All language subtitles for The.Curse.of.Oak.Island.S11E17.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH[TGx]

NARRATOR:
Tonight on
The Curse of Oak Island...

We have new information

about the stone pile in Lot 15.

MICHAEL A.:
The conclusion is they were made

by the Templars.

This is really cool.

This could be medieval.

That could be a friend
of the cross.

Is it a match
for other artifacts

-we found on the island?
-Yeah.

Whoa.

RICK:
Those are big beams.

I've been in a lot
of old mines. Never seen this.

GARY:
That's Oak Island Money Pit
history right here.

(laughs):
Yeah, it is.

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.

♪ ♪

-RICK: That's a strong as a wind
as I've ever been in.
-ALEX: Yeah.

I wonder how the island did.

RICK:
That's what we're gonna
figure out, right?

-Mm-hmm.
-There's a potential

that it's really quite bad.

NARRATOR:
A new morning has dawned

under a cloud of great concern

for Rick Lagina, his nephew Alex

and Jack Begley as they make
their way to Oak Island.

ALEX:
Well, the Causeway's there.

RICK:
Yeah, I know,
it looks pretty good.

NARRATOR:
48 hours ago,

a devastating storm
known as Hurricane Lee

reached the eastern coastline
of Nova Scotia,

causing torrential rains,
flooding

and millions of dollars
in damage to the province.

ALEX:
The swamp is full.

JACK:
Yeah.

-That's a lot of water
to pump out.
-It's a lot of water.

Speaking of that, I think
we'll start the pump right now.

ALEX:
Oh, wow. Look how deep it is.

RICK:
You remember how deep

-t-those digs were.
-Yeah.

RICK:
There's-there's three, four feet
of water in there.

NARRATOR:
Finding the swamp, which was
drained several weeks ago,

now nearly refilled
with rain and seawater

is especially frustrating
for the team.

Let's start the pumps.

NARRATOR:
It means that
they will have to spend

the rest of the week
pumping it dry,

and won't be able
to explore critical areas

such as the region near
the 800-year-old paved area...

-ALEX: It's going.
-where just one week ago,

they discovered
axe-cut tree stumps

that dated back to as early
the 14th century.

Let's go check on the Money Pit.

The storm has been
very detrimental

to the search agenda.

ALEX:
It looks okay.

RICK:
Well, they're working,
that's a good thing.

Mother Nature has done
what Mother Nature does,

and thus,
we have to have patience.

And we will continue
to move forward.

-Good morning, Roger.
-Hey, how's it going, guys?

So, what happened?

ROGER:
It was rough,

uh, with the hurricane,
but little to no damage here.

JACK:
Are you ready to start

-digging again today?
-Oh, yeah, for sure.

We've been,
we dug quite a bit yesterday.

Actually, we dug down
to 99 feet.

Oh, wow.

NARRATOR:
The fact that the hurricane

did not prevent representatives
of Dumas Contracting Limited

from continuing to deepen
the 18th-century structure

known as the Garden Shaft

means that the team's most
important operation of the year

has thankfully
not been interrupted.

So, is the tunnel exposed?

ROGER:
So, that's what we're...

planning on doing next.

We're gonna get in there
and expose

that-that timber that's there.

Okay.

NARRATOR:
In the coming days,

Dumas is hopeful that they will
be able to fully expose

a seven-foot-tall tunnel
nearly 100 feet deep

just below the Garden Shaft.

A tunnel that leads due west
into the so-called Baby Blob,

where high-trace evidence
of precious metals

has been detected
in the groundwater

between 80 and 120 feet
underground.

RICK:
Nothing detrimental happened
to the Garden Shaft.

We should be
very grateful for that,

because now they can move
seamlessly forward.

That's why we're here.

We're here to treasure hunt.
We're here to solve a mystery.

Anyway, Rog, uh, we're glad
that you stayed safe,

-your team stayed safe.
-Yep.

You get to that wood,
give us a call.

We've got a lot
of cleanup to do.

-So, we're gonna get after it.
-Yeah.

-RICK: Good luck today.
-ROGER: Sounds good.

-RICK: All right. Thanks, Roger.
-ROGER: Talk to you later, guys.

NARRATOR:
Later that afternoon...

-DOUG: Hey, gentlemen.
-RICK: Hello, gentlemen.

CRAIG:
Hey guys.

RICK:
Ciao. So, I think

this war room in particular

might reflect what
we have long sought to do:

establish some sort of
origination story

to the Oak Island mystery.

Sì.

NARRATOR:
In the war room,

Rick, along with
his brother Marty,

Craig Tester
and other members of the team

are meeting via video conference

with archaeoastronomy expert
Professor Adriano Gaspani.

RICK:
We have Professor Gaspani
with us today.

We obviously have Emiliano,
and we have Michael Amadio,

who is going to be
the interpreter

for Professor Gaspani.

As you know,
we met Professor Gaspani

last year outside of Rome.

He quite literally shocked us
with his interpretation

of Nolan's Cross and its import
here on the island.

ALEX:
Boy.

-RICK: Stunning.
-Everything is just
so well-built.

-RICK (chuckles): Yeah. Really.
-CORJAN: Wow.

NARRATOR:
In 2022,

Rick and members of the team

visited numerous sites in Italy

that once served as strongholds
for the Knights Templar,

the medieval order
of warrior monks

who some believe made
numerous visits to Oak Island

in order to hide
priceless religious treasures

between the 12th
and 17th centuries.

ALEX:
Hey, Rick.

Check this out.

We have seen
this symbol before...

-on Oak Island.
-RICK: H+O Stone.
-PETER: Yeah.

NARRATOR:
During their visit,

they not only saw a number
of carved symbols

that have been found
over the years

on and near Oak Island

but also met
with Professor Gaspani

regarding the megalithic
formation of six boulders

that were discovered in 1981
by Fred Nolan,

known as Nolan's Cross.

NARRATOR:
According to Professor Gaspani's
40 years of expertise

in the field
of archaeoastronomy,

the boulders in Nolan's Cross
were positioned on Oak Island

to align with certain stars
in the night sky.

And furthermore, by studying
the historic positions

of those stars,
he was able to determine

the approximate time period
that it was created.

Wow.

We have tasked Professor Gaspani

with looking at the research
with new information

and new perspective.

DOUG:
Yes, some of
the additional information

we sent to Professor Gaspani
to consider

were the location
of the stone piles on Lot 15

and the stone triangle,

to see if there's
any astronomical relevance

-to those as well.
-Mm-hmm.

NARRATOR:
Now, after being given
the coordinates

of other megalithic
stone formations

that have been discovered

during the past two centuries
on Oak Island,

including the remains of five
stone piles located on Lot 15

that were shaped like pyramids,

and which were first documented
by Fred Nolan

back in the 1960s,

and the stone triangle,

which was
unfortunately destroyed

by searcher activities in 1965,

Professor Gaspani
has prepared a report

on their possible origins
as well.

RICK:
I turn it over
to Professor Gaspani.

I'm quite excited to listen
to what he has to tell us.

ADRIANO:
Perfetto.

Right.

NARRATOR:
Similar to Nolan's Cross,

it is Professor Gaspani's belief
that the positions

of the five stone piles
on Lot 15

were constructed long ago,
according to alignments

with specific stars,
including the Sun,

as well as the position
of the Moon in the night sky.

And, thus,
by calculating how long ago

the positions of the piles
perfectly aligned

with those stars in relation
to the position of the Moon,

he can approximate
when the piles were created.

MICHAEL A.:
And so, somebody
was on the island

all those years, uh, laying out

those piles of stones,

and the stones
of the Nolan's Cross.

MARTY:
Wow.

-Amazing.
-RICK: That's pretty cool.

It's incredible.

NARRATOR:
In the war room,

archaeoastronomy expert
Professor Adriano Gaspani

has just presented

the Oak Island team
with an astonishing

scientific report.

He believes that Nolan's Cross

and the five stone piles,
or cairns, located on Lot 15

were possibly created
by the same group of people

nearly 800 years ago.

MICHAEL A.: There is
a level of certainty,

a level of coincidence

which is incredible.

Right.

So, can the professor

speculate as to the people

who constructed it?

Wow.

There's intelligent design
to this, it seems.

Esatto.

NARRATOR:
The Templar order?

Could Professor Gaspani
be correct?

If so, would that explain

why the team
has seen numerous carvings

in former Templar strongholds
across Europe

that have also
been found on Oak Island?

Might it explain who created
the paved area in the swamp,

in addition to Nolan's Cross,
the stone cairns on Lot 15

and the stone triangle?

And, finally, could it also
identify who was responsible

for the high-trace
evidence of gold,

silver and other metals
that have been detected

in the Money Pit area?

I think Dr. Gaspani is correct.

It turns the Oak Island
history on its ear.

It may even turn history
as it's understood

in terms of
European contact on its ear

and in the Maritimes, for sure.

MICHAEL A.:
The message is a secret.

It's not for everybody to know.

The conclusion is
they were made by the Templars.

ALEX: That's a fact.

(laughing)

RICK:
The amazing thing is

that it was constructed
by Europeans.

The level of certainty

he has put to it is amazing.

RICK:
I've always believed in
the importance of Nolan's Cross.

But now we have to come

to a complete understanding
of the stone cairns,

what the stone triangle
represents.

So we need to get busy.

Yeah.

MARTY: Professori Gaspani, um,

It's an incredible presentation.

And we may have
some follow-up questions

after we have time to think
about it a little bit.

-ADRIANO: Okay.
-RICK: Grazie.

NARRATOR:
The following morning,

as restoration efforts
continue across the island...

TERRY:
We're going deep.

Here we are right here, Charles.

Bedrock is gonna be about

210, 215 feet below grade.

Yeah.

NARRATOR:
...in the Money Pit area,

Charles Barkhouse joins
geologist Terry Matheson

to supervise
a new core-drilling operation

in borehole F.25-8.25

located 55 feet southwest
of the Garden Shaft.

TERRY:
We're very close to RF-1

and that's the reason
why we're drilling this hole.

-Yeah.
-Because we found

-such interesting
artifacts in RF-1.
-Yes.

So it's very interesting.

Look at all the wood.

-GARY: That is spectacular.
-SCOTT: That's cool.

NARRATOR:
In 2019,

the team first excavated
an eight-foot-wide steel caisson

in this area, known as RF-1.

Incredibly, below
a depth of 100 feet,

they unearthed
the handle of a pickax

as well as massive
wooden timbers that,

just one week ago,
were scientifically proven

to have originated in Europe.

So this is a very
interesting area and hopefully,

-now we can find
something else.
-Yep.

NARRATOR:
Now, because recent

water testing in this area

has also yielded
high traces of gold and silver

below a depth of 150 feet,

the team is hoping to find more
evidence of man-made workings

and ultimately, the source
of the precious metals...

Here it comes.

NARRATOR:
...that have been detected

deep underground.

-Thank you, my friend.
-Eight.

What've we got?
Eight feet below grade.

-Here we go, Charles.
-Yep.

-Zero to eight.
-I think that's going to be it.

Looks like
they've locked onto cobble.

This is all we--

all the recovery we have.

Not so much to write home
about here, Charles.

Very early days, yep.

We've got quite a ways to go.

NARRATOR:
As the drilling operation
continues

in the Money Pit area

some 200 yards
to the northwest

on Lot 15...

This is an important area
for us, mate.

NARRATOR:
...metal detection expert
Gary Drayton

and Jack Begley arrive
at the site of the stone cairns.

It's become really important

due to Professor Gaspani's work.

We're looking for anything
that could allude

to that 12, 1300s visit.

Yeah. Well, now
you're in my wheelhouse, mate.

I'm from England.

I search for medieval treasure.

You ready to get stuck in?

-Let's get started.
-Okay.

NARRATOR:
When these five stone formations

were first surveyed by
Fred Nolan in the 1960s,

they were described
as pyramid-shaped

and stood between
five and seven feet high.

However, since then,
searcher activities caused them

to be partially dismantled.

First flag here.

All right.
Right next to these stones.

-(beeping)
-Great sounding signal.

Just there, mate.

Dang.

JACK:
Is this one
of the piles or something?

It's out.

JACK:
That's a lot of stones.

Let's see what we've got.

What have we got here? Oh.

Ooh, hoo, hoo, hoo.

Now, this is interesting.

GARY:
What have we got here?

-Oh, ho, ho.
-Is that a bit of lead?

GARY:
Yeah, a bit of lead.
It's like a lead strip.

NARRATOR:
On Lot 15,
located several hundred feet

northwest
of the Money Pit area...

-Now, this is interesting.
-Yeah, that is.

NARRATOR:
...Gary Drayton

and Jack Begley have just found

a potentially important clue
near the believed

750-year-old stone cairns.

GARY:
This is fantastic, mate.

It's shaped.

That could be very,
very interesting, mate,

'cause it looks decorated.

And it was made
like that on purpose.

This has the potential
to be medieval.

-You think it's medieval?
-Yeah.

-Honestly?
-Yeah. I really do, mate.

When I'm working
medieval sites in England

with me metal detector,

you find a lot of old iron
and a lot of old lead.

And then, if you're lucky,

you find medieval silver
and gold.

I think we've just scored

a really great find on Lot 15,

right next
to these old stone piles.

This might link back, somehow,

to help prove
Professor Gaspani's work.

NARRATOR:
The so-called medieval period
was an era of European history

that lasted from roughly
500 to 1500 AD.

Could Gary Drayton be correct

that this lead artifact
may be more than 600 years old?

If so,

might it offer hard evidence

that Professor
Adriano Gaspani's belief

that the stone piles,

or cairns, were created
in the 13th century is true?

GARY:
This is fantastic, mate.

I can't wait to see
the data on this.

I think we should
take it straight to the lab.

Yep. I'm with you, mate.

-Sweet find, Gary.
-Good digging, mate.

NARRATOR:
While Gary and Jack finish
their search on Lot 15...

-SCOTT: Hey, Roger.
-ROGER: How's it going, Scott?

SCOTT:
Good.

You've uncovered
some wood down there, now?

Yeah. So Rodney just
gave me a call not too long ago

and, yeah,

he's uncovered
quite a bit of wood, actually.

NARRATOR: ...Operations Manager
Scott Barlow

meets with Roger Fortin
in the Money Pit area

after being informed
that representatives

from Dumas Contracting Limited

have finally uncovered
a large section

of the believed treasure tunnel

located just below
the Garden Shaft

at a depth of some
100 feet underground.

This is exciting.

-Oh, yeah, yeah.
-This is what we've been

-waiting for.
-Absolutely, and that's why

I told Rodney to stop
and they know

before we start excavating,
I want

to make sure
nothing gets damaged,

that we'll go at it
nice and easy and-and

preserve every little piece
that's in there.

-It's a big day on Oak Island.
-Oh, yeah.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

SCOTT:
Very few people
have had this opportunity

and we're fortunate
enough to be unearthing

a very old tunnel, uh,
potentially a depositor tunnel.

-This is exciting.
-Oh, yeah.

-Let's go down and have a look.
-Sounds good.

Grab's out of the hole.

SCOTT:
Working with the guys from
Dumas, I mean, it's a privilege.

They're hard-working guys.
You know, they're miners.

It's back-breaking work.
They're down there.

They're on their hands and
their knees. They're chipping.

They're digging.
They're doing whatever

it takes to move this material.

But the great this about it is,

they're just as excited
as we are for this project.

They want to put their hands
and their eyes on this tunnel.

They want to see
what we want to see.

-Scotty, do you want to come
and take a closer look?
-Yeah.

-Yes.
-That's impressive structure.

I mean, look at the size
of those planks.

-Yes.
-The beams.

-Yeah, all logs
of different sizes.
-ROGER: Yeah.

SCOTT:
Oh, wow.
Look at the size of those.

I mean, we can get some
great information from that.

That's gonna be, you know,
12 or 14 inches across.

ROGER:
Yeah.

SCOTT:
It's a pretty exciting
moment to be down there

and to put eyes
on this wood that,

you know, nobody's seen

for potentially upwards
of 400 years.

Pretty incredible.

When we see
this rounded edge here,

like that looks like
it may even have bark on it.

The log, you look
at the size of that,

that rounded as an outside edge,

and we can see
the center in there

there's a lot of rings in there.

Which is great, that's a good
indicator that it's old growth.

NARRATOR:
A possibly older,
rounded timber,

found nearly 100 feet
underground in the Garden Shaft?

In 1804, when treasure hunters

began the first major
excavation of the Money Pit,

They reported finding
a series of platforms

made of round logs
every ten feet,

down to the 90-foot level.

Is it possible that
this tunnel may be connected

to the original treasure shaft?

If so, just what might the team
find at the end of it?

SCOTT:
I can't wait
to get this uncovered

and get some of this material
out of here.

ROGER:
Yeah. You and I both.

We might be able to slide
that plank right out of there.

Oh, yeah, you can tell,
there's like, say,

you got a piece here,
a piece there, a piece here.

I think that tunnel
would be probably

no more than five feet wide.

There's kind of, like, wedges,

like, if you can take
that wedge off right there.

SCOTT:
Let's give it her try, yep.

ROBERT:
That piece looks
like it's loose, Scott.

You might be able
to pry that right up.

SCOTT:
Yep.

There we go. Look at that.

Definitely a wedge.

This looks like
bark there as well.

ROGER:
You don't get more
homemade wedge than that.

This is pretty exciting.
We should let Rick know

that we're on this and starting
to remove some stuff.

ROGER:
Oh, for sure he's gonna
be excited to put eyes on this.

-SCOTT: Yeah.
-I've been in a lot of
old mines, never seen this.

-SCOTT: Let's keep digging.
-ROGER: Sounds good.

-ROGER: Okay, Rick.
-RICK: All set?

ROGER:
All set. I'll hold
the ladder for you.

RICK:
Coming down.

NARRATOR:
It is an extraordinary
moment for Rick Lagina.

Having been alerted

that a large section
of the possible treasure tunnel,

located just beneath
the Garden Shaft

at a depth of some 100 feet,

has been exposed.

SCOTT: Look at that.
Right there.
-RICK: Wow.

-Those are big beams.
-SCOTT: They are.
-ROGER: Oh, yeah.

SCOTT:
And no two are the same.

-RICK: That's impressive.
-SCOTT: Yeah.

RICK:
To get down there
and realize

that there is hard evidence

that the tunnel is not
a interpretation, it's real,

you get a little bit of chills.

Now we need to understand

its relevance to the mystery.

Boy, I'd love to get
one of those, though.

Well, what we're gonna do
is clean some of it off

and then we're gonna try
to get the whole length out.

-RICK: And I think it would
be nice to get that one.
-SCOTT: Yeah.

-And then this one here
we know is good and wide.
-RICK: Yep.

And this one is
definitely rounded here.

This is much thinner here.

-SCOTT: And that could be
an upright piece.
-RICK: Yep.

It's cool. It's very cool,

especially given
the C-14 results.

So, that's why it's imperative
that we get samples.

It is.

The whole idea of what
happened in the Money Pit,

you know, we have a timeline.

NARRATOR:
Earlier this year,

wood samples from this tunnel,

which the team obtained during
a core-drilling operation,

were carbon-dated
to the 17th century.

RICK:
You know, you'd want
to get that piece out whole.

ROGER:
Yeah. Absolutely.

NARRATOR:
But now that much more of
the structure has been revealed,

the team will remove
some of the massive beams

for additional testing,

in the hopes of confirming

just when this tunnel
was created.

It's a year of pivotal moments.

Timber there.

I think the Professor Gaspani's
work is pivotal.

This recovery of these timbers

may be a pivotal moment if
it represents original work.

This is important.

SCOTT:
What I'd like to see happen here

is these three timbers
right here,

even the fourth one
being the one on top,

get one pulled out
so we can see a whole length.

-Absolutely. We can
get that done for you.
-Great.

If this is original depositor,
there's a good chance

that there may be treasure
at the end of this tunnel.

-Yep.
-But I also want
to get Steve Guptill

to come down here
and survey this.

-Yes.
-RICK: Great.

I wonder, just, you know,

have Gary come down,
scan that real quick.

-SCOTT: Yep.
-ROGER: Yep. Absolutely.

-So, anyway, we will
let you get started.
-Yes.

And I will get up
and out of your way.

My thought was, you know,

to have Gary come down,
I mean, why not?

It is a treasure hunt,
after all.

And we have exposed a new area

for him to investigate.

-STEVE: Ready, Gary?
-GARY: Yep. Ready, mate.

RICK:
And hope that we find
a artifact or artifacts

that can be associated
with cultural context

as it relates to the construct.

-How freaking awesome is this?
-STEVE: It's pretty great.

-We got everything
we need, Gary.
-GARY: Thanks, mate.

Time to unleash the beast.

You guys ready to find
some treasure?

Let's find some treasure.

Let's strike up the magic wand.

-(beeping)
-Right.

See if there's
any metals in there.

(beeping)

And unfortunately, I can't
get too close to this iron.

All right, mate, well,
unfortunately, no hits

but we ain't finished yet, mate.

If you can hang on
to my detector,

-I'm gonna try pinpointing.
-Sure.

(beeping rapidly)

-GARY: Oh.
-Oh.

-Oh, you've got it.
-GARY: It's in me hand.

Let's see what we got.

-It is this.
-STEVE: What is that?

GARY:
Tough to tell what it is.

I'm not getting
a rapid vibration off it,

which would tell me it's iron.

-So, this is gonna
go back to the lab.
-STEVE: Yep.

And hopefully, Emma's got some
great news about this.

STEVE:
All right.

-Good find, Gary.
-GARY: Yeah. All right.

Let's see what we got here.

(beeping)

Fingers crossed.

(beeping rapidly)

STEVE:
Gary, you've got another hit.

Yep. Now, what have we got here?

Yeah. We have got
a piece of metal.

Look, it's shaped.

-See that flat edge on it?
-STEVE: Mm-hmm.
-RODNEY: Yeah.

It's an interesting shape,
for sure.

You seen anything like this
from your operation?

-So, it's probably from
the tunnel construction.
-Yeah.

Even more curious now.

Yeah, it really is.

NARRATOR:
Could Gary be correct

that this metal artifact
may have been used

in the construction
of the tunnel?

It's fantastic news.

NARRATOR:
If so, could it be
another critical clue

that could help
the team determine

just when it was built?

All right, chaps.
I'm gonna put this

in the front pocket there
and zip it.

Do you want me to help you
do some measurements, mate?

I wouldn't mind.
For the first time, I can put

survey control points
on this tunnel

and this is gonna help me draft

and project this tunnel
accurately now

because this is the first time
we've stood on it.

GARY:
Okay, mate.

I think it's great
we're doing this, Steve,

- for good measure.
-(Steve chuckles)

NARRATOR:
While Steve and Gary
complete their survey

of the tunnel beneath
the Garden Shaft...

CHARLES:
I think we have
a core coming up now.

NARRATOR:
...some 50 feet
to the southwest...

-What do we got, Adam?
-One fifty-one.

CHARLES:
One fifty-one.

NARRATOR: ...geologist
Terry Matheson

and Oak Island historian
Charles Barkhouse

are continuing to monitor

the core-drilling operation

in borehole F.25-8.25.

Thank you, Adam.

NARRATOR:
A borehole where
they hope to find

more evidence of another
man-made structure

-more than 150 feet deep...
-Scalpel.

that, according to recent
scientific testing

is of European origin.

Let's slice this open
and take a look.

-We've got wood here, Terry.
-What?

-We got wood.
-Wow.

Yeah. This is all
undisturbed here.

So, we must be right
at the edge of something.

CHARLES:
You know, Terry,

the fact that we're
finding wood at this depth--

we could maybe be in
the original Money Pit.

-So, all the more important
we get a sample.
-CHARLES: Oh, absolutely.

-That's what we do, right?
-Yeah.

Well, we got
another core coming.

And hopefully we'll pull up
some of that real treasure.

Yeah.

What have you got, Adam?

-One seventy-one.
-One seventy-one.

-Ooh, looks like
we're into bedrock.
-Yeah.

TERRY:
Yep. We're into
the side of the bedrock.

CHARLES:
Yeah.

TERRY:
And here's some more
of that punky,

relatively soft material.

M-Much harder
gypsum bedrock here.

Yeah.

TERRY:
This stuff is just
as Mother Nature left it.

NARRATOR:
It is an unfortunate revelation
for Charles and Terry

that the drilling operation
has reached bedrock

at a depth of some 170 feet.

However, since
they recovered evidence

of a wooden structure
less than 20 feet higher

and have also detected
precious metals in this area,

could it be that
they just missed direct contact

with something of
great importance or value?

We are in and out
of old workings.

-Yeah.
-Something went on down there.

Let's, uh, clear this table

and hopefully have
another target to drill on.

There's still a lot of areas
where-where we haven't drilled.

Absolutely.

CHARLES:
We'll move on.

TERRY:
Mystery abounds on Oak Island.

CHARLES:
Certainly does.

NARRATOR:
As an exciting new day
begins on Oak Island.

ROGER:
All right, guys.

If you're ready,
we're gonna get this wood up.

-Okey doke.
-ROGER: Yep.

-Let's do it.
-NARRATOR: Rick Lagina

and other members of the team

arrive in the Money Pit area

as massive timbers from
the potential treasure tunnel,

located some 100 feet
underground,

are about to be removed
from the Garden Shaft.

All right, Jeremy.
Let's get her up here.

♪ ♪

We've never had
this opportunity before

and we need to make certain
we do everything we can

to understand
what this represents.

ALEX:
Here it comes right here.

RICK:
I absolutely hope
that this leads us

five steps closer
to-to solving the mystery.

(straining):
Oh, not quite. Now I do.

RICK:
You can see
in that piece of wood

a man down there
cutting that timber,

creating that tunnel
to-to go somewhere,

hopefully, to hide treasure.

Look at that.
We got a rounded edge here

-and rounded on this side.
-CHARLES: Yep.

And it's adze-cut.

GARY:
Yeah, that's adze-cut.

NARRATOR:
A timber cut with an adze?

Dating back to the days
of ancient Egypt,

an adze was
a type of cutting tool

designed for the construction
of ships and wooden structures,

until the 18th century,
when they were replaced

by mechanized tools.

That's a bit of Oak Island
Money Pit history right here.

NARRATOR:
So now, the question is

just how long
before the 18th century

might this tunnel
have been created?

ROGER:
Watch your fingers.

RICK:
It's real aha moment.

There's no question about it.

After all the struggles
and all the setbacks

and all the time
and all the effort,

to see it there
in front of you...

Well, this is real history,

and I want to
hold it in my hand.

This has more going for it
than anything else so far.

I mean, this could lead
right to the treasure.

We don't know yet.

Let me just test it,

see if it's sturdy enough
for a gold dance.

-Yeah. It will be.
-(laughter)

RICK: The good news is

we still do have
the horizontal drilling.

-Still to come.
-Still to come.

NARRATOR:
Because the tunnel must be
more fully exposed and inspected

before the team can
possibly access it,

in the coming days,

representatives
from Dumas Contracting Limited

will conduct
a probe-drilling operation

from the bottom
of the Garden Shaft

into the tunnel's interior

to hopefully pinpoint the source
of the precious metals

that have been detected nearby
in the Baby Blob.

Kudos to everybody,
especially the guys down hole,

you know,
'cause they did the work.

Let's stay the course,

get as much information
as we can.

So, it's been a very good day.

NARRATOR:
While the operation continues
in the Garden Shaft,

later that afternoon...

-LAIRD: Hey, Rick.
-RICK: Laird. How are you? Emma?

-Hey.
-Hey.

NARRATOR:
...Rick, his nephew Alex

and Doug Crowell join

archaeologist Laird Niven

and archaeometallurgist
Emma Culligan

in the Oak Island laboratory.

RICK:
So, I see this artifact
that was found on Lot 15.

Was it found close
to the, uh, stone cairn piles?

Yes.

NARRATOR:
They are eager to hear
Emma's scientific analysis

of the decorative
lead artifact

that was found just one day ago

near the potentially
750-year-old stone cairns

located on Lot 15.

Is it a match for any
of the other lead artifacts

we found on the island?

Um, so, because it's lead,

I can't give
100% confirmation of a match.

But 99%,
which is still pretty good.

It matched a lot

with an artifact from 2021.

-Which I do have here
in the lab.
-Oh.

DOUG:
That was the piece
Chris McFarlane found a hit

as being possibly
from Scandinavian origin.

-GARY: Here we go.
-NARRATOR: Two years ago,

while searching Lot 13

between the swamp
and the Money Pit...

What the heck?

-That's lead!
-Yeah.

...Gary Drayton
and Peter Fornetti

found a lead artifact with
a decorative, spiral design.

This is the data
for the twisted rod.

...an artifact that surprised
geochemist Dr. Chris McFarlane

after he conducted a form
of isotope testing on it

known as laser ablation.

When we run the results
through the database,

uh, one source would be

in Eastern Scandinavia.

Here it is, right here.

DOUG:
Lot 13-- where this
twisted lead was found--

that's just downhill
from Lot 15.

-Mm-hmm.
-Professor Gaspani posited
this idea

that those stone cairns were
placed there in the 1200s,

so any and all metal artifacts,

whether they're precious metal
or not,

could play a part
in identifying who was there,

possibly, in that time period.

-So, yeah.
I think it's important.
-Correct. Yep.

And given this item being found

in such close proximity
to the stone cairns,

I think we have to, uh,
follow up on that:

a possible Scandinavian
connection to the island.

♪ ♪

DOUG: I think we have to,
uh, follow up

on a possible Scandinavian
connection to the island.

NARRATOR:
In the Oak Island laboratory,

Rick Lagina
and members of the team

have just found out

that a lead artifact
unearthed just one day ago

on Lot 15,
near the stone cairns,

is a near compositional match
to the lead object

that was found two years ago
on Lot 13

and may have
come from Scandinavia.

RICK:
It's certainly probable
if not definitive

that this is not
a North American mystery, i.e.,

it wasn't originated here.

It had to have come
from the Old World.

In years past, we've
investigated the possibility

that the Knights Templar
were behind this mystery.

The only people that we know of

for sure that made the voyage
pre-Columbian are the Norse.

The historical record
and some science

puts the Norse
along these shores,

like L'Anse aux Meadows, right?

Where else they were
is another question.

And we also know
that the Templars

were at the height
of their power

in the same time period.

So, did they know each other?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR:
It is well documented

that the Scandinavian
warrior civilization

known as the Norse,
or Vikings,

explored
and established settlements

on the North American continent

including Iceland, Greenland

and New Brunswick

as much as 1,000 years ago.

But could Doug's idea
that the Vikings may have

possibly been connected
to the Knights Templar

as well as
the Oak Island mystery

have any basis in reality?

I think it's imperative
to follow up on that research.

NARRATOR:
If so,

could that explain
how structures

like the paved area
in the swamp,

the stone cairns on Lot 15

and these lead artifacts
came to be on Oak Island?

Could that also explain
the man-made workings

that were recovered
from deep in the RF-1 caisson

and which are potentially
of Scandinavian origin,

as well as the traces
of gold and silver

that have been detected
in the Money Pit area?

I've always said
it's a wonderful mystery,

and that's why it's complex.

And that's why it's interesting.

And that's why
it continues to puzzle.

So, when you take items
like this,

you have to find the context.

You know,
you have to find the one thing.

-And we only need one.
-One.

One that connects the Norse,

perhaps Norse-Templar
connection,

to those constructs
up on that hill.

Now, with what we're finding

and with what Professor Gaspani
is-is suggesting,

your one thing might be found
outside the Money Pit.

RICK:
We just have to find it.

♪ ♪

Emma, Laird, again,
thank you both very much.

I think
we've got some homework to do.

-Let's get after it.
-All right.
-Take care, guys.

-RICK: Thank you.
-ALEX: Thanks.

NARRATOR:
Another historic week on
Oak Island has come to an end.

And like many others
in recent years,

it may have revealed
another chapter in a mystery

that now appears to stretch
back further in time

and to further regions
of the globe

than anyone
ever dreamed possible.

As Rick, Marty and the team
continue to dig,

just what will they find?

And where might it lead them

on their quest
for the ultimate answers?

Next time on
The Curse of Oak Island...

GARY:
We found these
in the Garden Shaft.

CARMEN:
It's very old.

It definitely wasn't used
to put together structures.

It could be off boxes
on a treasure.

There's a wall in the swamp.

It could be related
to the stone road.

That red stuff is what's
underneath the stone road--

that will place
that wood structure

further back in time.

Vikings had knowledge
of North America

with contacts to early Templars.

They could have had
knowledge of this area.

That's correct.

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