NARRATOR: Tonight on The Curse of Oak Island...
- All right. - If there really is gold found
on these pieces of metal,
this is very, very significant.
Wow, this is really interesting.
- So, we have ancient, Spanish gold. - That's huge.
So, when you project this path, it heads to the Money Pit.
- GARY: Look at that chunk. - Wow.
The department of Community,
Culture and Heritage asked that
- we stop down. - Immediately.
It is very discouraging to me.
The more we cooperate, the more of our island we lose.
Fine, let's throw in the towel.
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.
♪ ♪
- CHARLES: Hey, guys. - Hey, Craig! - Hey!
- Hi, Rick. - Hey.
NARRATOR: As another exciting day dawns on Oak Island...
Rumor is, you guys tested that, uh, the metal we found in D-2.
- Is this true? - And we're about to tell you.
brothers Rick and Marty Lagina,
their partner Craig Tester, and members of their team
are conducting a strategic drilling operation
in the Money Pit area
that they hope will help them solve a 226-year-old mystery.
We used the XRF on two samples.
The XRF came up with gold.
- Gold? - Not just gold.
The percentage is extremely high.
- 700 parts per million. - Oh, wow.
- There's something in there. - Oh, there's something in there.
That might be it.
NARRATOR: One week ago, after discovering wood
from a depth of 88 feet in Borehole D-2,
which was then carbon-dated to as early as 1488,
the team unearthed a mysterious piece of metal.
CHARLES: Yeah. It's a big chunk of metal right there.
I'm just gonna throw it on and see what we get.
NARRATOR: when geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner performed
elemental analysis on it using an X-ray fluorescence device,
Rick and members of the team were astonished
by what they had found.
A-U! There it is, A-U!
- We got gold again. - Wow.
It's a piece of metal that may have been either in close
contact with gold, or it could be even more interesting,
i.e. that the metals themselves contain gold.
To me, if it's part of the metal,
that's far more interesting.
That means that it's a valuable item.
NARRATOR: Based in an area known as the C-1 cluster,
where recent water tests in existing boreholes
have revealed high levels of silver and gold, the team has
designed a strategic drilling grid in the hopes of
pinpointing the fabled Money Pit treasure vault.
Now, the next target on that grid is Borehole B-4,
which sits just 14 feet from D-2.
MARTY: The C-1 cluster just sounds like the right spot.
Gold on the steel. That's very encouraging.
If it's accurate, that the gold is on the metal,
and that there are just no natural sources,
then I'd say we're closing in on the treasure.
Terry, do you have the grid?
'Cause I'd like to get brought up to speed here.
We are here on B-4,
but this hole in particular is at
the northern perimeter, or edge of the C-1 cluster of tunnels.
- Yeah. - If we find evidence of tunnels, there we go.
Now we have something more to chase.
NARRATOR: It is also in this area
that the team has
previously drilled into a believed tunnel
at a depth of approximately 90 feet.
If the team is unsuccessful finding treasure in B-4,
then they hope to hit a tunnel that will lead them to it.
We have to concentrate on the areas
where we do know there is possible tunnels,
and kind of zero in on that.
Yeah, look. I'm not gonna disagree.
This information is too exciting.
It's certainly worth chasing.
- Yeah. - It's kinda like Christmas morning, right?
It's not always about Christmas morning,
it's what leads up to Christmas morning.
We're not there yet, but we certainly know there's
packages under the tree.
(laughter)
Anyway, keep us abreast.
See you, guys. Thanks for the news.
- You got to hope that we might be very close to something. - All right.
NARRATOR: As the drilling operation in Borehole B-4 gets underway,
- later that morning... - CRAIG, Dan, I think you'll enjoy this.
MARTY: Ooh, actually, we got a lot riding on this little session.
NARRATOR: Craig Tester, along with Marty Lagina and treasure hunter
Dan Henskee, have traveled some 50 miles northeast
to Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
- Should be an interesting day, Craiger. - Sure should.
So, Dan, at this stage in your life,
- 82 years old... - Yeah.
do you believe there's treasure to be found
on Oak Island?
Uh, how can I phrase it? Relatively speaking...
- Yeah. - I suppose you could say
I'm more sure there's treasure on Oak Island
than I am that the sun will rise tomorrow.
- Wow! Holy smokes! - Wow.
NARRATOR: They have arranged to meet with chemist Dr. Christa Brosseau
to conduct a more detailed scientific analysis
of the metal object retrieved from Borehole D-2
in order to verify that it contains gold.
Hey, Dr. Brosseau.
- Hey. How's it going? - Good.
- Hello, Christa. - Hey.
How have things been on the island?
- Good. - Good. It's been busy.
NARRATOR: Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
in order to enter the university's premises,
Marty, Craig and Dan are required to
wear protective face masks.
We got a couple samples we want to show you here.
- Awesome. - Some sort of metal that came up from deep underground.
- Almost 90 feet down. - Interesting.
- We have an XRF on location now... - Yeah. That's great.
and ran it on that, and there was some,
some indication of gold on these.
- Awesome. - We are really excited about that, right?
I mean, this is from deep in the Money Pit, and it's sort of
a not very exciting piece of metal until we
did that, so we're eager...
- We'll definitely find out today. - Yeah, okay, good!
That's what I wanted to hear.
All right. Let's go do some hunting.
- Okay. - Beautiful.
I am extremely curious--
Extraordinarily curious about this piece of metal
found in D-2.
Hey, Xiang.
- Hello. How are you? - Good.
MARTY: Really, you start
to have a hard time discarding
that there was treasure here-- At least once was treasure here.
If there really is gold found on these pieces of metal
around 90-some feet,
searchers wouldn't have been carrying around gold.
Which means this is very, very significant.
I'm going to get the sample prepared.
MARTY: To a very real extent, what happens here today
influences the rest of what we do this year, too.
That's, that's why we're kinda on pins and needles here.
NARRATOR: To examine the metal from Borehole D-2,
Doctors Brosseau and Xiang Yang will be
using an SEM, or scanning electron microscope.
Unlike traditional optical devices,
which rely on light to analyze objects,
the SEM employs a focused beam of electrons,
which can magnify critical features
as much as 200,000 times their actual size.
This method can also determine an item's
precise chemical composition.
So, now that everything's green,
so we should be almost ready to go.
XIANG: All right, so this is the piece.
- CHRISTA: And we'll check the iron first. - Yep.
Looks like you got a nice fresh surface here.
I do not see any manganese.
That's great. That's great for openers.
No manganese, so the iron looks great.
Pre-1840, right?
- Yeah. Exactly. - Are you seeing anything, Xiang? - Yeah.
I'm trying to look for any shiny piece.
MARTY: Yes. Is that what you're looking for there?
- No, it's pyrite. - Fool's gold.
You don't want that.
- Oh, boy. Here we go. - (laughter)
Looks like I found something really bright.
- Oh, there we go. - Oh, there we go.
- Really bright. - Yeah, it's very bright.
Come on!
Yep. That's a nice bright spot.
Let's see what the bright spot is.
- Come on. One time. - Mm-hmm.
-XIANG: Okay. -CHRISTA: All right. So we see...
Wow, this is really interesting.
- Gold? - We see gold. - Really?!
- Yep. - Come on. - Yes.
- That's fantastic news. - There's gold? That piece?
- That little blob there is gold... - Yes.
- Fabulous! - Yeah.
Dan, there you go!
That came out of the Money Pit.
NARRATOR: At Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
chemists Dr. Christa Brosseau and Dr. Xiang Yang
have just confirmed that the metal object unearthed
from Borehole D-2 in the Money Pit area
could be connected to the Oak Island treasure.
- What ratios do you see, Christa? - We're seeing gold.
We're seeing copper.
Uh, we see some silver, which is not unexpected.
So, yeah. That's exciting.
That is extremely exciting.
XIANG: So you have 65% of gold.
Sixty-five?
Yeah. And about 26-ish copper.
- What the hell is that? - Right.
So adding a lot of copper into a gold alloy
created a rose color.
- Yeah. - We know it as rose gold now.
What about the silver, Christa?
Would rose gold have silver in it?
Yes. Many rose golds have all of these elements,
including the zinc.
NARRATOR: Although the copper-gold alloy mixture known as rose gold
became a popular method for jewelry making
in the early 19th century, especially in Russia,
the practice for mixing copper and gold
dates back to the Middle Ages.
In many ancient Greco-Roman texts, for instance,
gold is often described as the color red.
I am encouraged that the metal is very old.
It's still in an area of the Money Pit
that there shouldn't have been anybody down there.
Pre-1840, we don't know of anybody
- that was tunneling up there, right? - No.
Nope, that's why I'm encouraged by the results.
If this is an ancient tunnel, then where does it lead?
And so, why would this metal be down there?
There may be some connections you can draw.
Well, thank you both.
- You're welcome. - You're welcome.
Okay. I think it's time
for us to get back there, guys.
You haven't seen the last of us, Christa.
CHRISTA: Excellent.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
CHARLES: What's the good word, Adam?
Forty-nine.
and while the core-drilling operation
continues in the Money Pit area...
If you want to try to track through there, and
Gary can have a go at metal-detecting.
Rick Lagina, along with members of the team search for
more clues near the stone road, or possible ship's wharf,
in the southeastern corner of the triangle-shaped swamp.
It is kind of amazing how the
stone road seems to extend, let's say,
out into a stone dock, perhaps, into the water.
NARRATOR: Two weeks ago,
Terry Deveau, who serves as the president
of the New England Antiquities Research Association,
made an astonishing assessment of the feature.
This is a type of road that was built in Europe
- in the 1500s. - Wow.
NARRATOR: Last week, following Terry's presentation,
the team found not only pieces of
wooden cargo barrels in this area,
but also what could be part of a large sailing galleon.
RICK: We are engaged in a process
in the southeast corner of the swamp.
So, the way this is gonna happen is,
Billy's gonna come in with the excavator.
Basically, we're unzippering the land.
We're gonna peel it back, open it up.
Gary will come in and metal-detect.
Hopefully find some items.
(device beeping)
Yeah, that's nice.
Hey, Gary.
- Hi, Miriam. - What you got?
We've got some big shards of pottery here.
And they're all in this area,
- so I didn't want to disturb them too much. - Perfect.
There's a piece there.
Ooh, and an old bit of black glass.
It's super bubbly.
So when you find the bubbles, it means it's older
because the process of making it was not as refined.
Could archaeologist Miriam Amirault be correct?
Is this piece of black glass, found near the stone road,
part of an ancient container?
And if so, will it be an important clue
to help verify when the road was constructed?
- Ooh! - Yep.
GARY: We've hit the mother lode here!
This will be fun piecing it together.
Yeah, 1700s written all over it.
You'd have to find the neck and the rim.
MIRIAM: Oh, my goodness.
We have not found this many pieces of,
like, one single artifact in all of the swamp.
So this is really cool.
- Gorgeous, isn't it? - That's nice.
This could easily be an English wine bottle.
We want the finish, the top,
to be definitive about it.
- I mean, it might be here. - Yep.
- Oh, my gosh. - What do you have? - Nice!
Is this exactly what we were looking for?
Yep.
It's a nice finish.
And that's...
1770s, 1780s, I'd say.
Wow. That is so cool.
NARRATOR: An English wine bottle, dating back as much as
three decades before the discovery of the Money Pit?
Since the team has found a number of 18th century British
artifacts across the island in the past,
could this bottle have been connected
to a prior searcher operation on Oak Island?
Or was it left by someone who made a deposit?
- So I guess this is a good area. - Yep, top-pocket find.
The more interesting observation:
look at all these cobbles.
That's stacked rock. It's about two feet,
maybe two and a half or three feet tall.
It's very consistent.
That's-that's the aha right there.
- That's something. - Yeah.
It's hard to say that that is not a human intervention.
That's built.
It looks like it's-- The edge of the swamp
was planned, to me, when I look at this.
But then we got the question: is this stuff
from this new stone feature or the stone road?
What's it doing this deep, down here?
- It's deep, isn't it? - Yeah, it is.
That's a good question.
NARRATOR: Another stone structure
at the southeastern edge of the swamp?
Could it be connected to the nearby stone wharf,
or is it a completely different man-made formation?
If so, who built it? And what was its purpose?
I'm not really sure what direction
it's going at this point.
- This is so weird. - It's fantastic.
I think we need to try to find the boundary.
There may be a path
that leads south and east from the stone road.
- Hey, Miriam. - Hi.
RICK: And so, I think we need to have Steve Guptill come out,
accurately pin the stones, take the data, establish boundaries.
Really, I just want to just survey the update of
- what you guys have uncovered. - Sure.
NARRATOR: As with the numerous other man-made features
that the team has discovered across the island,
professional surveyor Steve Guptill is recording
the known measurements and elevation of this feature
so that archaeologists Miriam Amirault and Laird Niven
can attempt to determine not only what it may be
but also the purpose of its construction.
That right there, I can tell, does tie.
Elevation-wise and alignment-wise,
- it works with the cobble path. - Yeah.
Potentially, if it is man-made
and part of some type of path,
it could be an outlet that heads--
Well, I mean, that's east,
and that's actually towards the Money Pit.
So, if this is man-made,
this potentially could be very important.
- Let me survey, and I'm going to put it on a plan when I'm done. - Okay. Sure.
RICK: It's possible that this could be part of the path
from the swamp to the Money Pit.
- Right here? - Yep.
RICK: I mean, it is an interesting feature.
- Okay? - And then kind of like right where I am.
RICK: To me, it speaks to the original paved area.
It does look like that. It's very well defined.
I'm gonna put this on a plan.
And I'll bring it back so you can at least take a look at it
- and compare it. - Yeah.
Yeah, I would project the stone path line
to see how it interacts with this.
- Okay. - And then, just for grins,
- pretend that's a boundary, pretend this is a boundary. - Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
-Project this line. See where it goes. -Sure. Yeah.
Just see where it goes.
All right, so I'll see you guys in a bit.
- Thanks, Steve. - Thank you.
RICK: It will be interesting to see what's here.
- Hey, gentlemen. - Hey, Marty.
I have some really cool information.
- I really, really do. - Good news?
I think it's fantastic news.
NARRATOR: After returning from his trip
to Saint Mary's University
and conducting some follow-up research on
the partially gold object retrieved from Borehole D-2,
Marty Lagina has asked to meet with Rick
and members of the team outside
at the Interpretive Centre.
I met with Dr. Christa Brosseau.
I took a sample from D-2.
- You know, the piece of metal. - Oh, yeah.
We put it under the electron microscope and--
By the way, it was also non-manganese iron.
So it's old iron, which is also good.
They said, well, let's look for some bright spots,
- like maybe inclusions. - Mm-hmm.
Bingo, it's gold.
This is real data. This is the stuff I like.
And then Dr. Brosseau says,
"Well, if you zoom in here further
"and do the composition of the gold,
65% gold, 26% copper, and five percent silver."
And she says, "I think that's rose gold."
But if you look up rose gold,
75% gold, 22 and a half percent copper,
and two and a half percent silver.
I'm thinking, those are wildly different numbers.
Yeah.
There's something called tumbaga gold.
- You ever heard of that, Rick? - No.
Well, the Aztec, the Maya and the Inca,
they made their religious artifacts
out of something called tumbaga,
which was all kinds of different alloys
of gold, copper and silver.
- That's huge. - Yeah.
NARRATOR: The partially gold object recovered from D-2?
Possibly a piece of Meso-American tumbaga?
Tumbaga was a favored precious metal alloy mixture
used for creating jewelry and sacred artifacts
by the indigenous people of Central and South America
dating back to as early as 300 AD.
One of the most widely held theories about the legendary
Oak Island treasure is that it could be comprised of gold,
silver and jewels that had been plundered from the New World
between the 16th and 18th centuries
by Spanish conquistadors.
The Laginas and their late partner, Dan Blankenship,
have found numerous Spanish artifacts
across the island that support this theory,
including ship spikes,
a pair of 17th century scissors,
and even an eight-cob maravedi coin
dated to 1652.
- Wow. - However, in 2015,
descendants of Daniel McGinnis,
one of the three young men
who discovered the Money Pit in 1795,
presented the team with a gold cross.
A gold cross that McGinnis reportedly discovered
30 feet deep in the original treasure shaft.
- We all want answers. - Okay.
And we're hoping that you can weigh in on this
- and enlighten us. - Well, let's see.
NARRATOR: The following year, the team had the cross examined
by antiquities expert Dr. Lori Verderame,
and were stunned by her assessment.
What you have here is a Christian cross.
In many ways, it's very Spanish colonial.
The piece dates between 1550 and 1700.
NARRATOR: Is it possible that Rick, Marty and the team
have now also recovered another piece
of Spanish treasure on Oak Island in Borehole D-2?
And if so, could that mean that they have finally
located the original Money Pit?
So, we have an odd gold that happens to fit a narrative
of ancient Spanish gold.
Well, imagine if it was the same composition.
- Yeah, we'd start to get pretty excited, yeah. - Yeah.
Corroborative evidence is always the best measure of whether
or not something is "real," quote, unquote.
Great news. Great science.
But I think one thing has come of this.
I think, if we were to ask each other
where are you going to put
at least one of the caissons, we have a location.
- Yep. - Yeah.
I think you pretty much have to put a caisson down there.
We just made our caisson meeting a little shorter.
- (laughter) - Well, okay.
- That's great. - Yep.
Gold in the Money Pit!
NARRATOR: The following morning...
in the southeast corner of the Oak Island swamp...
Liz?
- Yeah. - Give me a hand.
archaeologists Laird Niven, Miriam Amirault,
and Liz Michels continue investigating the mysterious
stone feature that was discovered just one day ago.
- What you got? - I have a piece of pottery,
but I think it's really delicate.
So can you make me
a little aluminum foil pouch?
Sure.
I'm just trying to get under it.
- It's pretty deep. - That's all right, though.
That means it's probably still in its original context, right?
Exactly. Yeah.
This is where we find out it's a rock.
You can see it's definitely pottery, right?
- Yeah. - But it's really...
- Really degraded. - really delicate.
- You can see the grit, though. - Mm-hmm.
Um, and it may have some sort of decoration on the inside.
You can see it there, but...
I think that has to go back to the lab.
- Yep. - Cause it's definitely Mi'kmaq.
This one's the most delicate I've ever seen.
NARRATOR: Mi'kmaq pottery discovered along the new stone feature?
As inhabitants of the lands known today as Nova Scotia,
archaeological evidence suggests
that the indigenous Mi'kmaq people
have been settled in this region for at least 4,000 years.
Although much of their history is uncertain,
it is widely documented that the Mi'kmaq began trading
with European explorers as early as the late 15th century.
You can see the striations here, the lines.
We used to call this era the ceramic period, right?
For the Mi'kmaq. But now it's called the woodland period.
So this could be 500 years old.
It could be 2,500 years old.
It really depends on what's revealed on the other side.
I've been expecting, ever since I've been on Oak Island,
that we would find some evidence of the Mi'kmaq here.
This evidence that we're finding right now,
although it's really, really early days,
and very little area has been opened,
we need to communicate that because of
the terms of the permit.
And consider the whole edge of the swamp,
the eastern edge of the swamp,
as having high potential
for containing more artifacts.
I'm gonna take the ceramic back to the archaeology trailer
- and let Rick know. - Okay. All right.
Can you hold the fort?
- Absolutely. - All right.
See you in a bit.
- Hey, guys. - Hey!
What's up today?
So, Laird is here with me, and he has an update
- regarding the work in the southeast corner of the swamp. - Okay.
NARRATOR: In the war room, archaeologist Laird Niven
has called a meeting with the Laginas
and their partner Craig Tester
to discuss the possible indigenous pottery
that was discovered near the mysterious stone feature
in the southeast corner of the swamp.
One of the things that is significantly different
this year than last is
the new regulations that have come down from
Communities, Culture and Heritage.
Laird made a significant find of pottery
in the southeast corner of the swamp.
So Laird is going to bring us up to speed
in terms of what it may mean for future investigation.
So, Laird, I'm going to toss it to you and you can fill them in.
Well, we're finding Mi'kmaq artifacts,
First Nations artifacts, in the southeast corner.
Like what items? What are you finding?
Pottery.
Some Mi'kmaq pottery.
- Oh, really? - Yeah.
But we did have a visit
from Community, Culture and Heritage.
- I think it was a very productive visit. - A positive one.
And they were thrilled with the find.
And to me it showed that we're doing our job.
Because it was so careful,
we were able to basically not disturb anything.
So they were thrilled with that.
But one thing they need to do is get a hold of Acadia First Nation
and see if they're interested
in coming to the island for a site visit.
CRAIG: I think that's a great idea.
Let's do it. I don't have a problem with that.
But Laird has brought up a concern,
- and I think it needs to be addressed. - Okay.
LAIRD: Because of the Mi'kmaq artifacts,
Community, Culture and Heritage
may require us
- to stop work in that area. - Okay.
NARRATOR: Although finding artifacts
that may date back more than 20 centuries
on Oak Island is exciting,
their potential connection to the Mi'kmaq people could result
in the provincial Department of Community, Culture and Heritage
and the Acadia First Nation Mi'kmaq Council
declaring the eastern portion of the swamp off-limits
for further search activity.
We're trying to find a way to work within the constraints
- of CCH... - Mm-hmm.
To find a way to move forward on all fronts.
We've been doing everything right.
I'm hopeful that all sides will enter into a very fruitful
and honest discussion about how we can mitigate.
MARTY: Yeah, I agree.
Are we going to cooperate?
Hell yes. Are we going to do it right? Yes.
Are we going to follow the rules? Yes.
Because we have found First Nation artifacts
here on Oak Island, we have a duty to notify
both CCH and First Nation.
Am I worried about what they might say or do or require?
Yeah, I'm concerned, because, look,
it's yet another level of supervision.
But does that dissuade me from doing it?
No, it's the right thing to do.
They have certain rights under Nova Scotia law.
We're gonna abide by that.
RICK: The overarching realization
has to be that, without the mystery,
nothing else goes on.
Without you trying to solve the mystery,
nothing else goes on.
RICK: CCH is well-intentioned,
but they have said-- And I hope we hold them to it--
That they will work with us.
Well, you know, look, appreciate the update.
I guess Laird will do his thing over there in the southeast
until he's satisfied
and CCH is satisfied, and we'll... we'll go dig elsewhere.
-Oh, yeah. -I agree. We have to take advantage
of what we can do in the near term.
Okay, well, carry on.
- All right. - Okey doke. Hopefully we'll have
another update for you that's a bit more positive.
(Rick chuckles)
Okay, Rick. Thanks.
- RICK: See you, guys. - MARTY: Yeah. Bye-bye.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon...
while the core-drilling operation continues
in the Money Pit area...
STEVE G.: Rick asked me to survey the patch that we're standing on.
I do have that image now.
When you projected the two things that I asked you
- to project, was there any aha moments? - Yeah. Yeah, actually.
We'll talk about that.
NARRATOR: Rick Lagina and Laird Niven
head back to the southeast corner of the swamp
with other members of the team.
I don't have an opinion. I have facts.
NARRATOR: They have gathered to receive a report
from surveyor Steve Guptill
regarding the stone feature discovered one day ago
and the direction it may be heading.
Here is an overview of the area.
And here is a projection of the current path
we're standing on.
So this is the cobble path from last year.
It hits the cobble that we found this year,
which is what we're standing on.
The elevation is very close.
Now, that is one foot, eight inches.
Where it joins here, this is it here.
This is a larger overview.
Rick asked me to project the line
on the north and south side.
I projected this cobble path across the lots.
And so, when you project this path, it heads to the Money Pit.
- This path? - This path here.
Look right here.
There's the Money Pit grid.
- Yep. - C-1 is right there.
It projects just north of C-1 a couple feet.
That's interesting.
IAN: It makes some sense,
because we're going into the upland here.
- Yeah. - This is it.
This is what we've been looking for.
Right.
NARRATOR: Has the team now unearthed a previously hidden section
of the stone pathway?
One that leads directly from the stone wharf
to the C-1 cluster in the Money Pit area?
The same area where they have not only found evidence
of silver and gold deep below ground,
but also where they are currently drilling
in search of the legendary treasure vault?
If so, what other valuable clues might they discover here?
RICK: I don't know that any of us were expecting
what we'll call the "stone path."
But let's expand the search area
and try to find out, you know, additional information.
IAN: I think something really important's being found here.
They were going this way.
- And why go this way if you're a fisherman or a farmer? - RICK: Right.
- Okay. Well, let's try to understand this feature. - Absolutely.
NARRATOR: As another day begins on Oak Island,
and while the excavation of the possible stone path feature
in the southeast corner of the swamp continues...
CRAIG: Okay, we got our sample coming.
NARRATOR: in the Money Pit area,
Craig Tester
and geologist Terry Matheson...
continue to oversee the core-drilling operation
in the C-1 cluster at Borehole B-4...
Eighty-nine?
a borehole that they hope
will eventually encounter more evidence
of the legendary Chappell Vault
at a depth of approximately 150 feet.
- 89. - 89. Thank you.
83 to 89.
Here in front of us. What do we got?
STEVE G.: Anything going on down there?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
CRAIG: Yeah. A little bit of wood at the very bottom.
(chuckles): Look at that. Wow.
NARRATOR: Wood? Found at a depth
of nearly 90 feet in Borehole B-4?
-TERRY: Okay, We got disturbed material, -Right on the edge there.
- Yeah. - We're close to our tunnel horizon.
We hit it 88 to 92.
So we're right in the sweet spot here.
Looks like we got something very interesting.
NARRATOR: Although they were hoping to reach a structure much deeper,
it was at a depth of some 90 feet where,
one week ago, the team obtained not only wood,
but also the gold object from Borehole D-2.
Is it possible that they've just encountered the same structure?
And, if so,
could it also be connected to the evidence
of a massive source of gold and silver
recently detected through water sample testing?
We have somebody shaping wood to make a tunnel or a shaft.
The next drill intersection will tell the tale, hopefully.
The core drill is coming out of the ground now.
- CHARLES: Here we go. - Here we go.
RICK: Every time the drill goes down now versus other years,
the hope is to slice open
the plastic, and voilà, there's gold, there's silver.
Part of a chest. Part of something.
A definite. Maybe even the one,
my long sought after, elusive one thing.
There is something down there.
Core intersection,
- we'll see what it tells us. - 93.
- 93? - Thank you.
All right.
- Oh! I can see goodness. - Yep.
- You see something? - I can see
definitely something of interest right about there.
- Okay, whoa, look at that, gentlemen. - There we go.
That looks like we went right through the floor of a tunnel.
That is definitely sawn wood,
and it looks like a relatively irregular handsaw.
Craig, what do you think?
Yeah, I'm with you.
This part, the blades are coming at a little different angle.
Yeah. That says somebody's heaving and pulling.
Yep.
STEVE G.: So, based on what we see,
would you call this a shaft or a tunnel?
That could well be the floor planks
of a tunnel, definitely.
TERRY: We've got a very, very interesting area
in and around C-1.
STEVE G.: It almost seems like we can't miss.
NARRATOR: Later that afternoon,
after being alerted by Laird Niven
of an update from the Department
of Community, Culture and Heritage...
- Hey, Rick. - Hey, Rick.
Rick Lagina has called an emergency meeting
with his brother Marty, their partner Craig Tester,
and members of the team in the war room.
RICK: We have everybody here
that could come out of the field in the war room right now.
And you know what the discussion is related to:
the archaeological work
and the fallout, if you will, from notifying
the Acadia First Nations.
And I wanted everyone to understand
the current situation.
So, Laird, if you want to bring everyone up to speed.
Well, basically, Acadia First Nation
got hold of Community, Culture and Heritage.
MARTY: Okay.
And before you go any further, Laird,
it's the pottery that's causing the concern?
Presumably so, yeah.
The pottery we found
mean that they were there for some period of time.
How long they were there, we don't know.
They have requested maps and all the information
and all the data as regards the finds,
the locations, the depths, the elevations.
Steve is working on that, and I have some suspicion
and belief that they won't respond
until that information is in hand.
Yeah.
And the archaeologists asked
that we stop down.
Stop work at the area where we're finding the artifacts.
It's just a blanket prohibition,
because they haven't been here yet.
I see.
I.e. "you must cease." And those were...
that was the verbiage: "you must cease
and desist immediately."
Well...
Honestly, I'm becoming
increasingly more frustrated with this whole thing.
NARRATOR: In the war room,
Rick Lagina and archaeologist Laird Niven
have just informed the Oak Island team that
the provincial Department of Community, Culture and Heritage
are restricting search activity
in the southeast corner of the swamp,
after the team unearthed
indigenous Mi'kmaq artifacts there.
RICK: I think what we're trying to do
is understand exactly what the prohibitions are.
- Correct? - Yeah.
STEVE G.: Let me show you some areas.
I'll share my screen, Marty.
MARTY: What is the big green and big red polygon to the right?
- What are those? - So, this is for drilling.
We have free range inside of the green.
Any activity inside the green, we're allowed to pursue.
I see.
And the red?
Anything that falls outside of the green,
we need special permission to be inside of the red.
The problem is,
the area we're digging seems to indicate
where the stone road and the associated stone path was going.
Appears to be going to the upland.
Appears to be going to... towards the Money Pit.
MARTY: We need to go dig over there.
Guess what. We can't.
Just look at that map that's in front of us.
"See this green area? Okay, guys, that can be yours.
The rest is kind of ours." Look at the map.
(laughs): It's... I mean, come on.
BILLY: I'm with you, Marty.
And I know Oak Island is a special place.
I get that, right?
But everything that's been done--
And I'm with Marty on this one-- Everything that's been done
to this point, there's far more oversight here.
I can go across the island
and dig all the holes that I want to,
and nobody's gonna stop me.
It seems unfair and it seems ridiculous.
Billy, that's completely correct.
I'm not objecting to us
following the rules, okay?
Four acres
are now off-limits to us on the island we own.
If we find more things
that are extremely important archaeologically,
we may end up with red circles all over the island.
In effect, we're running the risk
of losing our property by performing properly.
Our ability to work function on our own island
is getting eroded in leaps and bounds.
It is very discouraging to me.
And the more we cooperate and the more we dig,
the more of our island we lose.
I... I'm almost to the point of saying fine,
let's go in that green box and let's throw in the towel
everywhere else.
Right now I am so discouraged that I... I think
I would finish the year in that green box,
and I'd say, You know what, we're done. We're done."
I don't know, guys.
I don't know.
The stone road, which is... could be so significant
to what we're trying to do,
is now in the center of a red circle.
What do you want to do, Rick?
I hate to lay it on you, but what do you want to do?
There's a way to move forward, and I think we should.
I think there are areas that continue to intrigue us.
The drilling program that is progressing in the Money Pit
- provides real hope and promise. - You're right.
This roadblock has been thrown in front of us.
We're gonna go somewhere else,
and we're gonna find something spectacular.
RICK: We'll find a way through this.
There's a lot of work to do
that will help us move the search agenda forward.
Sempre avanti. Just let's just keep moving forward.
Okay.
RICK: It's just the way it's going to be.
NARRATOR: A legendary treasure has lured virtuous,
determined and skilled people to Oak Island
for more than two centuries now.
For many, what began with great hope
for the ultimate discovery ended in disaster,
caused by forces that were beyond their control.
Now, as Rick, Marty, Craig and their team
are perhaps closer than anyone before them
to solving this mystery,
those same forces are bearing down on them, as well.
Is the curse of Oak Island
once again asserting its power,
ensuring that the answers to the mystery
remain just out of reach?
Or can they prove that, at long last,
the island has finally met its match?
Next time on The Curse of Oak Island...
- MARTY: Whoa-ho! - TERRY: Wow!
If it's a shaft, it's a very large shaft.
- (beeping) - What the heck is that?
- To me, it looks like a chisel. - Wow!
What the hell are these doing on Oak Island?
The composition of the rocks are quite unusual.
Whoa! A-U.
- That's gold. - (chuckles)
CHRISTA: The really interesting part of this particular object
is that there are several gold flakes on it.
Wow.
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