Original subtitles

Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island...

I want to find something

-that we can date. -Exactly.

-There you go, mate! -Oh.

Oh, what's under there?

I want to see what's underneath here.

Some of the highest silver and gold values

-show up right in there. -Hold on! Guys, hold on.

-Whoa! -We're definitely into some hard stuff.

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

That all adds up to a possible

human presence here in the 1400s.

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

There is an island in the North Atlantic

where people have been looking for

an incredible treasure for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found a stone slab

with strange symbols carved into it,

man-made workings that date to medieval times,

and a lead cross whose origin may be connected

to the Knights Templar.

To date, six men have died

trying to solve the mystery.

And according to legend, one more will have to die

before the treasure can be found.

- Hello, gentlemen. - Hey, guys.

Welcome back to the war room.

Well, we're all assembled here again

for probably the most important job we can do

this year, which is to try and get these caissons

in the right spot.

As another fall day begins on Oak Island,

Rick, Marty, Craig

and other members of their team meet in the war room

regarding the search for treasure in the Money Pit area.

Last time we got together

to talk about canisters, we placed them,

and the canisters, so far,

haven't brought up what we want.

So, I think it's entirely appropriate

to readdress everything at this juncture.

Right.

-Here comes the bucket. -Another bucket,

-another chance, guys. Here it comes. -Yup.

Over the past several weeks,

the team has excavated three eight-foot-diameter steel shafts

more than 200 feet deep in the solution channel.

They are trying to locate the source of precious metals

that have been detected across the Money Pit area

through underground water and soil testing

conducted by Dr. Ian Spooner and Dr. Fred Michel.

Incredibly, the evidence of silver

they have found matched the composition

of a 14th-century Portuguese coin

that was reportedly discovered

in the original Money Pit back in 1849.

The caissons we've put into the ground this year have been

certainly what I would call a technical success.

The cumulative data thus far indicates

that our theory about the solution channel

being the repository of the collapse

of the Money Pit, including--

hopefully-- the treasure, is true.

But it is frustrating, because we were hoping

that these caissons would bring up

some sliver of gold or something

that would say, "Ah, there it is."

Ian, you will no doubt recall,

I had asked you and Dr. Fred

to weigh in on where you would like to put a canister

to find this treasure.

You know, funny thing.

We've kind of transitioned

from being scientists

to people just like you, trying to figure out

-where the treasure is. -Right.

Bottom line is, there's metal down there

that isn't natural.

So, Fred and I put our heads together, and

this is where Fred and I are interested, in this area.

So, we picked this location because

some of the highest silver and gold values

show up right in here.

And I would say this is a space

that we haven't explored adequately.

Okay, and

your required total depth would be?

Well, the bedrock is

about 160 feet.

So, there is an extension of the solution channel there.

-That is sort of a shelf. -Okay.

During the team's previous drilling operations,

they have found that the solution channel

generally has a bottom depth of some 215 feet.

However, in this new target area,

where surprisingly high concentrations

of gold and silver have also been detected,

the flooded natural cavity reaches bedrock

at a much shallower depth of nearly 160 feet.

Dr. Michel and Dr. Spooner

have exhaustively done the study of the science,

and they believe that something is in this area.

I think there's every reason to believe

that this location holds great promise.

So, Dr. Fred and Ian,

I think you've convinced the fellowship that

-this is a very good location. -Yeah.

We think it's a good place to go.

So, well done, guys. You've carried the day.

Let's dig that one

-for sure. -Yup, I agree.

All right. Thank you, guys.

- Thank you. - Thanks, Fred.

Later that morning...

- Good morning.

Hey, Rick, how you doing?

You tell me.

...Rick arrives in the Money Pit area

as the dig in the caisson dubbed "Michel-Spooner," or "MS-1,"

is already underway.

So, we've already pushed about 40 feet.

-We got a good head start on the day. -Good.

Boy, you are making progress.

Now, I like this pick...

-Yeah. -...because of those tests

that came back for gold, silver, copper.

Well, they're all the ingredients of coins.

-So, high amounts

means there could be a big treasure down there.

Well, that's what we're hoping, right?

Absolutely.

I just think this is a magical place.

People from long ago came here to do something extraordinary.

I'm positive, I'm upbeat, I'm excited

about the possibility of this hole, MS-1.

It is an exciting location. The potential is sky high.

-Yeah. -So, you know, let's

just keep going, see what we find.

We're going to find some stuff on this hole.

-Yeah. -Hear, hear.

Here's hoping.

Later that day...

- Hey, Billy. - Hello.

I'm pretty excited because

this sand road's very intriguing.

-I don't know what to make of it. -Right.

...Peter and Gary join Billy

in the western region of the swamp

to continue investigating the mysterious sand road.

I want to find something that we can date this.

Exactly.

And that is going to be today.

-Yup. -All right.

Over the past two weeks,

the team has exposed several more sections

of this sand-covered, cobblestone feature

that is lined with eight-sided wooden survey stakes.

And curiously, while the road appears

to be coming from somewhere further inland on the island,

the team has noticed that it may also be in line

with the stone road in the southeast corner of the swamp.

A feature which may be more than 500 years old

and of Portuguese origin.

As we continue following the sand road,

it seems to turn towards the corner

where the stone road is, the southeast corner.

And as everyone knows, the Money Pit is

uphill from there, but

I think it's too early to project that line.

I think we need to just do

a much more comprehensive exposure of the sand layer.

That's pretty much the edge there, right?

I think this is the edge. Yeah.

Look at that.

Yup. Looks like we just found

another stake.

-How many sides is that, Pete? -Not a clue.

It's pretty decayed. Might have been eight?

Another possible eight-sided wooden survey stake

found along the edge of the sand road?

Recently, archeoastronomy expert

Professor Adriano Gaspani

analyzed a line of eight-sided stakes

that the team found in the northern end of the swamp.

Based on their alignments with specific stars in the night sky,

he concluded that they were placed on Oak Island

back in the early 13th century.

And because of those purposeful alignments,

Professor Gaspani also believes they could be connected

to the Knights Templar.

Nope, no metal. Not at the moment.

Is it possible

that the numerous eight-sided stakes

the team has found along the sand road

are directly related to those in the northern region,

and offer key clues as to the origin of this feature?

You want to take a quick check, Gary,

-before I take another scoop? -Oh, yeah.

-We have got some iron

-around here. -Got to dig that up!

-Yeah.

-Seems to be in that area there. -Okay.

It's going to be deep, maxed-out depth reading.

That's good.

-Well, I hope it's from whoever built it. -Yup.

-There you go, mate. -Oh.

Look at this!

There you go, mate.

-Oh! Little ox shoe. -Yeah.

On the western side of the Oak Island swamp,

Gary and Peter have found another curious clue

along the sand and cobblestone road.

You know what? That is a really old ox shoe.

I can tell by the condition of it.

It's been down there a while.

-Yeah. -It was deep within the sand road.

That was a good...

-foot down. -Yup.

If the road was rougher and less finished early on,

then that's probably why it lost a shoe, right?

-Yeah. -They might have been,

back in the day, taking

the small oxen to the Money Pit.

-Maybe. -And this is where

it shed a shoe. Great little artifact.

-That's great. -I'll recheck the hole.

Ox shoes

mean signs of activity, people traveling over this area.

It's got to be hauling, maybe treasure.

One thing for sure-- the sand road looks

like it's heading directly

to that Portuguese-style stone road,

which is near the Money Pit.

Our friend Carmen Legge will tell us more

-about this ox shoe. -Yeah.

-Yeah. -Great find. I'm hoping to find

something with a date.

Yeah. Same here.

I know there has to be more.

Yeah.

As a new day breaks on Oak Island...

Good morning, Dr. Raeside.

-Good morning. -Welcome to the war room.

Thank you.

...in the war room, members of the team meet

via video conference with Dr. Robert Raeside,

a professor of geology and earth science

at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

We have in front of us one of the big surprises of this year.

What we think is a stoneshot.

The reason it's cut in half is because

we already sent this to Dr. Raeside.

He cut it in half so he could analyze it,

and then sent the sample back to us.

Yes.

The team has asked Dr. Raeside

to analyze an artifact found last week

in the spoils of the Peacock-1 shaft.

A stoneshot, which is a type of medieval cannonball,

that was replaced by cast iron munitions

in the late 15th century.

In recent years, Dr. Raeside has also examined

two other pieces of stoneshot that were found on the island,

one which also came from more than 100 feet deep

in the Money Pit area.

And incredibly, he believes

that both of them may have originated

in the Portuguese islands known as the Azores.

Uh, yeah. That's excellent.

I mean, these, apparently, were phased out

-in the 1400s... -Yeah.

...as actual munitions. So, it looks like

it's way beyond the preponderance of the evidence.

I'm going to call it 90% certain this is

a projectile used in the 1300s and maybe early 1400s.

Yeah. Exactly.

What's it doing north of the Money Pit?

This is definitely not a searcher rock.

This is a depositor.

Unless they were Rick searchers from the 14th century.

-Yeah. -But I can't come up with

a non-exciting way this got here.

Yeah. You know,

especially in the Money Pit, were they protecting something?

As work was going on, they had a gun up there.

So, I just think it's... it's amazing.

Yeah.

Okay, that all adds up to a possible

human presence here in the 1400s,

which I have been a skeptic of.

But I'm staring at it right here.

Is it... Compositionally, is it similar, I assume?

You're right. We've never heard of it.

You're right about that part.

What does that mean? Where might that come from?

-To me, it's exciting because

obviously, we're looking for somebody who traveled here.

-If it comes from

Labrador, the north coast of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence,

the Portuguese--

that was one of the first areas they were in, exploring.

Labrador itself is named after a Portuguese explorer

in the 1400s by the last name of Labrador.

-Right? So, if

they're looking for source material for stoneshot,

they could acquire it there as anywhere.

In the late 15th century,

Portuguese mariner João Fernandes Lavrador

helped survey the North Atlantic region,

known today as Newfoundland and Labrador.

The area was then explored and claimed

as a Portuguese settlement

by brothers Miguel and Gaspar Corte-Real

of the Azores Islands.

Both were members of the Knights of Christ,

the Templar-related order connected

to the so-called Pitblado coin.

Curiously, both men are rumored

to have then led undocumented expeditions

as far south as Nova Scotia.

It sounds like we now have stone shots that could have

easily been sourced by the Portuguese.

-The first, we believe,

may have come from the Azores, and now,

another one from a region that the Portuguese

were in at a very early time here in North America.

Is it possible that the three stone shots

offer critical clues that could help identify

who created the original Money Pit?

And that fits perfectly with the idea

that there's an old-world, new-world connection.

We're building a timeline

of Europeans being

in North America-- here, specifically--

well before conventionally accepted wisdom suggests.

I think it's fabulous.

So, we have now three

almost perfectly spherical rocks, and

it becomes more and more unlikely

that it was just random.

And two deep in the Money Pit.

Keep in mind, all the same size, as well.

Here we have an artifact, found in the Money Pit,

which the Pitblado coin supposedly was.

Now we have two items that distinctly align

in terms of the timeline associated with each.

The hope is that, you know, we find something else,

uh, but right now, this is

significant.

Okay, well, thank you very much.

I mean, this is excellent, just absolute excellent data.

I hope we find even more than that.

I want to keep sending you samples

-of things that are interesting. -Yup.

And I know I speak for everybody here. Thanks.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

You're welcome.

As excavation continues on the MS-1 shaft

in the Money Pit area...

I want to see what's underneath here.

-It feels like rocks, rocks and more rocks. -Yeah.

It's turning out to be more interesting than we anticipated.

...on Lot 8, members of the team carefully dig deeper

into the cradle-shaped stone feature.

When you're done with that, why don't you

hand me the bucket?

Thank you.

After recently discovering a mortar-like

material between the stones that could date as far back

as the 13th century,

and detecting traces of silver

in the soils within the feature...

It's showing silver.

-Yeah. -Yeah!

...the team is looking for more clues

to reveal what might be buried deeper below.

Why someone would create a basin,

line it with rocks and then putting the rock back on--

it kind of defies explanation right now.

It's a monumental effort.

We don't have answers yet, but

we have a mystery that still needs

to be explored much deeper.

Oh, what's under there?

The soil color there is different.

-Like, you kind of get back into the browns again. -Yeah.

Yeah, that's a lot of really dark,

organic-looking soil underneath the orange layer.

-Yup. -One of the open questions is

if we really are at the bottom, correct?

-Yeah. -It's sounding like we're getting

down through the bottom of the feature into undisturbed soil.

But that doesn't look like what I expect C horizon to look like.

It's still mottled.

So, what would it take to be certain?

-Keep going a little bit and--? -Yeah.

-We want to be absolutely sure.

Love to hear it. Let's do that.

All right.

A term you hear archaeologists referring to

-a lot is "C horizon."

And what that's referring to is one

of the bottom layers of the soil.

And that should be sterile soil

that is void of any cultural artifacts whatsoever.

Seeing that, it looks

pretty uniform.

-That's pretty deep.

Texture-wise, do you still think

it's kind of acting like C horizon?

Yeah, I think that looks like the bottom to me.

Right.

We've been fooled before, so, I think we should confirm...

-Yeah. -...that that is the bottom of the feature,

-at least in this area. -Absolutely.

How far does it extend? We don't know.

-What's it for? We don't know. -Yeah.

I think the fact that we've excavated to what Laird

and I both felt was natural bottom,

but we still haven't hit bedrock or slate

means that we really do have to explore

a little bit deeper just to make sure.

You know, I think my dad's been

kind of chomping at the bit to dig under this with

-a faster approach. -Yeah.

But I think he's going to want to know

the extent of it, the bounds of it.

With a backhoe or an excavator, we would get

as close as we can, as close as you guys are comfortable with--

I would say not within an area

that that material could fall in.

Whatever distance you guys prescribe.

And then, quickly get more answers

-without disrupting anything. Yeah. -Exactly.

We have been tricked

by the very unique soil characteristics

of the island before,

and we have thought that we'd reached the bottom

of the feature when, in fact, there was a lot more yet to go.

So, I think

that's a test we need to run here, as well.

I mean, I know we were kind of hoping there was something

underneath it, but that doesn't mean

there isn't something somewhere else

-off to the side. -Yeah. Oh, for sure.

We're running out of time on the year.

If we can dig nearby and get an answer

and find something man-made

without destroying anything, without disturbing the dig,

we want to do it.

I think one simple thing we can do is clean up that area.

We can continue your search

-for the sides. -Yeah. Yup.

Level it off and get a good profile.

-Yeah. -And he can take a look at that.

That would be great. So,

I'm gonna go and get in touch with him and see what he thinks.

All right. Perfect.

- Thanks, guys. - All right.

- Talk to you later. - See you later. Yup.

Later that day

on the western side of the swamp...

Still sandy.

It's definitely still sandy, the dirt.

...Peter, Gary and Billy

are uncovering more of the mysterious sand road

near the edge of their permitted dig area.

It is their hope to determine

if the road originates in this area

or continues somewhere further inland.

I mean, I think the interesting thing is we have sand

-here in this general area. -Yeah.

I'm curious. You want to take a scoop maybe out of here?

Yup.

We've uncovered a lot of the sand road,

and the style or construction of it is peculiar.

This is a unique structure,

but it's also a very

involved effort.

Is there still sand there, Pete?

Yeah, here. Yeah.

'Cause this is

-the line, kind of. -Yeah.

Any sand is a sign that it was going that way.

What have we got here?

Stake.

Yeah. Nice one.

My guess is it continues.

Yeah. You're holding the proof in your hand, Pete.

Yup.

This isn't some random stakes

plonked in the swamp.

There's a pattern going on here.

And the next set of stakes should be just

in front of us, following this line.

-Hey, Craig. How's it going? -Hello.

You find the end?

-Oh, a stake. -I found a stake right here.

And there's a little bit

of sand in this general area...

-...which fits the line.

You know, to me, it looks like it ties up to the Center Road.

-Right. -Yeah.

The sand road is a continuation of Center Road.

Was this road here,

and they came in to survey the island,

split up the lots and said, "Let's use this line"?

This sand road might predate 1762, the survey.

And that's mind-boggling to me.

Center Road cuts through the middle of Oak Island

and runs along the property boundaries

that were drawn by Surveyor General Charles Morris,

a high-ranking Freemason who divided the island

into 32 four-acre lots back in 1762.

It is generally thought that Center Road was created

in the early 1800s by treasure hunters

after Charles Morris conducted his survey.

But has the team just found evidence that it was built

on top of a much older sand-covered cobblestone road?

If so, who created it, and for what purpose?

Maybe the survey was based

on the road as opposed to the other way around.

There's clay in here.

You know, it's seeming very old and

now we need to find out

if it's pre or post-survey.

We'll see where it takes us.

Unfortunately, we've come to the end of the permitted area.

-Okay. -Yup. -I think

everything that we found today has been really interesting.

Absolutely.

I'm gonna text my uncle Rick and have him come down.

Okay.

-Hey, Uncle Rick. -Hey, Rick.

-Hey. -Hi, mate.

That's the corner of our permit.

And we've dug to it, so we are done digging here.

But the one thing that was obvious--

it's going towards Center Road.

What do you make of it?

Well, was this the original road, and it...

it was just built up over the years?

-Right. -People just

build the road on top of the road, on top of the road.

We do have

hard evidence that Lot 5 and the Money Pit are connected.

-And we've been puzzled about

how did they get from Lot 5 to the Money Pit?

Well, if there's a road that goes throughout the island,

that would explain it at some level.

Maybe.

Is it possible

that this sand and cobblestone road may actually run beneath

what is now Center Road all the way to Lot 5?

Since 2022,

when the team began investigating

the rounded stone foundation near the shore on Lot 5,

they have not only found a mortar-like material

that matches soils from deep in the Money Pit area,

but also artifacts and valuables,

some of which have been dated to as early as the 14th century.

This has led them to speculate

that Lot 5 once served as the base camp

for whoever created the Money Pit.

Have they found the road that may have been used

to move treasure across the island

to that legendary location?

I think the work to get that treasure up there

involved this road, and I think

we have to follow the clues.

I think we should go ahead and

-dig a cross section along Center Road.

And hopefully, we find an old path underneath there that says

people were here a long time ago.

Okay. Well, let's dig it just a little bit further.

-Yup. -Billy, you've got

-a lot of work to do.

-We've got our homework. -Yup. -Yup.

So, thanks for a long, hard day.

-Okay. -Appreciate it. -All right.

-See you, Billy. -See you, mate.

-Yup. -Thank you.

The next morning...

How deep are we?

About 140.5, so, we still got a ways to go.

...Rick and members of the team

oversee the dig in the MS-1 shaft.

You pushed that can down as far as you can.

The excavation is now

just ten feet from reaching target depth.

That means that all spoils removed from the shaft

as it proceeds deeper will be scanned by Gary on-site

and meticulously searched by hand at the wash plant.

You cannot deny the science

that has been applied to this location. They are showing

extremely high values of silver

and other associated metals.

We're looking to hopefully be on target

and recover the treasure here.

-All right. Let's go take a look. -Yup.

Gary, is this wood new?

Eh? I don't know.

I'll bring it back to the table.

What do we make of this wood here?

Looks like we've got an outside edge of a timber here.

It's a pretty clean cut.

You know, there's a mark right there

that almost looks like it was struck with something.

Maybe adze-cut.

Adze-cut wood?

An adze is a tool for cutting and shaping wood,

dating back to ancient Egypt

and used prior to the invention of mechanized saws

in the late 18th century.

Hopefully, something else comes up

in that next scoop, and we'll see something there.

Give us a better indication.

If the team has indeed

found adze-cut wood, is it possible

they are near an old structure deep in the Money Pit area?

Hold on, Josh! Hold on!

That's about as high as I'm going!

I'm chewing at something.

Come on, girl.

They seem to be hung up on very solid material.

Not going to be able to drive that can much farther.

Yeah. We're definitely

-into some hard stuff. -Not making

any headway right now.

An obstruction between 140 and 150 feet deep?

The question now is whether it's something natural,

such as a large boulder,

or perhaps something that is man-made.

I can just keep working away at it here

and see if I can get it, but--

Just dig her out and take us home, buddy.

As the team from SB Canada and ROC Equipment

work to break through the obstruction in MS-1...

Going to find it, whatever it is.

...some 500 feet to the east near Smith's Cove,

Charles and Derek carefully sift through

the spoils at the wash plant.

I thought it was concrete.

It's just granite.

Charles, check that one out.

That's pretty cool.

That's a great find.

That doesn't look like a regular rock.

No.

At the wash plant, Derek has just found

another intriguing artifact

in the MS-1 spoils.

You know what? When it's round like that,

that may be another stoneshot.

-Kind of looks like one. -Yeah.

Pretty round.

Yeah. I think you may have one.

That's really cool, to find that.

Another possible stoneshot,

discovered more than 100 feet deep,

and in an area where high traces

of silver and gold have been detected?

It may tie in with the other ones that we have.

Great find, man.

Good eye.

You're two for two now.

-I know.

I'm gonna text Alex, have him

come down and take a look at that.

All right.

This stoneshot that was found years ago,

which comes from the Azores, has influenced a lot

of the research going forward on Oak Island.

In addition, we have the coin which is Portuguese,

from the late 1300s.

I mean, that's really intriguing.

-Charles. -Hey, Alex.

-What did you find? -Well, take a look at that.

Is that another stoneshot?

It could be.

This looks like it was deliberately made, doesn't it?

It does. I mean, Mother Nature's good.

I don't think she's that good. The other stone shots

came from the Azores, so, maybe that one did, too.

If we can also trace this back to the Azores,

and with the Portuguese coin

that we think might have come out of the Money Pit,

we've got just further substantiation

of this kind of, uh,

-Portuguese, if not Templar, connection. -Yeah.

I love it. I'm going to get this

back to the lab as soon as I can.

-Thanks, Alex. See you. -See you.

While the search continues for more clues

at the wash plant...

-He's on rock there now. -Yup.

Look at the can.

All right, guys, here it goes.

...over in the Money Pit area...

Here we go.

...the team has broken through hard materials

in the MS-1 shaft,

and are removing the final spoils from some

150 feet deep.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Now we got a really good chance

at finding whatever there is to be found.

-Whoa. -Oh, man, that's a full bucket.

Ready?

-Yup. -Let's go take a look.

-Nothing? -No.

All right, those are limestone boulders.

Well, it's...

Bottom line is, there's no artifact.

Not even the wood we were hoping for.

We've gone as far as we can,

with this excavation, and we had high hopes.

We all wanted it to be there, but it's not.

At the end of the day,

it's hard not to be disappointed with what we had.

I agree, Peter.

It-it is a little bit hard.

But you know what?

-I'm not about to give up. -Yeah.

-Nobody's walking away. -Yup.

We've just got to cover the solution channel

-till we find it. -Yeah.

Before digging this location,

Marty and I decided, if this caisson

did not find the one thing,

we need to move back, if you will,

to Top Pocket Find location.

The silver signature in that area is undeniable,

and you can't dispute the Portuguese silver coin.

It's suggesting that you're in the area

of the original deposition.

And so, there's great excitement

and great anticipation here.

But we're gonna be dealing with backfill issues.

What is your time frame?

You've seen him there. He was crunching and grinding, so,

there's some welding repair to do.

We've got to reset the pad. It's gonna be likely

-several days.

SB Canada has some repair work to do.

And they're gonna be working on the pad

to make sure it's exactly right.

So, we're gonna have a little downtime here.

It's frustrating, but we're gonna use the time

as best we can.

Maybe we don't have the one thing in our hand,

but it doesn't mean we won't find it tomorrow.

We still have a lot of work to do.

-Oh, yeah. -Oh, yeah. -You know? The next hole

-could be the location. -That's right.

-We've got to move on. -Yeah.

Let's just keep going.

-Sempre avanti. -I love it.

-We got one more chance. -That's right.

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

- Onward and downward. - There you go.

The following morning...

- Hey, Uncle Marty. - Hey, Marty.

Fellow treasure hunters, good day.

...Rick, Marty, Craig

and other members of the team meet in the war room

at the request of Doug Crowell, Emiliano Sacchetti

and Judi Rudebusch.

We have in front of us on the table

some of the artifacts that have been found.

There was some inclination to look into

a possible association with Portugal.

But specifically, the Azores.

And that is indeed what Doug and Emiliano and Judi have done.

Doug, if you want to take the lead here

and let us know what you found out. -Will do.

The Pitblado coin, alongside the stoneshot

that, having been associated with the Azores,

lend to a real possibility of how treasure

-may have got here.

The coin, we know was minted in Portugal

between 1367 and 1383.

And King Ferdinand is the one that produced this coin.

So, when he died in 1383,

the country went into a kind of a civil war over succession.

And it looked like Portugal basically ceased

to exist at that time.

Following the death of King Ferdinand I in 1383,

Portugal was thrust into a bloody two-year civil war

over who should succeed him.

This has made some researchers believe

that the chaos inspired the Order of Christ,

who descended from the Knights Templar,

to move priceless religious treasures to a new safe haven.

If they were guarding

something that the Templars had brought

to the country in 1307,

there was the motivation

to find a new sanctuary for it.

And I believe it was the Azores.

What history tell us is that

the Azores were officially discovered

by the Portuguese in 1427.

It was actually

Prince Henry the Navigator, probably the most famous member

of the Order of Christ,

that the Azores were settled and developed.

But there are clues that the Azores

were well-known before this time.

There are excellent maps

from the 1300s...

-...that position

the Azores exactly where they are now,

off the coast of Portugal in the middle of the ocean.

We found maps

starting from 1339

up until 1385

that features the Azores.

-And that is mind-blowing.

They could well have moved

the treasure to the Azores.

The coin is attached to Portugal

and the stoneshot is attached to the Azores.

We see a real, tangible, historical scenario

that explains why both these items came from the Money Pit.

So, from the Azores,

the treasure made its way to Oak Island.

And I think it's worth putting boots on the ground

in the Azores, because that is likely

a stepping stone to the treasure arriving here on Oak Island.

I think there could be answers there to be found.

Quite interesting.

The Order of Christ could well have moved

the treasure to the Azores.

I think it's worth putting boots on the ground in the Azores

because that is likely

a stepping stone to the treasure arriving here on Oak Island.

I think there could be answers there to be found.

Quite interesting.

In the war room,

Doug and Emiliano have presented new research

suggesting that clues to the Oak Island mystery

may be some 2,000 miles away

in the Azores islands of Portugal.

If you are right,

it adds to the intrigue here, I think.

Absolutely.

Emiliano has already been there doing some scouting,

and he's identified some really good experts

for us to talk to.

There are experts and also,

artifacts to, uh...

to compare to what we've found here.

We have a chance to possibly explain

this idea that Templar treasure found its way to Oak Island.

So, I think it's well worth it to go there

and see what we can discover.

It sounds like a worthy expedition.

I think there's enough here to do this.

I understand we do have a little time right now between caissons.

Let's put together a group and go.

Yeah, Marty, you're right.

We have a gap in time

between the search agenda out back and-and this trip.

If we can support the data we have in front of us

with more data, all the better.

Yeah.

I-I think it holds real promise.

We may come back with some pretty remarkable connections.

And they have left a trail

-for us to follow. -Absolutely.

-Well, I'm in. -I'd love to go.

I can hold down the fort.

These expeditions, they've all been valuable.

Each one of those expeditions has come back with data.

Data that we can act upon,

knowledge that we were previously unaware of.

So, I'm fully in support of it.

A great treasure that was moved,

with connections to the Knights Templar,

that would explain these very old things

that we have found on Oak Island.

And they think that they might find better evidence of that

in the islands themselves.

That makes the trip worthwhile.

So, we'll figure out

what we need to do and, uh...

we'll keep everyone informed.

Excellent. Bring back some really good stuff.

All right.

See you. Thank you.

- See you. - See you, Marty.

- Nice job. - Okay. Let's go.

Although another massive dig

in the Money Pit

was unable to recover a vast cache of riches,

it produced a tantalizing clue

that has inspired the team to go further

for the ultimate answers.

Now, as winter approaches,

where all others have failed,

they will stop at nothing to succeed.

No matter how deep they must dig

and no matter how far they must journey...

...to find the truth.

Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...

- Welcome to Azores. - There's a number

of questions that can be answered in the Azores.

Something's here related to our search.

We have this on Oak Island.

It's time to dig.

We need to get to the treasure.

-Ah, what have we got here?

You might have some evidence

to a 14th-century Portuguese presence in Oak Island.

The proof might be underground right here.

-Fantastic.