Original subtitles

Narrator: Tonight on the curse of oak island...

-Marty: Wow. -Charles: This is the tupper shaft,

-which was ten feet away from the money pit. -Great, guys.

Ian: I think we're sort of on to something right in here.

-There's a lot of rocks. -Yeah, they're fitted.

-Ian: Oh, yeah. Something was built here. -Yeah.

-Oh. -What is that?

-Alex: That's leather. -Dan h.: Looks like

-a heel from a shoe. -Yeah.

Something like that could be a breakthrough.

Craig, what do we got?

95% sure, 1492.

How about that?

Medieval, baby!

narrator: There is an island in the north atlantic

where people have been looking for an incredible treasure

for more than 200 years.

So far, they have found a stone slab

with strange symbols carved into it,

mysterious fragments of human bone,

and a lead cross whose origin may stretch back

to the days of the knights templar.

To date, six men have died trying to solve the mystery.

And, according to legend,

one more will have to die

before the treasure can be found.

-rick: He's digging this edge? -Craig: Yeah.

Craig: Just taking it on down. Looking for the rocks.

Just working his way back, so we'll be starting from out here.

Narrator: Another exciting day has just begun on oak island

as brothers rick and marty lagina,

their partner craig tester, and members of their team

continue excavating one of the most intriguing features

ever discovered in the 225-year-old hunt

for a legendary treasure:

A massive stone pathway in the southeast corner

of the triangle-shaped swamp

that is also heading into the uplands,

possibly toward the fabled money pit.

Liz: All right, well,

we've got this kind of dip here, so I think if we start here

and we'll just work back up to where it comes back up.

-How deep do you want to go? -Not too deep.

I think we want to keep all the rocks in place

if they're larger than a softball.

-Okay. -Just get all the dirt out in between them.

Rick: You know, the archaeologists are-are quite excited

about finding this stone road.

I think, as non-archaeologists, we're chomping

at the bit to move this forward a bit more aggressively,

but if it is as unique as they attest,

we have to be patient and do this appropriately.

now, that's an old piece of glass.

rick, in that last scoop,

I found a really old piece of glass.

-Craig: Oh, really? -Definitely an old piece, yeah.

Hopefully there's some more parts of it.

Could have a seal on it.

That's an old piece.

Check it out, mate.

You can tell with the iridescence on it.

And look at that thickness there, and it goes down to thin.

Craig: Hmm.

-Nice. -Yep.

-Craig: See the air bubbles? -Rick: Good eye.

-Oh, yeah. -Beautiful, isn't it?

-Lot of air bubbles. -Yeah.

Gary: It was like one of those old pirate bottles,

the dutch onion bottles.

This is probably anywhere from 1600

to late 1700s.

Narrator: A potential pirate bottle?

And possibly dating back as far as the 1600s?

Invented by the english privateer sir kenelm digby

in the 1630s,

so-called dutch onion bottles were commonly used

to contain wine, rum, or other refreshments

and featured a thick design for durability

on the rough, high seas.

Is it possible that this bottle,

perhaps just like the 1652 spanish maravedi coin

found in the swamp seven years ago,

might be a critical clue as to who made this stone road

and when?

If you could bag and tag it, that would be great, liz.

Yeah, sure.

I'll keep an eye out for more.

-Rick: Got it? -Liz: Yep.

That was an hand-blown bottle.

Okay, I'll get back to business.

Narrator: While the excavation in the swamp continues,

at the wash table near borehole 10-x...

One, two, three.

...Marty lagina's son alex,

along with his cousin peter fornetti,

treasure hunters dan henskee and michael john,

are carefully searching the spoils that were excavated

last year in the money pit area

from the eight-foot-wide borehole known as 8-b.

These spoils are still of interest to rick, marty

and the team because 8-b is located

just ten feet southwest of borehole oc-1,

where last year they discovered evidence

of a wooden tunnel some 150 feet underground

that was dated to 1706.

Now, if you see something that doesn't belong underground,

we should set it aside and have somebody

-take a look at it anyway. -Sure. Okay.

Dan h.: This looks like a little piece

of planed wood.

Sure does.

Dan h.: That's usually a good sign

if it was in situ when it was, uh, excavated.

Mm-hmm.

Dan h.: A little more wood.

More red rocks, quite a bit.

Alex: Oh.

Yeah, what is that?

Alex: What do you think this is?

-Careful there. -Yeah, I don't want to...

-Looks like leather almost. -It...

For sure looks like leather.

-Like a heel. -Or a heel?

-Yeah, it could be a heel. -Heel?

Narrator: A possible boot heel

found in the spoils of borehole 8-b?

Could it be connected in some way to the tunnel found in oc-1?

And perhaps a deposit in the fabled money pit treasure shaft?

Hey, dan. What do you think this is?

Dan h.: Oh, more of the same or less of it?

Yeah.

Looks like a heel from a shoe, for sure.

Maybe a piece of footwear from the 1400s, maybe?

-I don't know,

but this is exactly the kind of thing

that we're looking for.

I mean, the-- I don't know how old it is.

But this, we keep it separate, if we bag it separately,

we might be able to determine how old this is,

when it was made, when it would have been used.

So, something like that could be a breakthrough.

All right, guys, let's clean this one up

and then let's go check in with the guys.

Peter: All right.

Narrator: Later that afternoon

in the money pit area...

Hey, terry. It looks like we've got some wood here.

-Terry: Oh, yes. -...A core-drilling operation

designed by craig tester

continues in the hopes of tracking the path

of a possible tunnel discovered in borehole oc-1.

Brennan: Is it something substantial?

Well, it looks like it has

all the appearance of a shaft in an area

where we have no real records.

So it's an unknown shaft.

Okay.

Narrator: Currently, the team is drilling borehole c-9,

where they have just discovered what appears to be

a wooden shaft some 95 feet deep underground.

The question now is,

was it built by a previous searcher

trying to reach the money pit,

or could it be the original money pit itself?

Terry: We got something pretty new and interesting here.

We've got a solid section of shaft wall.

Which shaft?

This is unusual.

Brennan: A lot of wood there.

-Craig: Hey, guys. -Terry: Hey, guys. How you doing?

-Wood, wood, wood. -Wood, wood, wood. It looks like

this is a shaped piece.

We've got a good section of shaft wall.

This is a piece we hit at about,

say, 95-ish feet,

and you can see it's been shaped,

and it was at 45 degrees to the run of the drill.

So that says you're in some kind of an interesting support.

Some crosspiece or something, I would say.

Charles: Let's do dan blankenship's test.

Do you have a bucket?

-Right over here. -Let's do it.

Charles: One of the things that dan blankenship

taught us, whenever we find wood a-at depth on oak island,

you put it in water. If it sinks, it's old.

If it floats, it's much newer.

Here we go.

Right to the bottom.

That's been down there a long time.

Well, what is it?

Craig: Let's bring the next ones up.

Narrator: Could it be possible that the oak island team

has finally discovered the original money pit?

If so, could it also mean that they are finally close

to discovering what people have been searching for since 1795?

Brennan: So, that's the deepest part here. This one here.

That's 108, 98 to 108.

Pretty dense.

Oh, little chunks of wood in it.

Rick: Here's a good piece right here.

-Look at that piece. -Terry: Oh, yeah.

There's another angled piece.

Charles, you want to test that one?

Charles: Yeah.

Narrator: Because the team feels certain

that they may have obtained evidence

of a potentially ancient structure,

charles barkhouse is now checking the core sample

with a handheld metal detector

to see if they might have also recovered

-anything of value.

got something here.

charles: God, please be a coin.

It's right here.

terry: That's an enigma.

Rick: We should call gary,

have him come down.

- Terry: Hi, gary. - Gary: How you doing, mate?

-We've got an enigma here. -Yeah.

Narrator: After retrieving a core sample

from a depth of 95 feet in borehole c-9

that contains not only possible evidence

of the original money pit

but potentially something of value,

the team has called in metal detection expert gary drayton

to scan the spoils.

So, maybe you could try with your pinpointer,

-but it was r-right in here. -Okay, mate.

-Right there.

and I've got this on maximum sensitivity.

Charles: If you go down too close to the table,

-you will pick up the screws, though. -Yeah. I'll go

all the way down the line.

No, not getting anything.

yeah, there's iron in here.

Here that rapid vibration?

Definite iron in there.

-Cool. -So if you split that

and see if the shank of the nail is square,

that means it's an old nail.

If it's round, it's more modern.

-let's see what it is.

Keep that separate. Bust it open.

-yeah.

It's that piece there, mate.

-Oh, it's in that piece of wood. -Yep. It's inside the wood.

Yeah.

Let's see, craig.

Right in there is where I thought it was.

Here?

Yeah.

Rick: Gary?

-rick: Where is it? -It's not in there.

-That means it's fallen out.

-terry: Aha.

gary: Hmm. Interesting.

I would say that...

-Square. -...Is, yeah, square.

That's the end of a square nail.

That's fantastic.

So you're in the 1700s with this.

Charles: Wow.

Just a little piece of iron like this can be

-a valuable clue. -It's amazing... Oh, my gosh, I guess.

Narrator: A square nail?

Possibly predating the discovery of the money pit?

Every such clue not only validates

that craig tester's drilling program

may be zeroing in on the original money pit

but perhaps also something of incredible value.

I...

Was shocked as anyone

to find the little piece of nail within the core.

I think we were all shocked.

-Square nail. -Gary: Yeah.

Well, what are the dates?

Uh...

Anytime from...

: Roman days all the way

to the late 1700s.

Terry: I would say, yeah.

Hand-crafted.

-We nailed it, mate.

nailed it.

-There's a full drayton. -Yeah.

Craig: Okay, let's continue.

Terry: All right.

narrator: The following morning,

while the investigations continue in the swamp

and in the money pit area...

In the war room...

Rick: Hello, everyone.

Hey, everyone.

Narrator: ...Rick and marty lagina,

along with members of the team, have gathered

for a meeting via video conference

with chemistry expert dr. Christa brosseau.

She has an important update on a rose-head spike

encrusted with a kind of concrete material...

Hey, jack, check this out.

-Whoa. -...That was found two weeks ago

in the oc-1 spoils.

Look at that head.

Narrator: A spike which has already been determined

to predate the discovery of the original money pit.

Rick: So, this is one of our favorite war rooms, when...

The science can be brought inside of the war room

and test results are given.

We are grateful that dr. Brosseau,

again, at our request,

has, uh, done some testing

of the so-called oc-1 spike.

Yes, I have the spike with me.

And so we looked at the spike already,

and then you asked me to look

at the sort of aggregated material that was on the spike.

When I did the elemental analysis

of this cement-like layer,

what I found is that the calcium content in particular

is very low.

Which means this is inconsistent with either...

A natural or portland cement,

which would typically have

a calcium content greater than 30%.

Usually, 40% to 60% is more typical.

So when I look at everything together,

this looks more like

a low-calcium fly ash cement or coal ash cement than...

A natural or portland cement.

Rick: Wow. That cement

is associated with the chappell vault,

the oak island treasure company vault.

And that's important. I mean, it's been...

-Sought after since they first found it... Encountered it. -1897. Yeah.

Narrator: It was in the summer of 1897

when treasure hunters frederick blair and william chappell

drilled into what they reported to be

a seven-foot-tall wooden box in the money pit

at a depth of 153 feet

that was encased in a kind of concrete.

When they extracted their drill bit,

they were stunned to discover not only traces of gold

but also a piece of parchment paper

bearing the letters v-I.

Unfortunately, as they began to dig in an attempt to retrieve

what came to be known as the chappell vault,

the shaft flooded and caved in from what was believed to be

a man-made booby trap.

Is it possible that this rose-head spike

found in borehole oc-1

might be connected to the actual treasure vault

believed to be buried deep somewhere in the money pit area?

Marty: The finding of this fly ash material

is consistent with several stories.

I mean, if you buy the whole concept of the money pit,

it was designed to be flooded

by somebody who wasn't supposed to be there. Well...

Whatever you have deposited there

you don't want to get wrecked.

So you would construct a waterproof vault of some sort.

Let's say wood with, say, a coating of this fly ash mortar

and then coated with clay,

it could make a box that would be waterproof for--

my guess is thousands of years.

Dr. Brosseau, do you have the data from the rose-head spike?

I-I'm just curious.

Yep, I do.

So, the rose-head spike--

so, the spike that is part of this conglomeration--

came back as: Iron's clean,

no manganese.

Style of the spike is

sort of pre-1790.

The lack of manganese indicates pre-1840.

And the iron does have some phosphorous, about .5%.

So about 60%

of iron ore coming out of the u.K.

Has about... Greater than 0.2% phosphorous.

-Hmm. -So that's sort of a central area

where phosphoric iron tends to originate from

throughout history.

Narrator: The rose-head spike?

Dating to before the discovery of the money pit?

And possibly of british origin?

Earlier this year, rick, marty and the team

investigated a stone structure

some 200 yards north of the money pit on lot 15...

Well, this is historically important.

...That archaeologist david macinnes believes

could be a 16th century british military pine tar kiln,

one that he and fellow archaeologist laird niven

also suspect might be connected

to the construction of the original money pit.

Could this discovery be evidence that the team is not only close

to locating the long-fabled treasure vault

but perhaps also identifying

who was behind the oak island mystery?

I feel like we're playing a really difficult game of clue.

-you know? You know, I mean,

it's just, just mind-boggling.

Dr. Brosseau, we thank you very much, as always.

Christa: Yeah, for sure. It's my pleasure.

Hopefully it's helpful to you.

Excellent. Thank you very much.

Christa: Bye, everyone.

Rick: Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Ter their meeting with dr. Brosseau...

: This better be good, charles.

...Marty lagina arrives at the money pit area

after receiving news

of a potentially important development

in borehole c-8.5.

It is in this area where,

just one day ago, the team discovered

possible evidence of the original treasure shaft.

Terry: Look what we've intersected.

That-that appears to be a rounded piece of wood,

which speaks to something older

as opposed to dimensional lumber.

Marty: Show me where this-- what well are we on?

Terry: Right here. C-8.5.

This came up, though, at only 40 feet?

Terry: Yep.

Marty: Is it oak?

Terry: Well, take a look at the grain in it.

I think it might be.

Let's wash her up. Sure.

Charles: We're pretty excited about this find, marty.

We believe, both doug and I strongly believe

that this is the tupper shaft.

Narrator: In 1850, the truro company,

including anthony vaughn,

who, along with daniel mcginnis and john smith,

had discovered the original money pit in 1795,

made the second major attempt in oak island history

to retrieve the fabled treasure vault.

Because the money pit began flooding

when they dug down to a depth of 98 feet,

adams tupper, the company's mining engineer,

excavated an adjacent shaft ten feet to the northwest.

Upon reaching a depth of 109 feet

in the so-called tupper shaft,

the team began tunneling laterally toward the money pit

in the hopes of retrieving the vault

from below its believed resting place.

Unfortunately, seawater soon rushed into the tunnel,

bringing the operation to a devastating end.

Charles: We have never found this before, other than...

-A couple drill holes. -Marty: Yeah, this one just showed up

on craig's last hole, right?

-Yes. Yes. -Yeah.

And this is a completely unexplored area that we're in.

Narrator: Is it possible that the oak island team

has indeed found the so-called tupper shaft?

If so, could it be another potential key

to helping the team pinpoint the original money pit?

The question is, marty, where do we go from here?

Do we chase this thing?

Should we define the shaft more,

or-or basically go by what we have now?

-Put on paper what you have now, charles... -Okay.

...And let's let-- let's let the fellowship

-have a look at it. -Sure.

I agree with you guys. It needs--

it needs analyzing and kicking around.

We thought we had our theories and targets

kind of rounded out for the year.

Well, guess what,

uh, in-in the future,

I see a lot more investigation,

probably drill proving over in this area.

Okay, guys. Well, that's-- this was a fun little deal,

and I'm glad we're at least finding something,

because this drill program hasn't been

quite as rewarding as the swamp.

But may-maybe right here it will be.

Let's fish a doubloon out of here.

Sounds good to me.

Narrator: While the drilling operation continues at the money pit...

-I love this section of halifax. -Yeah, me, too.

...Charles barkhouse

and fellow oak island historian doug crowell

have traveled some 50 miles northeast of oak island,

where they arrive at the dawson print shop

in halifax, nova scotia.

Hi, joe.

Hello.

As promised, we are back.

Narrator: They have come to share

two recent finds

with rare manuscript conservator and leather expert joe landry.

One being the potential boot heel

discovered one day ago in the spoils of borehole 8-b

and the other a large piece of mysterious leather

that was found earlier this year in the spoils of borehole 8-a.

Have a couple interesting, uh, pieces here.

-Okay. -What we're doing is we're processing

what we call the spoils, all the material

that came up out of the caissons from last year.

-Mm-hmm. -We had so much of it,

we didn't get it all washed before the cold weather set in.

These two pieces of material

came out of separate caissons but look surprisingly similar.

So, we're wondering if you think

they are from the same object or associated in some way.

Okay. Sure.

Oh, yes.

Doug: Of course, the question on our mind is,

could it be part of a-a bookbinding?

Joe: No, it's not likely.

It's not the way we attach leather onto a book.

From what I'm seeing here, the weight of the leather

and-and the holes punched along these two sides

sort of in-indicate a...

More of a-a garment, uh, use for this.

You can see the-- all these very fine holes.

Again, in a-- in a-- in a less expensive item,

you know, the holes would be further apart,

so the person isn't spending so much time sewing.

This is quite a fine, uh...

Quite a fine stitch.

Doug: These companies and individuals

that were pursuing the treasure hunt,

they were hiring laborers to dig their shafts

and-and the tunnels, in search of the treasure.

So you don't picture that they'd be wearing anything high-end.

-You know, they'd be wearing work clothes. -Yeah.

So, to find something that could be high-end garments,

then that could speak to something

prior to the discovery of the money pit,

perhaps even during the deposit.

Charles: Here's the other one we have, joe.

Quite a substantial piece there, so...

It is.

Oh, yes, this is a heavier, uh, piece of leather.

You can see by the shape h-here

that this-this was likely used for the sole of a...

Of a boot or a, you know, a-a...

Or a heavier, uh, pair of shoes, perhaps.

Charles: Is there any way to tell from the thickness

whether that would be like a high-end item,

as opposed to more of a... More common item?

Joe: Weight of the leather and the-- and the, uh, finish

on-on the shape and such,

it's-it's quite likely they were made for a...

For a somewhat more wealthy, uh, customer.

Or a sea captain or someone of stature?

-Yes. Yeah. -As opposed to,

you know, common laborer or, you know,

-a regular seaman. -Exactly.

Narrator: Could it be that this leather artifact

is also connected to other recent finds

such as the dutch onion bottle

found on the stone pathway in the swamp,

which has been speculated

to possibly lead toward the money pit?

And, if so, could it also be connected

to the original depositors of the fabled treasure vault?

It's, uh, beautifully shaped.

The leather isn't quite as heavy as it would have been

in a, you know, very heavy work boot.

Um, you can see the leather

has even been folded over here on the edge.

It gives it a-a very nice finish.

So, the captain of the ship obviously

-is gonna have a-a finer pair of boots than the, uh... -Right.

-Charles: Common sailor. -Yeah. Mm.

So, both of these samples are-are,

in your estimation, are more-more high-end,

because of the thickness or-or because of the shape

in the-- in the type of leather.

Yeah, and the sewing and such on this one, it, uh...

You know, it indicated a finer finish, I think.

-Yeah. -Very interesting. -Yeah.

-We've got a lot of theories that involve sea captains. -Charles: Oh.

Spanish, portuguese, I mean...

Or the french, too.

But leather, that-that can be carbon-dated, right?

That's an organic.

Charles: Yeah.

I think it begs testing.

Yeah.

Well, thank you very much.

-You're welcome. -You've been-- you've given us more work to do.

doug: Hope to see you again soon.

narrator: Meanwhile, back on oak island,

rick lagina, craig tester,

dr. Ian spooner

and heavy equipment expert billy gerhardt

gather at the eastern bank of the swamp

to continue their investigation

of a mysterious stone pathway in the southeastern corner.

In my mind, the rock isn't gonna continue on forever, right?

They'd just use the soil.

But what we should try to do is...

Right about here, just do a trench.

So we can walk down into it and see if we see that hard pan.

But cut it right straight across,

from the stone. If we don't hit it,

then cut it-- cut one downhill from there.

Yeah.

Narrator: In order to help trace

the borders of the stone feature,

as well as attempt to uncover more evidence

of any other man-made structures,

billy will continue excavating a shallow trench

along the eastern edge of the swamp.

Rick: The idea is to see if the stone feature,

the stone road,

may lead into the upland or it may turn to the north.

The only way to discern that is to crosscut it

and look for some sort of working by humans.

My hope is that there's something here.

I mean, sure would be nice.

Point you in the right direction, right?

Anyway, it's--

-this should prove interesting. -Yeah.

Narrator: As billy excavates the trench,

metal detection expert gary drayton arrives

to scan the spoils for any potential clues

or valuable artifacts.

Nothing yet?

Nothing.

Didn't even see any pottery.

Ian: So, what the hope is,

where it goes from orange to brown,

it's in that horizon that we're gonna see

something that might help us identify the road.

Definitely rocky.

-ooh. That's a boulder. -Ooh, that's a big boulder.

I think it's all rocks here.

Craig: There's a lot of rocks

-right in the next foot though. -Billy: Yeah. Just...

-Just to that one point. -Yeah.

Ian: I think we're sort of onto something

right in here.

We'll just clean it off. Take a look.

Okay.

little bit disturbed down here.

All the way down there.

Yeah, big stones here.

Like, see how these rocks,

the-the mud around them,

it's not sea horizon-- it's a soil.

And they're close-fit together.

So, that in and of itself is pretty important.

Something is built here,

as far as I'm concerned.

Narrator: The stone pathway,

curving up and running along the eastern border of the swamp?

Or has the team just uncovered

another completely separate stone pathway?

If so, what was its purpose?

And just where does it lead?

Coincidence or not, it's definitely different

above the road than what it is over there.

-Rick: Yes, it is. -Deeper, different material,

more-- all the rocks at the bottom.

I guess, if we go a little further, that may tell.

Rick: The orientation of this stone road

seems very strange to me.

It appears to

rather curve towards the north and west,

obviously well away from the money pit.

And so I don't know what to make of it.

Is there some sort of connection there?

Again, the need to further the investigation

and further the scope of the area, uh, worth investigating.

got a signal here, rick.

well, that definite ring, ring, ring

means it's iron.

And it's small.

What the heck is that?

-Rick: That a key?

that's what it looks like, doesn't it?

Narrator: While metal detecting the spoils

that have been removed

from the mysterious stone pathway in the oak island swamp,

gary drayton has just made what could be

an important discovery.

It's got a square hole there.

It's not looking like a key anymore though.

No, it looks like some kind of a little latch.

What we just found, to me,

looks like an handle or a lever,

even maybe used on a barrel,

maybe a keg key.

I'm not sure what this is, but it looks a nice old shape,

because it's got a square hole in it.

-It's pretty crudely made. -It is, yeah.

I notice even the square hole's a bit off.

-Is it iron? -Yeah, it's definitely iron.

Looks like some kind of like a... A little lever.

Like you would see on a cask.

Narrator: A possible lever

off an iron cask or barrel?

Could it be key evidence of cargo being transported

along this stone road in what has been determined

to be a man-made swamp?

If so, what kind of cargo was it?

And why was all evidence of the operation so carefully hidden?

Mm. Yeah, that's a tough one to tell whether it's old or new.

We won't know till it's cleaned up.

This lever or key confirms

why surface metal detecting is so important

to the swamp work, because

it's telling the story of what went on in the swamp,

and helping date this feature.

So, the key question is, no matter what this is,

does it have a direct connection

to the treasure story? The mystery?

I got to believe it's connected to the treasure story.

That was big, you know, and you've got

the rocks down here, it gets bigger,

then you... A road through here. I mean,

you're talking a massive amount of time.

-Right. -And people to do this.

And then I go to what's the chances

at this time period of there being two massive things

-going on oak island at the same time. -True. Very true.

Marty: The whole thing with this very enigmatic stone road

and the path that leads from it

is, what's its purpose? Where is it going?

It might go off into the swamp, maybe towards the eye,

or it might swing to the right

and go up the hill towards the money pit.

So, anything we might find there could be highly relevant

and kind of exciting.

Rick: Where does it go?

That's the question.

Let's hope this is the offramp to treasure.

: Yeah.

That's why we got to keep shoveling.

Ian: Yup.

Gary: There's so much going on in this area.

Craig: Yeah, who knows what else there is.

Narrator: The following day...

He's just going to clear a little ways ahead and then

-do a very disciplined dig. -Okay.

Narrator: ...Rick lagina, craig tester,

billy gerhardt and metal detection expert gary drayton

continue their investigation of what appears

to be a second stone pathway in the triangle-shaped swamp.

I want to follow that rock feature there.

Right.

Billy: Just an early observation

-to your, uh, left there... -Craig: Oh, yeah.

-Gary: The big flat stone? -Billy: ...Is a flat rock,

which pretty well lines up.

-Oh, yeah. Right in line here. -Yeah.

Rick: I don't know. Maybe our best bet is just,

-we have a feature, let's just follow it. -Yeah.

Rick: This stone road and this stone path are mystifying.

What is the reason for a road in a bog?

What is the reason for a stone path along the edge of a bog?

Where does it go? At the end of this,

is there possible treasure?

That's why we're here.

So, my hope is that we are on-- no pun intended--

that we are on the right path

towards solving this treasure mystery,

but there's work to do.

Craig: It's more like dirt than swamp at this point.

Rick: Yup.

Rick: There is black dirt.

You want to poke in it a little?

Yeah.

a few rocks.

Craig: Yeah. It sure seems like a lot

cutting right in that corner there.

I think that might be it right there.

Rick: Hey, steve!

Do we have the rocks?

Craig: Yeah, right here.

Steve g.: Oh. We might have 'em.

Rick: Well, we'd like to know the elevation

of where they're working-- is it similar to this one?

Craig: The little rocks. Yeah.

-Steve g.: The small ones? -The small feature. Yup.

-Okay, I can give you that. -Narrator: In an attempt

to determine if this grouping of stones is an extension

of the newly discovered stone pathway, some 40 feet away,

surveyor steve guptill will take precise measurements

of their respective elevations.

It's the same.

You're two feet above sea level here, which is consistent

to those rocks. So, the top here is the same there,

and the elevation at the bottom, on the cobble, is the same.

If you're saying that that level

-is precisely this level... -Mm-hmm.

...Then maybe, just maybe, there's some sort of connection.

But then it comes down to, where does it go and why?

-Yeah. -Rick: It seems like

oak island always throws a curveball.

Well, now we've got a feature

that may be an association with some type of construct

for possibly a wagon or a cart to move,

but it's moving away from the money pit, so,

where are we headed now?

It's very strange, very strange.

I think the key is, uh, timing.

-Yeah. -Does this line up

with the stone road, in terms of when?

-I agree. -One way or the other,

we-we will come to some sort of understanding of what this is.

Thanks, guys.

Narrator: Before another productive day

on oak island comes to an end...

-Hey, gentlemen! -Hey, everybody.

Narrator: ...Brothers rick and marty lagina

gather in the war room with members

of their team for a new report

on the leather recently discovered in borehole 8-b.

-Hey, guys. -Rick: So, craig,

we have the piece of leather here in front of us,

but you have the results, and we're hoping for good news.

Yeah, this was the, uh, sample from caisson 8-b.

Marty: So, we know where this came from,

we've analyzed the results.

Talk to us, craig. What do we got?

I've got two time periods,

but there's such a small gap between them,

it's basically one time period.

95% sure this is

what it is--

1492 to 1662.

-1492? -Isn't that amazing?

-Holy crap. -1492 to 1662.

This is overwhelming information.

-These are dramatic numbers. -They're interesting numbers.

-You bet they are. -I mean,

columbus could have been

-wearing this shoe.

gary's word again. I'm gobsmacked.

I can't believe it.

So, this is indeed old, very old.

I don't have to comment on the 1492 date.

Everybody knows what that one means, and...

But 1660 is equally amazing.

Look, that's a hundred and... 40 years or so

before the discovery of the money pit.

Yet, it's underground.

What's going on?

A 95% chance this thing is way older

than we thought it was.

Yup. This is no way is this searchers.

It's got to be the original people.

Alex: Pretty good odds.

Yeah.

We initially thought it was just rubber.

But, doug, you brought this to joe landry, correct?

Charles and I did, yes.

Surprisingly, he had an opinion on it,

an observation that we weren't expecting.

He said that it was from a refined or dress type of boot.

Not a work boot, not the type of thing you'd expect

a worker or a searcher in the money pit to be wearing.

-A dressy item. -Rick: We shouldn't

-grab this... -Laird: Yeah.

...Unless we have gloves, but

that is the item we're referencing.

Marty: Look, this is what I've been looking for for years.

What do you make of it, laird?

Yeah. No, I wasn't expecting...

-1492 for some reason.

are you starting to believe there might be treasure here?

Laird: Well, as we said before,

-it's difficult to argue with the science. -Yeah.

-No. You can't argue with science. -Yeah.

Marty: You can't pick and choose your data.

This is gigantically impactful.

Craig: Yeah.

Marty: I don't know how else to say it.

And you got that right, mate. 1492, this piece of leather

would be significant anywhere in north america.

-Marty: Yes, it would. -1492!

-Yeah, you're right. -That's true.

He is right. The fact is, even at

the least old age, it way, way, predates the finding

of the money pit, by a long ways.

By several generations, is a good way to look at it.

-More than that. -Yeah, that's a lot of generations,

-particularly back then. -Yeah, yeah.

So, it's just getting to be too many dates that say something

very significant happened,

and now in... Directly in the money pit area,

you know, not the swamp, and not smith's cove,

directly in the money pit.

Very significant.

-It's-it's a dramatic find. -Yes, it is.

It could change, could change

our understanding of the money pit.

I think this is a very big victory.

-I agree. -I agree.

Gary: Medieval, baby!

Narrator: For a year that began

with the grim prospect that new discoveries

on oak island might be an impossibility,

rick, marty, craig and their devoted team

have, so far, been able to realize more good fortune

than ever in their quest to solve a 225-year-old mystery.

But from the incredible finds being made in the swamp

and the money pit area, how close might they actually be

to uncovering the island's carefully guarded secrets?

As they press forward toward that ultimate revelation,

like so many in the past have attempted,

just what kind of fortune awaits them?

Narrator: Next time on the curse of oak island...

Billy: Ready for a bobby-dazzler, gary.

Look at that! This is probably

-one of the eye bolts. -Wow.

-colton robinson: 28! -Terry: Wood at 24.

-Wow! -That's what we want to see.

It's completely virgin ground.

I've got a signal, guys! Ooh, we've got a lock.

Hey, what's a lock doing in here?

This is part of a lock.

I'm going to say it's for a box, or a trunk, or a heavy chest.

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