-There you go.

-What do you got?
-I see what that is.

That is an old
wrought iron spike.

NARRATOR: At the area known
as the Boulderless Beach...

-That's a big one, Dave.
-Yep.

NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina,
Dave Blankenship

and metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

have just unearthed

a potentially significant
artifact.

And that is commonly referred to
as a ship spike.

I would say that is early s.

NARRATOR:
A spike from a ship?

Dating back
to the early th century?

Ooh. Now that's a good signal.

NARRATOR:
Could this spike be related

to the others the team
has found on the island...

-Oh, yeah.
-Ooh, look at that. That's nice.

NARRATOR:
...both in the swamp

and the GAL- spoils?

Ooh.

Yeah, but it'd have to be
the size of the Titanic

to use a nail that big.

Well,
that's just the point, David.

-That's kind of exciting,
actually, isn't it? -(laughs)

It wasn't
any itty-bitty boat here.

But that's definitely old.
I mean, that's an oldie.

-Oh, that'd be good.
-Yeah.

You know, it occurs to me,

we do have an archeologist

running around here, don't we?

(laughter)

Let's let him have a look.

NARRATOR:
Because Marty believes

the metal spike may have

historical significance,

he has decided to reach out
to area archaeologist

Laird Niven, who has recently
joined the Oak Island team.

Hello?

Yeah. Laird.

Hey, do you have a minute
to come down to the beach?

We've got an artifact
we'd like you to have a look at.

Good deal. See you in a bit.

Thanks. Bye.

This is not gonna be easy.
We have to follow the clues.

And these spikes are clues.

You know, when were they made?
What were they used for?

How do they interrelate
with each other?

And we're keeping
all this data,

and we're gonna go over it.

Gary thinks that
the story's gonna be told

with things like that.

That that's how we're gonna
uncover the whole mystery here.

NARRATOR: While Marty and the
team wait for Laird to arrive,

Rick Lagina and members
of the Oak Island team

are eagerly searching
the spoils of Borehole H-

that have been
brought up so far.

Yeah.

MIKE G.:
That's very interesting.

NARRATOR: First discovered
in the early th century,

the application
of coal tar-based creosote

became a common treatment
to prevent wooden structures

from rotting
when heavily exposed to water.

The fact the wood brought up
from H- smells of creosote

most likely indicates evidence

of a th century
searcher tunnel,

and not that
of a more ancient structure.

RICK:
Yeah, I don't smell it anymore.

Where are we now?

We are at .

RICK:
We're right around target depth.

NARRATOR:
Although the Chappell Vault

was originally encountered

at a depth of feet in ,

decades of subsequent
searcher activity

and underground flooding

has significantly reduced
the elevation

of the Money Pit search area
by an estimated ten feet.

This means that
the vault could now lie

anywhere from

to as much
as feet deep underground.

(loud thump, metallic squeak)

Ivan said he's in some sort
of void, but he hit something.

RICK:
Did he clip something?

MIKE G.:
Yeah, he was going down,

and then he clipped something.

RICK: Where would that
have been, at one...?

That's at, uh...

, .

NARRATOR:
A mysterious void?

One containing a large object

some feet deep
belowground?

Has the drill bit
just made contact

with the elusive
Chappell Vault?

And could the answers

to the -year-old
Oak Island mystery

finally be within reach?

-RICK: That's right where
it should be. -Yeah.

RICK: It mimics exactly
the drill platform experience

that the Chappells, when
they encountered the vault.

It's the right depth.

Ivan's a great driller,
and I have always believed

that when you have
eyes and boots on the ground,

those guys,
that's who you go to.

And so you've got testament

that you're
alongside a hard object,

it's the proper depth,
proper location--

it doesn't get
much better than that.

I know you
can't look underground,

but what do you think
you slid by?

You push by something, you
never know what it was, right?

Well, let's go to
and see if you get a sense

that you slide by
or pass something.

NARRATOR: In order to find
more definitive proof

that the Chappell Vault
has been located,

Rick Lagina instructs the team
to continue drilling.

RICK: Ivan said
he went down into a void,

but he clipped something.

Something that
he doesn't recognize.

Okay.

RICK: The sense is that
right around ,

if he senses
that he passed something,

then maybe we pull
the casing back up,

put the plastic down.

Yeah.

NARRATOR: As the team
from Brewster Drilling

continues their search for
evidence of the Chappell Vault,

archeologist Laird Niven
has finally arrived

at the Boulderless Beach.

Here's Laird.

-You found us.
-Hi, guys. I did.

How you doing, mate?

So, what say you?

It's a spike?

-A spike.
-Yup, yup.

-We've come to that conclusion.
-(laughter)

NARRATOR:
Laird Niven's participation

in the Oak Island treasure hunt

has helped assure
Canadian authorities

that all island artifacts--

as well as
culturally protected sites--

will be properly handled.

-That's nice. That's...
-That really is.

He is also
an invaluable resource

to Rick, Marty and the team
in their efforts

to identify and date
objects that may be

not only
historically important,

but instrumental
in helping them solve

-the Oak Island mystery.
-It's a nice one.

Hand-wrought, obviously.

Nice rose head.

-You do consider that
a rose head on that? -Oh, yeah.

And now
the million-dollar question:

-How old would you say that is?
-(sighs)

-We keep asking you this.
-I know, I know.

Well, it's definitely
within the th century.

-That's what I figured. s.
-Yeah. Yeah.

I was telling the guys,
this is, like, a clue.

You know, either a dock
or a wharf here,

or even a shipwreck.

A wharf would make sense to me.
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
A wharf?

If so, who built it,

and what was their purpose?

Could it have been a place

for a pirate
to offload his treasure?

Perhaps th century privateer-
turned-Oak Island landowner,

Captain James Anderson...

Check this thing out.

NARRATOR: ...whose sea chest
was examined by members

of the Oak Island team
just a few weeks ago.

-Think this is it.
-Ah. Ah...

- -ish?
-Yep. Yeah.

-Significant. -Yeah, definitely
from the s, it is.

-MARTY: Well...
-(laughs)

...that's good.

NARRATOR:
At the Oak Island Money Pit,

Rick Lagina, Dave Blankenship,

Charles Barkhouse
and geologist Terry Matheson

continue to monitor the
progress of Borehole H- ,

where just hours ago
the drillers encountered

a mysterious object
at a depth of feet.

How deep are we now?

- .
-All right.

No bedrock yet,

so we might as well
drive it to bedrock.

He'll put this ten feet on,

and they we're gonna be done.

I had high hopes
for this one, too.

Right on the drill platform.

It was crazy geologically,
kind of weird.

But, if this hits rock
and we don't find anything...

NARRATOR: Now, nearly
feet deep underground,

feet past
their target depth,

the team has yet to find
further evidence

that they may have discovered
the legendary Chappell Vault.

I mean, H- was set on
the drill platform of ,

where they believed they
encountered the so-called Vault.

It's inside
of the Chappell Shaft.

William, M.R.'s father,
designated the location

of this drill platform,

and they thought
they were spot-on.

And, you know, were they?

Is it there, or is it not?

TERRY: Okay,
that's kind of interesting.

RICK:
Wow.

Wow, really!

-RICK: Glazed pottery
or something. -DAVE: Pottery?

TERRY:
Blue pottery.

How are we getting pottery
at feet?

That's confounding.

NARRATOR:
Pottery?

Found at a depth
of approximately feet?

Although finding bits
of pottery on Oak Island

is not a rare occurrence,

the depth at which this
fragment was recovered

is deeper than any
found before,

and deeper that any previously
known searcher activities.

Could this, perhaps,
be further evidence

that the team really has
located the mysterious

Chappell Vault?

Well, I did not have
a tea party down there.

That is a...
Yeah, that's...

Well, let's show these guys.

We are going to
drive it to rock.

RICK:
Hey!

What's that?

IVAN: That blue, that looks like
pottery or something.

RICK:
It is pottery.

-RICK: Look at that.
-IVAN: What!?

Oh, my God.
Pottery, wow.

DAVE:
You broke up the teapot!

He told me to drill there.

(laughter)

Look, another piece.

IVAN:
That's crazy.

TERRY: A couple pieces,
that's pretty...

RICK:
We'll call it right here.

We're gonna push to bedrock
and see what...

see if there's more of it.

-Yeah. -So, we'll see you guys
in the morning.

-Yes!
-Thank you.

NARRATOR: As the team
from Brewster Drilling

finishes operations
for the day, it is decided

that they will continue
drilling in Borehole H-

until bedrock is reached.

Oh, what's that jumping up
at us?

CHARLES:
What do you make of that?

On first inspection,

to me, it looks like wood.

But it's extremely dense.

What was the depth
at which this was found?

That was between and .

It's dense and hard.

It doesn't look like rock.
It's not rock.

Well, you got a geologist saying
it's not a stone.

TERRY: It's very, uh--
it's not a stone.

CHARLIE: I mean,
there's a few possibilities

-of what it could be.
-Like what?

Could it be lignum vitae?

-Super dense wood.
-CHARLES: Super dense wood.

NARRATOR:
Latin for "wood of life,"

lignum vitae is a dense,
tropical wood

native to the Caribbean

and northern coast
of South America.

One of many species commonly
referred to as "ironwoods,"

its durability and resistance
to the elements

made it an ideal choice for
nearly all moving parts

of seafaring vessels,

from th century ships

to the first nuclear-powered
submarine,

the USS Nautilus.

RICK:
I only can tell you one thing.

-What? -I'm surely
gonna get it tested.

Absolutely. That's got to be on
the top ten list

-of curious things we've pulled
out of there. -No, I'd...

-I'd say it's top five.
-Yeah.

-RICK: It's a remarkable find.
-CHARLES: Yeah.

RICK:
Let's find out what it is.

Get to the bottom of it.

-Anyway, I'm gonna bag it.
-Bag it.

Bag it and tag it.

(line ringing)

-MARTY: Hello.
-Hey. Me.

You know we're in,
we're in, uh, H- .

Couple of interesting objects.

One is, we found a...

a piece of something
at to .

We literally are--
don't know what it is.

It's-it's extremely dense.

Uh, very heavy.

Uh, Charles gave an opinion
that maybe it's, uh,

some exotic subtropical species

called lignum vitae,
if it's wood.

Um, you know...

Is there something we can do
to-to take a look at that?

Here's the thing that's
really quite,

uh, perplexing, and that is

that we found pottery at .

No one has been down that deep.

. .

Came up in the samples
from to ,

but, but, uh, we're--

I guess we're guesstimating
around ,

but certainly and beyond.

Absolutely.

Okay. (chuckles)

Sets me on my task,
I'll get it tested.

Or looked at, for sure.

Yeah. O-Okay. Take care.

Yep. Bye.

NARRATOR: After a day of
breakthroughs on Oak Island...

So, Laird, we're very grateful
that you're coming back to us.

Your oversight as archaeologist
is important to us.

NARRATOR:
Rick, Marty, and members

of the team gather
in the w*r Room,

where they are eager to discuss

a few of their recent findings

with area archaeologist
Laird Niven.

We have a collection here

of-of some artifacts
that we've recovered.

-Right. -We're hopeful
that you can help us, uh,

at least give us some insight,
in two ways:

one, perhaps telling us
what the items are.

Maybe a timeline,
maybe a-a composition.

-Okay.
-So, uh,

why don't we get Craig
on the line?

Hey, Craig.

-Craig, can you hear us all
just fine? -Sure can.

Hey, guys.

NARRATOR: Also joining them
via video conference

from his office
in Traverse City, Michigan,

is Rick and Marty's friend and
business partner, Craig Tester.

So, we've got a little, I call
it our little box of goodies,

and Laird's here, and he's going
to give us his opinion

as to the-- perhaps...
-How old they are.

Perhaps time-lining them.

Okay, sounds good.

This came from
the Money Pit area.

Well, here-here, uh, Laird,

-I'll let you take them out.
-Yeah.

LAIRD:
So this is pearlware.

That's between
and feet down.

Yeah. So this would be...

This is hand painted pearlware
from England, Staffordshire.

We're looking at
the s to .

It's imitating, uh, Chinese
porcelain, is what it's doing.

How did pottery get down
to feet?

That I do not know.

What did Terry think of it
when he looked at it?

You know, Terry Matheson's
a geologist, and he's,

he's struggling with motive and
placement for-for that,

because it's-- well, I mean,
it's below searcher depth.

MARTY:
Nobody's been down that deep.

No searchers have been
down that deep.

NARRATOR: Although
it is Laird's estimation

that the pottery may only
pre-date the discovery

of the Money Pit
by just a few years,

the great depth at which
it was recovered

still offers the team
an important clue--

one that may justify
a further investigation

into Borehole H- .

I think the pottery found in
H- , below searcher depth,

is the most significant thing
we've discovered this year.

-I find that... -And that's
a "wow" fact for me.

-Yeah. For me.
-For him, for him to say that.

Look, data's data, you know, and
when the data says what it says,

no human beings, historically,
were down that deep. Period.

And then we have one more piece.

Uh, I'm not gonna tell you
anything about it,

because we'd like you
to give us your opinion.

What is that?

My immediate reaction is
it's bone.

MARTY:
Holy smokes.

It is bone.

JACK:
Wait, what?

RICK:
You're certain that's bone?

I'm fairly certain.

Where was that found?

H- at to .

NARRATOR:
Bone?

Found buried feet deep
in the Money Pit?

But if the mysterious object
is, in fact, bone,

how did it get there?

And, perhaps more importantly,

to what, or to whom,
did it belong?

Of everything I thought
you were gonna say,

-it would not have been bone.
-"Bone" wasn't it?

-Yeah.
-No, absolutely not.

Yeah, well...

You're certain that's not wood?

I don't think so.

See, it's hollow.

It's dense, I know, but...

MARTY:
What is it? Human or animal?

I can identify human bones,

but it's more difficult
with the fragment.

Then, I understand.
Like any good scientist,

you don't want to make
a conclusion

till all the data's in.
I get it, completely.

You seriously think that's bone?

-I do.
-(chuckles)

Wow.

Wish I could say
I wasn't surprised,

but I am very surprised.

I never would have
suspected bone.

You didn't expect
any of this, did you?

(laughter)

MARTY:
I think it's bone.

I don't think I would have
independently thought

it was bone, but if the choices
are bone or wood,

I think it's a piece of bone.

It does not look like
wood to me.

Look, if it, if it was human,

and it's pre- ,

you've got your
original works again.

So we're gonna follow
where the bone leads.

I think we can get it tested
in some way, shape, or form.

Can we carbon date that?

What do you s--
what say you, Craig?

Well, I was wondering about
getting a chemical analysis

or something of it, to see
impurities or whatnot.

Maybe that will help date it,
too.

Imagine that.
We don't have an answer

from an artifact
in the Money Pit.

(laughter)

CHARLES: Gee, that's never
happened before.

Okay, I think, I think
we have a plan.

-You know, we'll get to the
bottom of it. -Absolutely.

-Thank you Laird, appreciate it.
-LAIRD: Thank you.

NARRATOR: For Rick, Marty,
and the Oak Island team,

this week's search for answers

has offered a number of
promising new leads.

But just where, or to what,
are they being led?

Is it to an ancient
wooden vault

filled with priceless artifacts
and treasure?

Or could it be to something
far more mysterious,

and perhaps more dangerous,

than anything they could have
ever imagined?

Perhaps the answer
can be found embedded

in a simple piece of bone...

a bone that may have belonged
to the last person

to know the truth about
what really lies below.

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

Ooh!

It's bone, with some soft tissue
on it, and hairs.

Is it human?

-You getting readings?
-Yeah.

We need to see what's there.

Picking something else up
right here.

What do you make of that?

In H- , there is definitely
an anomaly.

I think we found the Money Pit.

-(both laughing)
-Yes!

We now have results
from the two bones--

both came back as human.