Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island..

(truck horn blows)

MARTY: This is the culmination

of a big effort by the entire team.

-It's time to dig. -Yeah, it is.

Guys, you're not gonna believe this.

-Wow. -Is that a diamond?

So, somebody of importance and wealth was on Lot 5?

-I think so. -That's pretty significant.

TERRY: We hit a lot of wood.

It's a structure.

ALEX: Wow. This is a good chance

of being the original Money Pit location.

Absolutely.

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,

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.

♪ ♪

A day of intense anticipation has finally arrived

on Oak Island for brothers Rick and Marty Lagina

and their partner Craig Tester.

MARTY: It's time to dig.

-I always get excited when it's time to dig, you know? -Yeah.

-This is the year. -Yup.

RICK: After all that Choice Sonic drill program and all

the geophysical investigations,

we hope we put X's on the right spots.

NARRATOR: They, along with their team,

are about to begin a historic operation

in the fabled Money Pit area

to solve a 230-year-old treasure mystery.

MARTY: We have six or seven spots.

We think any one of them could actually bring up treasure

or at least, pieces of treasure, right?

-Yup. -MARTY: Sometimes luck

is what you really need.

Maybe we get lucky.

NARRATOR: After completing an extensive core-drilling

and groundwater-testing program over the past several months,

they have not only identified multiple locations

where evidence of man-made workings

and precious metals have been recovered

more than 150 feet underground...

This looks like the vault.

NARRATOR: ...but also, one potential target

where they unearthed what could be part

of the so-called Chappell Vault.

A seven foot high concrete encased chest

that was encountered in 1897 at a depth 153 feet

by Frederick Blair and his drilling operator,

William Chappell.

-Hey, Vanessa. -Hey, guys. Hey.

-Good morning and welcome back. -Welcome back.

NARRATOR: Now, working with Vanessa Lucido

and her company, ROC Equipment,

along with representatives from Soletanche Bachy Canada,

the Laginas and their team are preparing to excavate

seven foot diameter steel caissons

at each location, down to depths

of more than 200 feet, if necessary.

And they will begin with the target believed

to set directly above the fabled Chappell Vault.

PAUL: Pull one out. We do one at a time.

RICK: I have always believed

that there is something hidden in the Money Pit.

I think there is a chance that there are multiple treasures

in the Money Pit. Think about it.

There was the original Money Pit, and then

there was the so-called Chappell Vault.

And now it's up to us to exploit that area

vis-à-vis the caissons.

You know, after all this exhaustive work we've done,

if we can come up with something

that I hold in your hand

to prove the story--

-that's pretty awesome. -Yeah.

Are you guys in on this?

-Absolutely. -MARTY: Yeah.

We're really excited to get up here,

and we have all the tools we need

to get down there as deep as we need to go.

NARRATOR: In the coming days,

the teams from ROC and SB Canada will assemble a massive crane

and an oscillator, which will rotate

and grind the sections of steel caissons

into the ground.

Then, an 18 and a half ton tool

known as a hammer grab will be used

to remove tons of earth, debris

and hopefully, the legendary riches

that people have been looking for since 1795.

RICK: Thank you, each and every one of you,

-because without you, it doesn't happen. -Let's do it.

-MARTY: All right. -ADAM: Let's get there

-and dig it. -MARTY: Yeah. You know what?

-I feel the same way. -Yeah.

-Let's get digging. -ADAM: Yeah.

We'll let you guys get after it.

-Awesome. -See you. Thank you. -Thanks, guys.

NARRATOR: As the preparations continue

in the Money Pit area...

...later that morning,

in the northern region of the triangle-shaped swamp...

The deeper boards are

-in much better shape. -ALEX: Yeah.

NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina has joined

his nephew Alex

and other members of the team,

where they are searching

for other additional possible caches

of buried valuables.

This is somewhat substantial board.

They are all of different dimensions.

Curious thing: where are the nails?

Where are the nail holes?

-There's nothing in the boards. -Right.

Seems to be quite a few more rocks,

at least right in through here.

NARRATOR: Several weeks ago,

the team was astonished to uncover

part of a cobblestone pathway

which led them to a buried brick and slate vault-like structure.

Okay. Here's something.

NARRATOR: Although no valuables were found...

Can I see?

NARRATOR: ...the team recovered tools

and a lead artifact within it.

LAIRD: That's odd.

NARRATOR: ...suggesting it may have been built

more than three centuries ago.

KATYA: Oh, my gosh.

RICK: A stake right through the board.

ALEX: Oh, yeah.

NARRATOR: And just last week,

as the team continued investigating the stone pathway

in the hopes of finding more hidden vault-like features...

RICK: There's a board here, and it drops down to this board.

NARRATOR: ...they discovered a strange wooden structure.

Billy, you're gonna dig that way

and see if there's more boards there.

-BILLY: Yeah. -RICK: Okay.

NARRATOR: Now the team is carefully

investigating the structure in the hopes

of determining its purpose

and find out if it might be covering something important

or valuable.

(clanking)

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

What's that thing?

Look at that.

A piece of shaped wood.

-KATYA: Really? -Yeah.

It was roughly three feet deep.

-Pretty cool. -BILLY: Yes, it is. Yeah.

-RICK: That's definitely worth keeping. -ALEX: Yeah.

RICK: Stylistically, Laird might be able to tell us the date.

ALEX: Yeah. Should be identifiable.

It's unique, that's for sure.

NARRATOR: Shaped wood?

Found some three feet deep underground in the swamp?

Could it be related to the structure

that the team discovered much closer to the surface?

Or perhaps another one further below?

RICK: What is this piece of wood doing at this depth?

I mean, this is quite deep for anything to be there.

But it's suggestive, certainly,

of the possibility of multiple treasure caches.

But at the end of the day, you have to hold the proof

in your hand and keep eyes on target.

BILLY: The one thing we're sure is that

we continue to show that people were working

in the swamp for something, right?

The boards didn't get there on their own.

RICK: Right. Well, it certainly

continues to remain of interest, right?

So, let's finish this little area.

-Yeah. -RICK: And hopefully

-we'll find some answers, not just questions. -ALEX: Okay.

-Keep after it. Good luck. -We'll keep working.

NARRATOR: As the excavation continues in the swamp,

several hundred yards to the northwest on Lot 5...

-Hey, Fiona. -Hello, Jack.

So, how's progress on this test pit coming?

This is actually a really interesting pit.

NARRATOR: ...Jack Begley joins

archaeologist Fiona Steele and her assistant

Todd Langseth as they continue to investigate

a mysterious, round foundation near the shoreline.

The whole point of this test pit is to see

if it's an entranceway. There's a gap in the rocks.

And the bonus tie-in is that this is the one area

of the entire structure that we found that Money Pit soil.

NARRATOR: While meticulously uncovering this foundation

over the past two years,

the team has discovered man-made mortar

that matches soils from more than 100 feet deep

in the Money Pit area.

Additionally, they have unearthed multiple sections

of the feature,

along with an array of coins

and artifacts that, incredibly, have been dated

to between the 14th and 18th centuries.

What spot would you like me to start at?

If you don't mind starting through here--

you can see where it's higher--

that would be really, really helpful.

NARRATOR: These discoveries have made the team suspect

that the feature was used and modified

by different groups over a number of eras

when treasure may have been deposited in the Money Pit area.

Let's get digging.

NARRATOR: However, the varied finds

have additionally made the team wonder

if the feature might also have been used

to hide valuables.

FIONA: Oh.

So, look at that.

I think it's a hinge piece.

-Wait. What is it? -Well, if you look at it,

it's triangular, and if this piece flaps over,

it was probably a small hinge.

What type of a hinge would that be?

'Cause it doesn't look like it'd be that big

for, like, a front door.

It just wouldn't have been a very big door.

Or a hinge to a box or a chest.

We can't rule that out, either. Hmm.

NARRATOR: Could Jack Begley's suspicion

that this hinge might have come from a box or chest be correct?

If so, where is the rest of it, as well as its contents?

-We should bag it. -Yeah. That's exactly the type of thing

-that we're looking for. -Yeah.

Guys.

-What's up? -What is it, Todd?

-You're not gonna believe this. -Oh!

-Oh, no way. -Wow!

Is that a diamond?

-FIONA: Oh! -JACK: Oh. No way.

-Wow! -Is that a diamond?

I don't know.

FIONA: Well, it sure looks like it,

or at least cut glass of some sort.

NARRATOR: While excavating near the mysterious

round feature on Lot 5...

JACK (laughing): Holy smokes.

...members of the Oak Island team

have just made what could be a historic discovery.

Oh, that's really shiny.

Look at that, look at the star pattern on the back.

You can totally see it. Wow.

JACK: That's a piece of treasure, Todd.

-For sure. -Oh, yeah.

JACK: It might have popped off of some jewelry.

I can see this being maybe a ring or a necklace.

TODD: Yeah. Well, that's what I was thinking, because

it looks like it was sat in something.

Wow, that's really cool.

Look at that, look at that up close.

JACK: Looks like a gemstone.

Or it could be glass.

It would've been valuable back then.

'Cause even to make this type of glass was an art.

NARATOR: A possible diamond?

Or glass gemstone?

Over the past decade, the Laginas and their team

have found numerous pieces of treasure

across the island that predate

the discovery of the Money Pit,

including gold-plated buttons,

silver coins,

and even gemstones.

One such find,

which was discovered on Lot 21 back in 2018,

was made of purple glass

and is believed to be at least 500 years old.

But that's the type of thing

you'd expect surrounded by a bunch of coins.

TODD: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Is it possible that the team

has just found another piece of treasure

in the round foundation on Lot 5?

If so, could that mean there are many more valuables

waiting to be discovered on this side of Oak Island?

JACK: What's it doing on Lot 5?

What's it doing around this feature?

It makes me think that maybe there is some sort

of further connection to the treasure hunt, you know?

And maybe we're near where they had a deposit.

Well, that-that's giving us another piece of a puzzle here

that-that we've already been a little flabbergasted about.

Wow, I love that you found that.

JACK: You can definitely say now,

you found a bit of treasure on Oak Island.

That is-is special.

-Takes the cake, huh? -Yeah.

I think if we take that back to the lab,

that-that CT scanner should be able to pick up

a little bit more of the design to see

exactly what it is.

You know what, that is a top-pocket find

-if I've ever seen one. -Oh, yeah?

And you can say it's actually a dazzler.

-Yeah. -(laughing)

It is quite the dazzler.

JACK: That's an awesome find, Todd!

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...

...as search efforts continue in the northern region of the swamp

and preparations for a large-scale dig

proceed in the Money Pit area,

some 500 feet to the east

near Smith's Cove...

RICK: Hey, Billy.

I see we got a bigger, badder, redder machine.

...Rick Lagina and Scott Barlow

join Billy Gerhardt

to examine a new industrial machine

known as a wash plant

which will act as another key component

in the Money Pit excavations.

We use a lot of the same stuff that the old wash plant uses.

So, I feel pretty good about... about that part of it.

But this is different, right, Scott?

Yeah. I mean, it's the same principle.

Um, it's just a little bit more modern.

NARRATOR: As the massive hammer grab removes tons of earth

or spoils from within the steel caissons

in the Money Pit area,

the materials will be transported to the wash plant

where they will be fed and funneled through metal grates

known as grizzly bars

in order to remove larger rocks

and other debris.

The spoils will then be passed through a tool

known as a chopper,

which will break up and remove thick clays.

From there, the spoils will be deposited onto a shaker deck

where they will be sprayed and washed with water

and then separated onto three separate conveyor belts.

The resulting piles will then be carefully searched by hand

for important clues and signs of possible treasure.

Hopefully, this is gonna speed things up

and we can keep up with what's happening up there.

This will give us the ability to do

more caissons in the same amount of time.

BILLY: Yeah. With this,

we're not leaving any stone unturned.

Yep.

RICK: At the end of the day,

what do we all want? We want this.

We want to hold something in our hand.

And this gives us the best place.

-Right. -Right?

SCOTT: Oh, don't worry.

I think we're all gonna be down here,

standing there with our hand out.

RICK: I appreciate both of you guys

working together and getting this stuff done.

For sure.

Okay, let's get back in the ball field

-and continue to play. -Okay.

-Thanks, Billy. -Thanks, Billy. -Yep.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...

-CARMEN: Well, looky here. -RICK: Carmen.

CRAIG: Hey, Carmen.

NARRATOR: ...Rick, Craig Tester

and other members of the team

welcome blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge

to the Oak Island laboratory.

So, Carmen, thank you for coming.

And this particular item in front of us here

is interesting.

It was found in association with an actual treasure map.

Oh, okay.

GARY: X marks the spot.

Let's go find this.

NARRATOR: One week ago...

It does have a big X on it.

...Doug Crowell, Judi Rudebusch

and historian Terry Deveau led a search

on the western end of Oak island

based on a believed treasure map

related to the records

of 19th century treasure hunter Frederick Blair.

The man who reportedly drilled

into the so-called Chappell Vault

back in 1897.

Curiously, Blair's map denoted three boulders

on the western end of the island

that he believed were man-made markers

pointing to additional treasure deposits

more than a half mile from the Money Pit area.

-Oh! -Ooh!

That's what we're talking about.

Yeah, no mistaking this one.

NARRATOR: Incredibly, after finding

the boulders depicted on the Blair map,

-Iron signal right at the base of it. -Oh.

...metal detection expert Gary Drayton

discovered a large hand-wrought iron spike

buried more than a foot below the surface.

Well, I'll have a look at this.

NARRATOR: Today, it is Rick and the team's hope

that Carmen can help them determine

what it may have been used for and just how old it may be.

Well, it is very old.

It was beat out from a blob of a section of iron.

It is a large pin, we'll say.

The fibers in here are not consistent all the way through.

And if it came as round stock,

which would be after 1760,

the fibers through there would be very consistent.

This was formed round by hand.

RICK: If you had to put

a use for that, what would be the use?

This size and length and shape of it is very typical

if you want to provide an anchor, so that you have

something to grab a hold, to pull something up.

This is typical if you wanted to maneuver a boulder.

Either the boulder was moved on top of the pin

or somebody pounded that pin

down alongside the boulder at an angle.

There is a little bit of a bend to it.

This was under stress.

Yeah. If these rocks were moved, it would...

That would certainly bend it.

Emma, do you have any idea about

-the age of the metallurgy? -Yeah.

NARRATOR: To further aide Carmen's analysis,

prior to the meeting, archeometallurgist Emma Culligan

scanned the spike

with the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer,

a device that emits non-destructive radiation

to reveal an object's elemental composition.

Compositionally, I'd say it's blast furnace made.

So, it's high temp iron.

There is some manganese in it,

but not consistently throughout.

It's not clean

enough for me to say 1600s, so...

I'd put it in the late 1700s.

I might push it back to mid-1700s, but...

I tend to agree with you to a point.

I think it's older than, uh, mid-1700s.

RICK: That's quite remarkable.

CARMEN: I think it's older than mid-1700s.

Certainly not 1600s, so we can rule that out.

NARRATOR: In the Oak Island laboratory,

blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge

has just shared a stunning assessment of the iron pin

that was found one week ago on Lot 1.

And that is based on?

Uh, just because of the fibers through there.

And the metal was formed under high temperature.

NARRATOR: He believes that it may have been used to position

a large boulder,

which was depicted on a mysterious treasure map

of the western end of the island

and could predate the discovery of the Money Pit

by more than five decades.

CARMEN: I'm thinking 1720s, 1730s.

Maybe 1740s.

You know, around 1740, that's duc d'Anville and, uh,

you know, they were coming over here to...

to, uh, take on the British.

I found eight pages of a ship's log.

NARRATOR: In 2017, Oak Island historian Doug Crowell

discovered part of a ship's log in the provincial archives

regarding a failed attempt by France to seize

Nova Scotia from Great Britain in 1746.

"September 8th: It has been agreed that a deep pit

"be dug and treasure securely buried.

"The pit to have a secret entrance

-by a tunnel from the shore." -NARRATOR: However,

it also detailed the burial

of a large cache of valuables

in an area near or potentially on Oak Island.

The admiral in charge, known as the duc d'Anville,

was a member of the Rochefoucauld family.

A family of nobles who are believed

to have been associated with the Knights Templar.

-CRAIG: It fits in with that. -DOUG: Yeah.

Does the map derive from something

they were doing, their activities?

NARRATOR: Although the team has wondered

if the duc d'Anville may have been connected

to the believed valuables buried in the Money Pit,

could this spike offer a clue

that d'Anville's crew also carried out

a secretive operation

on the western end of the island?

If so, could that operation have been related

to the so-called Blair treasure map?

You know, to me, now,

there's meaning behind that map.

I think it's fantastic.

DOUG: If this artifact is from the early 1700s

to mid-1700s, then that gives us a possible timeline

for that map to have been created.

Gives you a good starting point.

Good starting point.

RICK: Carmen, it's been quite

enlightening, and we really appreciate you taking time.

Oh, for sure.

Glad to help.

NARRATOR: The following morning...

-ALEX: Hey. -MARTY: Hey.

-VANESSA: Hello. -CRAIG: Hey, everyone.

-Vanessa. -Hey.

(both laughing)

-How are you doing? -Good.

-This is great. -This is great.

This is exciting.

NARRATOR: Rick, Marty,

Craig and the entire Fellowship of the Dig

gather in the Money Pit area.

Finally, this year, we're going to dig.

NARRATOR: After months of tireless work

and focused research, the massive excavation

to recover the fabled

Chappell Vault from a depth

of more than 150 feet is about to begin.

I'll just say something here.

Doug and I were talking about it.

For 230 years,

people have come here

to this tiny speck of an island

in the North Atlantic

to try to solve

the longest running treasure hunt

and an incredible mystery.

And every one of them,

every one of them, including every one of you,

believe.

And I think it is

very appropriate to call this caisson

"True Believer,"

because the people

that have come before us have persevered

through tragedy,

through all kinds of adversity,

and yet they came and they saw,

and now, it's up to us to conquer.

So, Doug, if you'd step up

and name this and sign it for all of us.

Will do.

RICK: We all believe in

something about this island...

-VANESSA: All right. Let's name it. -DOUG: All right.

...this story, this mystery that has endured for 230 years,

that something happened here long ago.

Way to go, Doug.

So, on some level,

"True Believer" seemed to fit.

I think that,

in a transformational moment that this, hopefully,

will become, I think it's very appropriate

that the ladies should come to the table.

And Katya,

I think you now have earned two spots.

You have earned the metal detecting position

and you have earned a spot on the archaeological team.

So, I'd like you

to press the button.

Ladies, if you'd be kind enough

to come up. Let's get this started.

VANESSA: So, first thing

you're gonna do is go ahead and turn her on.

Okay.

VANESSA: Okay.

So, see how she's moving back and forth?

Okay? Now, you're gonna go forward again.

Nice job. You're oscillating.

-Oh, my gosh. -That is all it does.

(cheering)

JACK: Let's get down to that gold!

NARRATOR: Now that the oscillator

is grinding the seven-foot-diameter

caisson into the ground,

it is the team's hope that within the next few days

they will recover a legendary chest of valuables

and the answers people have been seeking since 1795.

All right. Everybody,

let's get back to work!

-ALEX: All right. -CRAIG: I got 'er.

NARRATOR: Later that morning...

-ALEX: Hey. -MARTY: Hey, guys.

So, I called you in today to look at this

kind of seemingly innocuous artifact.

I find it really exciting.

It's a little glass "jewel."

NARRATOR: Rick, Marty

and Alex Lagina join archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist Emma Culligan

in the Oak Island lab.

Emma did her analysis of it.

They are eager to receive

Emma's scientific report on the glass gem-like artifact

that was found one day ago

near the round feature on Lot 5.

It is a really high content of lead.

So, that high of a lead composition, you wouldn't see

in modern glass, especially glassware.

It's really clean, really controlled composition.

I've never seen that before.

But then, Laird took a look at it.

It's what we call "paste."

So, it's flint glass, high lead content glass

that was ground up

and then pressed into a mold.

So, this would be

France, when this was first developed.

NARRATOR: In the early 18th century,

French jeweler Georg Friedrich Strass

invented what are known as "simulated gemstones."

By adding the elements of bismuth,

thallium and lead

to ground-up glass powder,

he developed a paste-like substance

that, once heated and placed into a mold,

created an artificial gemstone

that nearly equaled the brilliance and value

of actual diamonds.

LAIRD: French high society

were walking around with things like this.

And it became all the rage.

EMMA: So, 1734 would have been the invention

or introduction of this kind of crystal.

Interesting.

-Yeah. -EMMA: I do have

mid to late 1700s lead glass

-in the database. -Correct.

And this has a ten percent higher content of lead

than that glassware. So, age-wise,

early to mid-1700s...

it does fit, compositionally.

MARTY: What it squarely fits

is the duc d'Anville's expedition.

-MARTY: That's a cool find. -LAIRD: Yeah.

MARTY: What it squarely fits

is the duc d'Anville's expedition.

NARRATOR: It is a potentially revealing moment

in the Oak Island lab.

The glass gemstone that was found

near the round feature on Lot 5 has just

been scientifically proven to be a kind of

high-valued jewelry that was created in France,

back in the early 18th century.

Were both men and women wearing these?

-Yes. -NARRATOR: This means it could be another

key piece of evidence that connects

the Oak Island mystery to the duc d'Anville,

a French admiral who may have buried

a vast treasure in this area

back in 1746.

So, somebody of importance and wealth

was on Lot 5, at least, say,

visiting, at minimum.

-Yeah. -Or... or overseeing

a whole bunch of activity.

It's a crude structure.

I mean, maybe a workers' camp or something.

And a connection to the Money Pit through the soil.

NARRATOR: Could Alex and Marty's suspicion be correct

that perhaps the round feature on Lot 5

may have been used as a camp during an operation

to bury valuables in the Money Pit

and explain why the mortar-like material

found in the round feature matches soil samples

recovered from deep underground

and near the location where they are currently conducting

a large-scale excavation?

MARTY: That underscores

that somebody of importance was there.

I think so.

Somebody with wealth.

MARTY: And then throw in the date.

That's pretty significant.

Laird, I mean, you've excavated

all around the province. Is this the first one

-of these things you've found? -It is. Yeah.

MARTY: That's probably, to me,

one of the most significant things on Lot 5.

-ALEX: Yeah. -MARTY: Excellent data, excellent find,

excellent analysis.

Thank you. Food for thought for us

but hopefully we can find more stuff

in the Money Pit.

Let's go find some more.

Go find the brothers and sisters of that thing.

LAIRD: All right. Will do.

NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...

VANESSA: That was a bigger scoop.

EMBLETON: We're almost to our first target depth of interest.

NARRATOR: ...while the excavation continues

in the Money Pit area...

BILLY: You just want to check that?

'Cause that's where the boards were.

NARRATOR: ...Alex Lagina joins Katya Drayton

and Billy Gerhardt in the northern region

of the swamp to continue searching for clues

near a mysterious

wooden structure.

There is one.

KATYA: It's looking like there's no metal in them.

-ALEX: Yeah. -KATYA: Do you want to dig them out a little?

I'm going to, just a little.

Well, it... Uh...

This wood structure, whatever it is,

keeps going at least as far as here.

It seems to end here

and then, right after it,

is a rock right at the same level.

So, maybe we just scrape this off.

Maybe there's a rock platform

-or something? -Yep.

ALEX: This is the problem with digging in the swamp,

looking for man-made features.

The difference between something that's natural

and something that's made by people

can be really slight

if we don't go slowly and carefully consider

everything that we see.

BILLY: Oh, my God.

ALEX: That's enormous.

There's a couple rocks here, and there's even one lower.

I think these rocks were piled here.

Except for that big one.

NARRATOR: Piled rocks?

Could the team have found another section

of the cobblestone path?

Or perhaps a structure, like the slate vault

that they uncovered just a few yards away?

ALEX: So, I think we should call

Dr. Spooner in and have him take a look.

Yeah.

Let me send him a text here.

Well, we have this open question

about a lot of the features we find in the swamp:

Are they real, natural or man-made?

And we have Dr. Spooner to help us

to determine what they are and a date range.

-Hey, Alex. -Hey.

So, we kept digging this way.

-The board ends here, and there's a rock there. -Right.

So, the question for you is

are these rocks glacially deposited?

Or were they piled here after the swamp was in place?

-I'll have to get down there. -Yup.

Okay.

ALEX: The top of the pile of rocks--

if that's what it is-- is at end of the boards.

IAN: Okay.

This feature, to me, it's probably influenced

by people, um, mainly because of this stacked rock.

My guess: this is a similar construct

-to what we saw on the stone road. -ALEX: Yeah.

NARRATOR: In 2020,

the Oak Island team was astonished

to uncover a massive stone road in the swamp's southeast corner

that they believed was constructed

to offload some type of heavy cargo

from a ship onto Oak Island.

The team has wondered if the road was used

as a starting point to transport something up to the Money Pit.

So, if Dr. Spooner is correct

that Billy, Alex and Katya have uncovered a similar feature

in the northern region of the swamp,

then just what might it lead to?

-I'm interested where it goes. -Mm-hmm.

And, so, um, I certainly, wouldn't stop digging.

Yeah.

IAN: Let me know if you find anything else.

-Happy to come down, -ALEX: Okay. Thank you.

Okay? You're welcome.

Thank you, Dr. Spooner.

IAN: Thank you.

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

-MARTY: Vanessa. Adam. -VANESSA: Hey.

-How we doing? -Doing great.

Yeah. It's going well today.

NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina arrives in the Money Pit area

to monitor the excavation of TB-1.

VANESSA: Right now, we are at about

-87 feet with the dig. -Okay.

NARRATOR: If the data from their recent

core-drilling operation is correct,

they are not only digging at the location

of the original Money Pit, but may be on course

to recover the fabled Chappell Vault

at a depth of some 150 feet.

MARTY: All right, here we go.

-VANESSA: It's exciting. -MARTY: Yes.

JARED: There's wood.

Oh, we got some wood there.

-MARTY: Yeah, we do. -ALEX: Yeah.

TERRY: We got some beams here.

MARTY: We're gonna let you two get back to work.

-Okay. -We're gonna go check out this wood

-that's coming up. Thanks a lot. -Sounds good.

MARTY: We start to encounter wood.

We have to look at it as it comes out because

there's wood and then there's wood.

Wood that's hand-hewn, wood that might be oak,

wood that could be indicative

of the original logs in the Money Pit--

those would mean some things.

And maybe the stuff coming up means something.

All right, what do we have here?

This is actually a whole log, but you can see

how it's kind of fitted and placed in.

That's a wooden structure,

and this could be, perhaps, a support beam.

NARRATOR: Evidence of a wooden structure?

Unearthed some 90 feet in the TB-1 shaft?

If so, just what has the team discovered?

And you can see that that is tapered,

and there's axe cut right there.

MARTY: Where do you think

-that's axe cut? -An axe or an adze

has cut into that right there.

NARRATOR: Because Terry believes

that the wood has been hand-cut with an axe

or an adze, which is a kind of pre-18th century cutting tool,

could that mean that the team has recovered evidence

of the original Money Pit?

If so, might this be a critical clue

that they are on course

to retrieve the coveted Chappell Vault?

We're trying to find the Money Pit or one of the vaults.

So, it makes it an extraordinarily interesting area

-to be working in. -MARTY: Okay.

Sounds like a plan.

-Carry on. -ALEX: Will do.

NARRATOR: As the excavation continues in the Money Pit area,

several hundred feet to the east at the wash plant...

CHARLES: We got something stuck up here.

NARRATOR: ...other members of the team

are carefully sorting through the spoils

that have been removed from the TB-1 caisson

for potential clues and valuables.

Hey, Charles.

I'm gonna text Rick.

That's cool.

RICK: So, a text comes in,

and when you think about what we found in the caisson,

of the possibilities of what might be

in the spoils piles got me excited.

So, I go down to the wash plant to see what they discovered.

-Hey, fellas. -Hey. How's it going out here?

SCOTT: So far, so good.

-Derek found this on the belt. -RICK: Cool.

Look at that.

ALEX: Yeah. It's irregular, and it's square,

and it seems to be broken off at the end.

And Gary Drayton's measure is

if it's old, it's heavy, right?

-This is somewhat heavy for its size. -ALEX: Yeah.

That could be old. It could be part of original work.

I guess we'll find out when the lab takes a look at it.

We're gonna bag it and tag it and it'll go back to the lab.

-RICK: Okay. -ALEX: Well, it's a good sign

that we're finding things like that.

We could see something very interesting come through

-the machine, so... -Yeah. -Absolutely. Yeah.

-Yeah, well done. -Yeah. -Yeah.

Bottom line is things are working well.

And that's what's really key.

That's right.

I'll let you get back to work. If you need me down here,

-I'm happy to volunteer. -SCOTT: Oh, it's all good.

-Anyways, thanks, guys. -RICK: All right.

Good luck.

NARRATOR: While the sorting of spoils continues

at the wash plant...

KATYA: They've been doing very well.

NARRATOR: ...back in the Money Pit area,

Alex Lagina has joined Katya Drayton and Terry Matheson

as the excavation proceeds deeper in TB-1.

-All good. -Clear?

NARRATOR: Before these freshly-removed spoils

are transported down to the wash plant,

Katya conducts a preliminary scan

for signs of anything composed of metal.

(loud beeping)

-Okay. -Sounds like it's there. -Let's see.

It's not that, is it?

KATYA: Um... no.

-(beeping) -ALEX: Oh, it's still there?

KATYA: It's still there.

TERRY: Okay. Look at that.

ALEX: More wood?

TERRY (imitates Schwarzenegger): I'll be back.

ALEX: You're on it there.

That's it.

Wow.

ALEX: That's it.

-Wow. -KATYA: A huge spike.

Yeah, it looks wrought, it looks old.

-KATYA: Old is good. -Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR: Just after the Oak Island team

recovered possible evidence

of the original Money Pit

some 90 feet deep in the TB-1 shaft,

Alex Lagina and Katya Drayton have just made another

potentially important discovery.

TERRY: What do you got there?

KATYA: We found a very big spike.

ALEX: A huge spike.

TERRY: That's really something. Wow.

-Find some neat stuff? -KATYA: Oh, yeah.

Finding some interesting stuff, for sure.

Some just bizarre stuff. I mean,

we're finding wood from...

we don't even really know.

-ALEX: Hey. -Hey.

-Rick, how you doing? -RICK: What's up?

-Kind of interesting. -TERRY: Yeah.

So, we hit a lot of wood, 91 feet below grade.

These are limbs that have been cut off here, cut off there.

And there's a mate to this just over on the ground there.

RICK: We have all kinds of data

that strongly hints that there is something to be found here.

We just have to stay the course and be patient.

Is this

an opportunity to find the one thing?

Maybe even the treasure itself?

Sure it is.

This area is of significance.

I've got my fingers and my toes crossed

because I well and truly believe

that we will find something in this location.

That's definitely wrought iron. You can see it there.

It's extremely heavy,

so, I think this might tell us a story.

-So, we need to pay attention. -Yeah.

I'd like to take this to Emma.

If it is very old, that tells us, "You know what?

Guys, we're close to something."

Yeah, exactly.

Find the one thing, everything else will follow.

-TERRY: For sure. -RICK: At some point,

-all will be revealed. -Yeah. -TERRY: Absolutely.

RICK: You know, look,

it's-it's phenomenal, so, thank you.

-VANESSA: All right. -TERRY: All right. Thank you.

NARRATOR: For Rick, Marty, Craig

and their devoted fellowship,

what could prove to be the most historic

and revealing excavation in the Money Pit is now underway.

But as they dig deeper

into the heart of this 230-year-old mystery

and continue to uncover clues

all across these mysterious 140 acres,

a critical question needs to be asked.

Just what depths will the forces that have long protected

Oak Island's secrets go to

in order to ensure they remain...

buried?

Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...

-GARY: We got wood. -ALEX: That's a lot of wood

we're bringing out.

MARTY: Roman numeral three there?

-Yeah. -It's the oldest-looking wood we've found.

We're close to something.

-I got a hit. -That sounds good.

-Here it is. It's right on top. -(Jack gasps)

Wow!

The book states that some

Biblical treasures went to Oak Island.

JOHN EDWARDS: The feature on the map

is outlined exactly like the stone feature found

at the north end of the swamp.

This is big.

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