NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island...
GARY: Ooh, look at that.
Fantastic, mate! This is old.
LAIRD: Often the detail is really cryptic.
RICK: The only people who would do that would be Templars.
‐There has got to be more out there. ‐Oh! What's that?
Oh! Sweet.
‐ALEX: Oh, wow. ‐IAN: We took the samples to analyze
for silver, and we got a spike.
There is every reason to believe down in those holes
‐there's treasure. ‐MARTY: Oh, baby!
JACK: Oh, no way!
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: It is brisk up here.
TERRY: Cross your fingers, dude.
It's only supposed to get up to ten today.
NARRATOR: It is the beginning of the final week
that Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with their team, have to conduct major search operations
this year on Oak Island.
Now that the harsh North Atlantic winter is setting in,
they are nearly out of time, at least for now,
to attempt to solve the 226‐year‐old treasure mystery.
However, in a year
that has seen more progress than any before it,
they intend to use every precious second they have left
to locate the fabled treasure vault
believed to lie buried deep in the original Money Pit.
The 1706 wood is right here, inside of OC‐1.
‐Yep. ‐And a lot of the early drilling we were doing
‐for Craig was chasing that. ‐Yeah.
So, based on our discussion last night, we've come up with
‐this location, C‐11.5. ‐RICK: Yep.
We still need a second, uh, intersection point so we can
get some linear fashion to that 1706 structure.
Well, let's go to 118, see if we're chasing
anything at all, and then make the call then.
‐Okay. ‐RICK: All righty.
‐TERRY: Oh! Bingo! ‐CHARLES: We've got wood!
NARRATOR: During their core drilling program this year,
the team has found numerous compelling clues
spanning an area of more than 50 feet wide
between Boreholes C‐1 and OC‐1
that include evidence of wood tunnels
nearly 90 feet deep that all pre‐date
the discovery of the Money Pit by as much as 150 years.
Hey, Jack. Check this out.
Whoa. Good find, Mike.
NARRATOR: However, it was in the spoils of OC‐1
that the team discovered a hand‐forged rose head spike
encrusted with man‐made concrete.
It was this kind of material
that surrounded a seven‐foot‐high wooden vault
that treasure hunters Frederick Blair and William Chappell
reportedly drilled into back in 1897.
RICK: Where is the Money Pit?
Right now, we have two areas that
we're significantly interested in, one around C‐1
and one around OC‐1.
We are finding shafts and possible tunnels
that are not delineated from any historical context.
Again, you have to stay focused.
And so, we'll take our time to develop
the X marks the spot for the vault.
So, we got our marching orders. We go to 118,
unless we see something, then we go deeper
‐until we are out of it. Okay. ‐Yep.
‐RICK: Okay, let's get after it. ‐STEVE G.: Yeah.
NARRATOR: While the drilling operation in the Money Pit area continues...
‐...later that morning... ‐MARTY: Hey, guys!
‐Hello! ‐NARRATOR: ...Marty Lagina,
his partner Craig Tester and Jack Begley
have gathered in the war room
for a meeting via video conference
with Rick and geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner.
Dr. Spooner, I understand you have a concept for us that
may help us with our sort of quest in the Money Pit.
So far, the drilling has been great, but it
hasn't found us what we are looking for.
Yeah, basically what we want to do is help you guys
‐put an X on the map. ‐Okay.
So, the idea is
to look at water, uh, down drill holes that exist
because the water in those wells should reflect
the chemistry of the ground that they interact with.
Mm‐hmm.
And so, I talked to Dr. Matt Lukeman at Arcadia.
He's an excellent chemist.
And Matt and I thought, you know,
well, how would we identify
whether or not there was treasure?
How would we help you with that?
And so, the bottom line is
silver in the day was by and large things other than silver.
It had copper, zinc in it, and silver itself does corrode.
So, the idea is
to basically to do a pathfinder study and look
for those elements in the water.
Great.
NARRATOR: As metals such as copper, zinc, and silver
lie submerged in water for long periods of time,
they will corrode,
and their particles will gradually leach out
into plumes that become less and less concentrated
as they migrate through open space.
If these types of metals do in fact lie deep
in the ground of the Money Pit area,
Dr. Spooner's pathfinder water test of the flooded boreholes
as well as the man‐made tunnels,
should be able to detect them.
I absolutely love this idea of Dr. Spooner's.
If there's a massive amount of metal down there somewhere,
it should be leaching into the waters.
Let's test it for the very things which we seek.
So what I'm suggesting is just to take a look at 12 wells,
in the Money Pit area to see what we get.
Dr. Spooner, you said it‐‐ it can find silver,
but can it test for gold?
No, gold doesn't corrode. It doesn't end up in water.
So that's why the idea was‐‐ even silver is hard.
If we find any silver, I'll be quite amazed, really.
If you find silver, it is a treasure hunt.
Well, what is associated with silver in a treasure hunt? Gold.
So, I guess what I'm saying is don't worry about that.
Let's‐let's do what the science is capable of doing.
‐JACK: Yep. ‐We'll do the rest later.
Well, Rick, you're firmly on board with this, aren't you?
This sounds like a great idea to me.
No question. Science.
‐Okay. Well, let's do it! ‐IAN: That's great. I'll get
Dr. Lukeman down here because he'll also run
the fluorescents on it, and we'll see what we come up with.
Okay, good. Well, as Rick often says, "Let's make it so."
‐RICK: Let's make it so. ‐IAN: Okay. ‐CRAIG: Okay.
NARRATOR: While Rick, Marty and Craig
wrap up the meeting in the war room...
...near the southwest corner of the swamp...
GARY: Ready for a great day at the beach?
Yeah, we got perfect weather, don't we?
NARRATOR: ...metal detection expert Gary Drayton
along with Rick and Marty's nephew, David Fornetti,
arrive at the shoreline of Lot 32.
GARY: This is a good place to start, mate.
Anything we find in this area
is going to be interesting
if it connects to a wharf.
Great. Well, I'll let you do your thing.
Okay, mate.
‐DOUG: Oh, look at that. ‐What do you got?
It looks like a piece of finished wood.
NARRATOR: Two weeks ago the team unearthed a possible piece
of wooden railing from a large sailing vessel
and encountered a massive obstruction
while excavating near the southern border of the swamp.
However, because the weather has now made it too difficult
to dig any more this year within the muddy bog,
it is Rick, Marty and Craig's hope
that Gary can locate more valuable clues
along the man‐made beach
that could help solve the Oak Island mystery.
‐GARY: Very quiet, isn't it? ‐DAVID F.: Yeah.
All right, mate. I don't want to go too far away
from this area, so the next line up,
let's take this line,
we'll bypass these two rows of seaweed,
and we'll take these rocks along here.
Sounds good.
(beeping)
Signal here, David.
(beeping)
Just there, mate.
(beeping)
GARY: Yeah, you got it out.
Nice one, David.
Is that it?
Let's see what we've got here.
Oh, my gosh!
GARY: There it is, it's brilliant!
Can you see what this is, mate?
That is a trigger guard
off either an old musket
‐or a pistol. ‐DAVID F.: Huh.
GARY: And that would date from
probably 1650 to 1750.
NARRATOR: On Lot 32
near the southwestern border of the swamp,
Gary Drayton and David Fornetti
have just found what could be an important clue.
The trigger guard from a firearm
that could date back as much as 150 years
before the discovery of the Money Pit.
I mean, this is fantastic.
And this is only our, like, second line across here.
I'm going to put this in my pouch, recheck the hole,
and let's find some more artifacts, mate.
Sounds good.
MARTY: It's undeniable now that there was
substantial activity here in the late 1600s, early 1700s.
But was that some military expedition that we're unaware of
or was it the original depositors?
(beeping)
Another good sounding signal here, David.
(beeping)
It's in my hand.
Very interesting.
Oh, wow. Look at that, mate.
This is really, really special.
This is old.
This is an old lead cloth bag seal.
A lead bag seal was used when
‐an old sack was sealed. ‐DAVID F.: Yeah.
They tied the sack,
and they put a seal on it.
This is a very important find, mate.
We've just struck gold with this piece of lead, mate.
NARRATOR: Dating back as much as 800 years,
lead bag seals were generally rounded metal clamps
used to secure goods inside textile packaging.
What makes this seal
a potentially important discovery on Oak Island
is that they are uniquely designed to identify qualities
such as the manufacturer and also country of origin.
Could this seal be connected to other ancient discoveries
made in and near the swamp this year,
such as the pieces of 15th‐century keg barrels?
Or the massive stone road
believed to have been part of a ship's wharf?
This is an awesome lead artifact.
This is a really old piece
but just the type of artifact
you want to be recovering
in an area where you believe is an old wharf.
Bingo. We have hit gold on this one.
We won't know until this is cleaned up,
but this is very, very, important.
This is the first lead cloth bag seal
that we've found on the island.
‐DAVID F.: Does that go in the top pocket? ‐GARY: Without doubt, mate.
This is a true top‐pocket find.
I think this is so special we should take it
‐to the research center. ‐Sounds good.
We'll come back here.
I mean, this is fantastic.
Let's show the guys what we've found.
‐Let's go. ‐DAVID F.: Sounds good.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
‐GARY: Hey, guys. ‐LAIRD: Hey. ‐RICK: Hey.
Just the chaps we want to see.
NARRATOR: ...Gary and David join Rick Lagina
and archeologist Laird Niven at the research center
to share their latest discoveries from Lot 32.
GARY: We just had some finds cataloged.
Some metal detecting finds that we found on Lot 32
‐on the beach. ‐Oh.
So, you guys should take a look at these.
RICK: Love to.
How interested are you, Gary?
Very interested mate, um,
‐we found some spectacular finds there, mate. ‐RICK: Okay.
GARY: And here's one of them.
See what you think of that, Rick.
‐RICK: A trigger. ‐Exactly, mate.
Old trigger guard.
You can see that it's been broken a long time ago.
‐It's not a recent snap. ‐That's‐‐
‐That's decorative too, isn't it? ‐GARY: Yep.
A decorative piece that might help identify it.
It looks like a little pistol trigger guard
or maybe a musket trigger guard.
What do you make of the little decoration there?
LAIRD: Well, I think that usually decoration
‐means higher status, right? ‐Yeah. You got that right, mate.
RICK: There's books about everything.
Would there be a book about pistol guards?
‐Trigger guards? ‐Yeah.
I mean, the beauty about gun furniture
is that it's very specifically sized.
‐Yeah. ‐So, you can often get the model down
‐and perhaps a date even down. ‐Yeah.
It's going to be a little challenge.
If we had a little more of it...
(chuckles) You're always saying that.
Some of these artifacts are just that, they're artifacts.
It's a trigger guard of perhaps
a wealthy individual's pistol because it is decorated.
But how does that connect?
Is it curious? Yeah.
I mean, we are on Samuel Ball's lot.
So, is there a possible connection there? I don't know.
But it's history come alive, and that's always fascinating.
We didn't just come in here with a trigger guard, mate.
‐DAVID F.: This is really interesting. ‐GARY: Yeah.
But we should have gloves on if we are going to handle it...
‐Okay. ‐...because it's made of lead.
LAIRD: Okay.
Thanks. I will not plant any seeds in your mind, mate.
‐I'm fairly confident I know what it is. ‐LAIRD: Okay.
GARY: We'll see if you are in agreement.
LAIRD: Take this delicate thing out with my left hand.
I know what it is.
‐Yep. ‐I haven't seen many of these.
GARY: And what is it, Laird?
It's a lead bale seal.
Yeah.
‐LAIRD: So, it's for a‐‐ ‐Oh, okay.
LAIRD: A bale of cotton‐‐ what used to be cotton.
‐Now they are changing... ‐A sack.
‐LAIRD: Yeah. Yeah. ‐A sack or a bag.
LAIRD: And, uh, the merchant would put these on
or the excise tax people would put them on.
There's a corresponding piece like this. Here.
And it's put under, folded around, and‐‐and clamped on.
So, that's why you have that round piece there.
LAIRD So this little object, this little bag seal,
would have been attached to a‐‐ to a large bale
of fairly rough fabric like hemp or something like that.
But it wasn't meant for one person.
This was an industrial size bag that was
going to be used for whatever purpose.
Something we haven't figured out yet.
But it was for a large operation.
So, this is adding more questions to the mystery
and‐and giving us more work to do.
‐GARY: But that's got detail on it. ‐Mm‐hmm. I see that.
So, that‐‐ we should get some information off that.
And it's just the type of find that you want to be recovering
in an area you think there's an old wharf.
‐Right, because it speaks to loading and unloading. ‐GARY: Yeah.
RICK: When did these start coming into vogue, if you will?
LAIRD: 1500?
Even before then, mate.
‐1300s in England. ‐Yeah.
Again, it's about connective tissue.
You find this bag seal
in close proximity to the suspected wharf.
It's a great find,
and we know there was activity in the area.
We need to look into this further.
Hopefully we can find a corresponding one, and maybe
we can find the merchant, which would help a lot.
‐Yeah. ‐DAVID F.: I was just going to ask.
Is there like a book or something you can flip through
‐where you can find some sort of example, or... ‐Yeah.
Yeah, there are a lot of references.
A lot of references. It's just going
‐to take a lot of searching. ‐Yeah. I'm sure.
Look, I can't but agree, Gary. This is indeed
a top‐pocket find. Congrats to the both of you
for heading out there.
Especially, I‐I think that
you find something like this,
and it accelerates the need to do another search agenda.
Laird, if you want to do the research,
I look forward to that, the outcome of that.
Yeah, I'll start researching.
‐RICK: Okay, we have a plan. ‐LAIRD: Okay.
‐RICK: Let's move forward on it. ‐LAIRD: Yeah.
NARRATOR: As another critical day of search activity
begins on Oak Island,
on Lot 13
near the northeastern border of the swamp...
AARON: Based on our limited time,
I think it's really important that we get the direction
‐of this road or path. ‐MIRIAM: Okay.
NARRATOR: Archaeologists Dr. Aaron Taylor
and Miriam Amirault work to uncover more
of the mysterious cobblestone pathway‐‐
a pathway that extends from the massive stone road,
or possible ship's wharf discovered earlier this year,
and which runs along the entire eastern border
of the man‐made bog,
branching off further into the uplands.
AARON: If this is continuing the way it looks like it's continuing,
you know, maybe this pathway is leading
‐to the Money Pit. ‐Yeah.
So, I think we go over, put in a unit,
investigate, and see what's going on there.
‐All right. Let's go string it up and get started. ‐AARON: Yep.
MARTY: We clearly have to follow the stone pathway all the way
cause it's interesting. What's going on with this?
‐AARON: Let's get rid of this debris. ‐MIRIAM: Yeah.
MARTY: That is a well‐constructed, hidden, massive road.
Heavy things were being moved around on it,
which suggests something important.
‐Hey. How's it going? ‐MIRIAM: Hey!
AARON: Well, we can use all the help we can get.
So, um, the path, what's your thought?
‐Just continue this way? ‐AARON: Yeah, um...
‐So we just tried to leapfrog a little bit. ‐RICK: Mm‐hmm.
‐It's coming diagonally through the unit we did. ‐RICK: Mm‐hmm.
So, we are just going to try and pick it up here,
but there are a couple areas I'd like to investigate.
Here's the thing: the time and weather
‐window is closing. ‐Yeah.
So, if you want to continue here,
I could go down there.
If you want to just focus me on where I should...
‐AARON: Sure. Sure. ‐..do the work.
That's a great idea.
NARRATOR: With time running out,
the team has decided to split up
and search two different areas.
While Dr. Taylor and Miriam search further uphill,
trying to uncover the next section of the cobblestone path,
Rick will investigate along the path itself,
near the beginning of the uplands,
in hopes of finding any clues
that may shed light on who built this structure
and how it may connect to the 226‐year‐old mystery.
RICK: We are still struggling with an understanding
of what the feature represents, you know?
Is this part of the Money Pit story
or is it‐‐ or is it uniquely a swamp story?
‐You see where that stick is? ‐RICK: Yep.
AARON: So, everything above the stick can be
taken off with the shovel.
RICK: And the only way to do that
is to continue the archeological pursuit,
and hopefully come up with an artifact or artifacts
that will tell us why it's here now.
AARON: I really want to see what is going on here.
‐RICK: Okay. Yep. ‐AARON: See those stones?
This is where all the artifacts are coming from.
It's an interesting area.
‐RICK: Okay. ‐AARON: And shout if you see anything of interest.
RICK: If there is anything, I will call you immediately.
‐AARON: Thank you. ‐RICK: Yep.
NARRATOR: While the investigation continues near the swamp...
STEVE G.: Mike, what do we have?
‐MIKE: 48! ‐TERRY: 48. Thanks!
NARRATOR: ...and while the core drilling operation
in Borehole C‐11.5
continues in the Money Pit area...
‐IAN: Hey, Craig. ‐CRAIG: How's it going?
NARRATOR: ...Craig Tester and Dan Henskee
along with Dr. Ian Spooner and his associates
Dr. Matt Lukeman,
Nicole Kirkpatrick and Victoria Hopper
arrive to conduct the water testing operation
that Dr. Spooner hopes might offer
scientific evidence of buried treasure.
IAN: What we are trying to do,
I think, right now, is just sort of a pathfinder study.
‐Okay. ‐So, get a bunch of samples.
Try to sort of get the circumference,
the perimeter of this area right here.
And that way get a good idea of‐‐
if maybe we're seeing anomalous material.
‐All right. Sounds great. ‐Yeah, so we'll see how it goes.
‐Okay, good. ‐MATT: So, absolutely
there's a high chance that we are going to see
maybe some signals in there from more recent human activity
that might complicate things a little bit.
Which, I think, is why it's important
that we get samples from multiple locations.
So it could help point us in the right direction.
Okay. I think we are going to start
with C‐1 here, but after that
there's a lot of wells all over the place
that you guys can sample.
‐Are we ready? ‐We are ready.
So, we'll get our equipment, we'll head over,
and then we'll go and get our sample.
‐CRAIG: Okay. ‐Good.
MARTY: First of all, I love hard data.
It's hard to come by on Oak Island.
So now we have two PhD scientists,
Dr. Lukeman and Dr. Ian Spooner.
It's exactly nine meters to the top
‐of the caisson. ‐Okay.
MARTY: They are going to do a water analyses
from many of the wells found over near the Money Pit.
So, yeah, it's exciting.
I mean, let's say that scientists said,
"Look, this is for sure, there's a big chunk
of precious metal down there." Well, then we've got to find it.
IAN: We'll go as far as we can with the bailer. Oh, great.
And, uh, we'll get a sample.
At the very bottom is the open hole or...
‐Yes. You can hear the ball valves in it. ‐Yep.
NARRATOR: In order to collect a water sample from the bottom
of Borehole C‐1, the team is using
a dual‐valve sampling bailer.
As the device descends down the well,
the force of the water on the ball valves inside it
allows it to flow through the bailer.
Once the bailer reaches the desired depth,
the balls sink into place,
trapping the water sample inside the tube.
This will prevent contamination from other depths
while the device is brought back to the surface.
IAN: Oh. That's it.
‐What depth are you calling it? ‐IAN: 183.
183. Okay.
I have always believed
that something of significance
lies within the bowels of the Money Pit.
And this water sample testing done by Dr. Lukeman
and Dr. Spooner can provide some very interesting information.
They might be able to put X on the ground.
That I found exceedingly interesting,
and I look forward to their analysis.
Good?
Just hold that up there.
We'll keep that sample. We'll keep that for sure.
‐Okay. ‐MATT: Wonderful.
‐Let's do another sample. ‐Okay.
NARRATOR: As Craig, Dr. Spooner, and members of the team
collect more water samples in the Money Pit area...
...back in the uplands near the swamp...
‐Hey, Rick. ‐Hey.
NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina, along with Dr. Aaron Taylor,
Miriam Amirault and Alex Lagina,
continue their own search for valuable clues
along the stone pathway.
RICK: As this path appears to turn to the upland,
we're finding an incredible amount of artifacts.
What's that?
So, I don't know what to make of it.
Is this the centralized location
for the build of the stone path?
I don't know.
The more we look, the more we find.
‐RICK: That might be stone. ‐AARON: I think‐‐
‐RICK: That's not. ‐AARON: No, that's brick fragment.
This is nice.
That's a fragment of a pipe bowl.
Clean it up, maybe get a maker's mark on it, and then we will
‐be able to tell where it was made and when‐‐ ‐RICK: What is that?
AARON: That's annular ware. That's the early stuff.
Quite early 1760s.
Okay. I'll bag this up.
‐RICK: Okay. ‐AARON: Great.
I'm just going to go check on those guys.
‐All right. Thanks, Rick. ‐Okey doke.
Working with Aaron and Miriam...
it's like a little mini, mini treasure hunt.
You know, you're scraping away with the trowel
and all of a sudden there in front of you is
a little surprise‐‐ a little, again,
a little piece of hopefully connective tissue.
So, it's somewhat intoxicating and addictive.
Wow.
That's interesting.
It's huge.
NARRATOR: ...Rick Lagina has just made what he hopes
could be an important discovery.
RICK: Aaron will know what that is.
That's what I like to see: Three people hard at work.
AARON: Hey, Rick. Any breakthroughs?
RICK: So, here's what's down there.
There was one more find, which I found interesting.
AARON: Sweet Jesus.
This is really nice. It's a base,
probably a plate.
‐There you go. ‐AARON: Just looking at it now,
it looks like creamware.
Creamware comes in 1763.
The British bring it in when they arrive.
Uh, it might be yellowware, which is a little later.
Just because all the pieces we've been finding
are from that period,
I think this is a creamware.
But, uh, you seldom find a nice base
intact like that.
NARRATOR: First produced around the 1740s in Staffordshire, England,
creamware is a refined lead‐glazed earthenware
named for its yellowish‐white cream‐like color.
Could this discovery be an important clue to help identify
who made the cobblestone pathway?
If so, might it also be connected
to the pine tar kiln located on nearby Lot 15,
which blacksmith expert Carmen Legge believes
was of British design,
and which archaeologist Laird Niven believes
may have been used for the continuous burning
of materials in the construction of the original Money Pit?
Well, I've been waiting all summer
for a "sweet Jesus moment,"
and sweet Jesus.
‐(chuckling) ‐That is a nice base.
Now, let's find the rest of it.
But if that's creamware, that's a really nice early piece.
Well, I got about that much of a shelf to do.
That's still a work in progress, and as you see,
‐there's things to be found out there. ‐Keeps giving.
‐Okay. I'll bag these up. ‐Okey doke.
‐AARON: Good stuff. Thank you. ‐Cool. All right. Yup.
RICK: I shall return.
NARRATOR: As Rick and the team
resume their investigation in the uplands,
later that afternoon in the Money Pit area...
TERRY: We got the 78 in our right hand?
STEVE G.: We've got 68 in our right hand, I think.
TERRY: 68 in our right hand, okay.
NARRATOR: ...surveyor Steve Guptill
and geologist Terry Matheson, continue to monitor
the core drilling operation
in Borehole C‐11.5,
just north of the OC‐1 caisson.
That's kind of interesting.
Yeah, what? What's interesting?
Uh, there looks like there might be a little bit
of backfill or burnt material.
STEVE G.: Well, that's good.
TERRY: Yeah, possibly. I don't know what it is.
I don't know why it has an unusual‐‐
almost look like ashes or something on it.
NARRATOR: Burnt backfilled materials
found in Borehole C‐11.5?
Is it simply evidence of previous searcher activity?
Or could the team be on the verge of a major discovery?
STEVE G.: You know, we're in backfill at 68 feet.
And that just suggests that we're inside
or just outside of a shaft, so, again,
this is great information.
‐STEVE G.: Maybe the next core will tell us something. ‐TERRY: Next run?
MARTY: In the Money Pit area,
we're finding all these works
and all these tunnels, and then we're finding stuff
to the 1700s,
which is extremely encouraging, yeah.
It used to be the one thing.
When Rick and I were talking, I used to say,
"I will change my mind about everything if you show me
concrete evidence of substantial works prior to 1795."
Well, you know what? He did it.
So, we've already won that much.
Now the objective is to actually,
you know, find evidence of real treasure.
TERRY: Let's cross our fingers.
‐STEVE G.: He's into something interesting. ‐Something going on?
We got a little soft right at 88.
‐From 88 on. ‐Okay.
NARRATOR: In the Money Pit area,
representatives from Choice Drilling
have just encountered something out of the ordinary
in Borehole C‐11.5.
That might be our tunnel.
‐106.6. ‐MIKE: 106!
‐Are you serious? ‐No, it just dropped, whatever's in there.
NARRATOR: A drop of the drill rod of nearly 18 feet?
Could it be a natural void of some kind?
Or could it be evidence
of the Money Pit treasure vault itself?
TERRY: Get this one up, Steve‐O. Whoa!
Whoa.
‐Let's have a look. ‐All right.
‐It's pretty loose at the bottom. ‐TERRY: Yeah.
STEVE G.: Anything interesting?
TERRY: Not so much.
See, here is what I think he was into right there.
This material here, when he hits it, it starts to slip because
‐of all the clay in it. ‐STEVE G.: Yep.
TERRY: So, he finds that soft.
So, this section here is the interglacial phase,
and you get a lot of really dark clay in there.
So, when he hits it sometimes it slips through.
It feels sometimes he might have broken through
into an open tunnel or something.
But, usually, it's just this.
What about here? Look, this is the last two feet.
‐Is that redrill? ‐Give it a hit.
Yeah, that's a redrill. And then what are we getting into
‐down there? Some more of this? ‐It's tight again, yep.
TERRY: So, that's just more of the same.
‐Just a lot of ground‐up maroon silt stone. ‐STEVE G.: It's tight.
TERRY: The tightness of it tells us we're probably not close
to a vertical structure, which is disappointing.
Not terribly interesting
in terms of treasure hunting.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately for the team,
what appeared to be a possible large underground
void where they hoped to encounter the original Money Pit
is simply a natural horizon of soft clay.
Although frustrating, especially given this late moment
in the year, it is at least useful information
to help inform their search moving forward.
So, C‐11.5 turned out to be nothing,
which is good information because
it helps us really put an X through our Money Pit grid,
and we know that's an area of...
really of non‐interest for us right now.
So, Terry's going to log the information,
I'm going to plot it in our 3D model,
and we're going to move to the next hole.
C‐11.5.
‐It's a bust. ‐Kind of, uh,
died with a whimper.
It was tight. So, we are not close
‐to any structures. ‐TERRY: Doesn't look like we are very close. No.
So, we're done. We'll move on.
NARRATOR: While members of the team regroup in the Money Pit area...
‐LAIRD: Hey! ‐GARY: Hey, guys.
NARRATOR: Rick and Alex Lagina,
along with Gary Drayton and David Fornetti
meet with archeologist Laird Niven to receive
his follow‐up assessment of the bag seal
found yesterday on Lot 32.
LAIRD: It's curious. It's‐‐
I was pretty excited to see it.
Often the detail on bale seals is really
difficult to interpret.
They're very cryptic.
‐RICK: Wow. ‐GARY: Wow.
‐That has got some detail on that, doesn't it? ‐RICK: It sure does.
GARY: Wow, look.
It looks like an "X" on the bottom.
‐LAIRD: A double "X." ‐GARY: A double "X." Yeah.
But we can do a little explanation
of what we are seeing here.
This is actually the cloth makers,
what they call a privy seal.
These seals are family seals.
So, they'd be passed down through the generations.
And apparently, back in the day,
if you had a father and a son alive at the same time,
to avoid confusion you'd add‐‐
the son would add an element to his seal.
So, they get more and more complicated over the years.
But this one, if you look here,
has initials.
I think it's an F on the left‐hand side,
‐and perhaps an E on the right‐hand side. ‐RICK: Mm‐hmm.
If I pull it down...
It's really faint, but...
What you can't see is
that's actually the shape of a four.
RICK: Oh, yeah. Okay.
LAIRD: Apparently, that's an old symbol
used for a long time,
and it's not actually a four.
They think it represents, like, the sign of the cross.
GARY: Oh, wow.
RICK: What is the significance, the sign of the cross?
You wouldn't think to find that
on a commercial enterprise, right?
LAIRD: I don't think it derives from family crests because
that‐‐ that symbol is
used by multiple families, so this would have been something
carried down through generations.
It's just most curious to have that
religious symbol on a commercial item.
I‐I find that to be very strange.
And the only people who would do that,
in my limited knowledge base, would be Templars.
NARRATOR: In the Oak Island Research Center,
archaeologist Laird Niven
has just revealed to Rick Lagina and members of the team
what could be a critical clue on the metal bag seal
recently found on Lot 32.
I'm going back, though, to the origination of it.
And you think back, right? The Templars
were heavy into commerce.
I mean, they literally were
the bankers and the financiers
and the commercial operatives of the day.
You know, those were the people you dealt with.
LAIRD: Yeah. I just find it really evocative.
I find it really cool, you know?
It's a symbol that's old enough
that the origins have basically been forgotten.
NARRATOR: Could Rick Lagina be correct
that the lead bag seal found near the swamp
might be evidence connected to the Knights Templar?
Although the theory of a possible link
between the Oak Island mystery
and this medieval order of warrior monks
has persisted for generations,
Rick, Marty,
and the team have made notable discoveries
that potentially corroborate it
including pieces of keg barrels,
a hand point chisel and tunneling tools
that all date back to the 1400s or earlier.
However, the discovery of the lead cross at Smith's Cove
three years ago remains the most compelling
due to the fact that a scientific test,
known as laser ablation,
helped prove that it's at least 700 years old...
...and was made from lead
originating in an area of Southern France that was once
a stronghold for the Templars.
Could this bag seal now be another important clue
that could help prove this incredible theory?
I've got two words to say:
Laser ablation.
‐We should get that tested. ‐Yeah.
RICK: Well, that is a good idea.
GARY: And maybe it matches up to other lead signatures
that were found on different lead artifacts
‐on the island. ‐RICK: Mm‐hmm. ‐Right.
So, you didn't mention a time period.
Some of them actually have dates on them.
But this one, the broad date is 1300‐1800.
‐That's pretty broad. ‐LAIRD: Yeah.
RICK: This bag seal in proximity to the wharf‐‐
That's huge.
Is there a possible Templar connection? Maybe.
We need to come to an understanding
what this represents here.
But it's the strangest thing I've seen
on this island in a long, long time.
That is very, very cool.
Yeah. Very cool.
Heck of a top‐pocket find for sure, isn't it?
‐RICK: Absolutely. ‐I actually agree.
ALEX: You got him! Finally got him.
Welcome to the dark side, mate.
MARTY: Welcome! One of my favorite times.
We get to look at some,
I believe, will be very interesting data.
NARRATOR: Two days later,
Rick, Marty, Craig and members of the team
gather in the war room for the highly anticipated report
from Dr. Ian Spooner and his colleague
Dr. Matt Lukeman regarding the water tests
they conducted earlier this week
in the Money Pit area.
So, I've got one question to ask.
Do you think there is treasure in the Money Pit?
‐Ooh, I like that lead‐in. ‐(laughter)
No, you know, I'm serious.
‐Do I? ‐IAN: Yeah.
‐Small chance. ‐I‐I do.
I absolutely do. I believe that what they drilled into
in 1897 is real,
‐and I think it's still there. ‐Right.
So, Doug, can you bring, uh,
‐bring up the presentation? ‐DOUG: I can.
IAN: Great.
That image shows the wells. There were 12 of them.
We took the samples, and what Matt did was
take the initiative to scan it through the whole spectrum.
And that's when some interesting things came up.
I'll flash right forward
to why I asked you that question about
‐do you believe in treasure? ‐Mm‐hmm.
Whether it was pieces of eight, maravedis,
anything like that, they were only about 20,
maybe 30 percent silver. The rest was zinc and copper.
And so I said, "Okay, if there really is a ton of treasure
"down there, then what we might expect to see is elevated levels
of the alloys of silver."
And so, I have red arrows on...
what I was really looking for
‐if I was looking for treasure, right? ‐Mm‐hmm. Yeah.
But what we do see is
at the well we call WS‐1, WS‐2, WS‐9.
Look at the copper and zinc levels.
This is not a minor little hill.
‐Blip. ‐This is...
ten times‐‐ this is a spike, ten times peak.
I went, "Wow." Like, this is big news.
Not only that, we got silver
‐in those as well. ‐Really?
IAN: At the end of the day, there
is every reason to believe
down in those holes that
there is something close by
that contains a fair bit of silver.
DOUG: I guess I'm still trying to get a mental picture of how much
silver it would take to get to these levels.
Like, is it a handful of silver or is it
‐a Gerhardt dump truck load of silver? ‐It's a Gerhardt dump truck.
‐MARTY: Oh, baby! ‐JACK: Oh, no way!
RICK: Wow.
NARRATOR: Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...
STEVE G.: We need to connect the cobble path in the swamp
to this path that leads to the Money Pit.
‐That may be our "X" on the ground. ‐Yes.
NARRATOR: It's the historic season finale.
‐GARY: Oh, my gosh! ‐STEVE G.: Oh wow.
‐GARY: That's old. This is off a ship. ‐It's off a ship.
That might actually be the thing that solves the mystery.
‐RICK: Oh, oh, oh! ‐CHARLES: What do you got? What is that?
‐I've never seen anything like that before. ‐AARON: It's incredible.
This is the first direct evidence of real treasure.
(laughter)
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