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00:00Famous Kensington runestone.
00:05The most well-known runestone in the entire world.
00:08And even knowing what we know now,
00:10I'm not certain that I could carve this
00:12without an awful lot of work.
00:14We don't take the cover off the runestone
00:16for almost any reason.
00:18Whoa!
00:19Oh, yeah!
00:20Whoop, there we go!
00:22Oh, my God.
00:23There have only been two that have been found
00:25in North America.
00:27There's something that's right here.
00:30There's a potential for the runestone
00:33to rewrite part of American history.
00:57Good afternoon.
01:03Welcome to the Runestone Museum.
01:05Oh, I'm David Collette.
01:06Was I talking to you on the phone?
01:07You were.
01:08I'm Barbara Hockey.
01:09I'm the executive director.
01:10I'm Johan Sigurdsson.
01:11Very pleased to meet you.
01:12Nice meeting you, too, Johan.
01:14I'm David Collette.
01:15Was I talking to you on the phone?
01:16You were.
01:17I'm Barbara Hockey.
01:18I'm the executive director.
01:19I'm Johan Sigurdsson.
01:20Very pleased to meet you.
01:21Nice meeting you, too, Johan.
01:22Joe and David are in Alexandria, Minnesota,
01:24visiting the Runestone Museum.
01:25He has never been here before.
01:26No.
01:27Welcome.
01:28We have a lot of fun things to show you.
01:29Oh, listen.
01:30Can I already wait?
01:31The museum houses a collection of ancient artifacts
01:33that suggest Norse explorers may have ventured
01:36further into the continent than previously thought.
01:39Viking explorers were the first to land
01:41on the North American continent
01:42in the North American continent
01:43in the North American continent.
01:44The museum houses a collection of ancient artifacts
01:46that suggest Norse explorers
01:47may have ventured further into the continent
01:49than previously thought.
01:50The first to land on the North American continent.
01:52And these artifacts could prove
01:54they didn't just stay on the eastern coast of Canada.
01:58So the Runestone is in here.
02:01The team is using a lot of the equipment
02:03they've been testing recently on items in the museum.
02:06But the focus will be on the Kensington Runestone.
02:10This is the actual Runestone that was found in 1898.
02:13A Swedish farmer named Olaf Oman was farming
02:15and he was clearing his land.
02:17And he was having a hard time getting a tree to topple over.
02:21And when the tree finally was wenched over,
02:24they found it entwined in the roots of this tree.
02:27And his 10-year-old son was with him and said,
02:29Dad, I think there's something written on this.
02:30So they wiped it down thinking originally
02:32that it was Native American inscription.
02:34Looking at it closely,
02:36it was something that nobody could decipher.
02:39So they sent a transcription of the Runestone
02:43to the University of Minnesota
02:45where they could have it start to be translated.
02:48Runic writing is Germanic in nature.
02:51Of course, rune means a secret.
02:53And within the stone,
02:55there are actually secret messages as well.
02:58Doubts surrounding the stone's authenticity
03:00were almost immediate when it was found in 1898.
03:07We don't know who carved it.
03:09We don't know exactly where it came from
03:11or who put it there.
03:12The more information we have,
03:14the more we know.
03:16And I'm keeping my mind open.
03:18While it has never been definitively proven
03:21to be real or a hoax,
03:23Olaf Ohlman, the farmer, never changed his story,
03:27despite the ridicule his family endured.
03:30It wrecked his family.
03:31I mean, his children never recovered
03:34and one of them committed suicide.
03:36And it's, as a find, it didn't help.
03:41It's just a weird thing to forge
03:43and then deny for the rest of your life
03:46and have nobody else come up and say,
03:49ah, yes, this was a fake.
03:51It's just a lot of work for no upside.
03:54And it did not turn out well for him.
03:57The stone has been in the museum,
04:00behind glass, since it opened in 1958.
04:04I've seen some of the analysis of the runes.
04:08I know that someone just recently
04:11did a composition analysis.
04:13I'm really kind of curious
04:14if we can scan the surface and take a look.
04:18Because if we can get down to .0001 or .001 resolutions.
04:24That would be an amazing 3D scan
04:27to be able to look at chisel marks
04:29and obviously share with the museum this,
04:31see if there's new information we can get.
04:33This stone hasn't been scanned since 2008,
04:36so it's almost 20 years old.
04:37I mean, even knowing what we know now,
04:39I'm not certain that I could carve this without an awful lot of work,
04:43let alone bury it under a tree for 25 years
04:46before I supposedly dug it up.
04:48But almost certainly it's a local stone,
04:50although it may have some similarities to a ballast stone,
04:54but that's a pretty heavy stone to carry this far inland
04:57in the size of the boats they're using.
04:58Jay had previously met with Janey Weston,
05:05a calligraphy, languages and stone carving expert.
05:09He asked about her personal experience examining the stone
05:13alongside her father
05:15and what she ultimately thinks of its origins.
05:18Some people have proposed that the Kensington rune stone
05:21had to come from somewhere else
05:23and it got brought to the site from a long distance.
05:26It's not a theory that holds any water as far as I'm concerned.
05:31It would have been a locally sourced piece of stone.
05:43Someone had stated back in 1970 in an interview
05:47that they were saying,
05:48oh, it had to come from down by St. Cloud
05:51because they're quarrying this type of stone down there.
05:54No, they're not.
05:56There is no greywacky being quarried in the St. Cloud quarrying area.
06:01That's granite.
06:03So let's put that one to bed.
06:06Sure.
06:07No, it was a local stone.
06:09Ancient travelers could have carved this for many reasons,
06:14including as a warning to others that arrive after them.
06:23It's of the utmost importance to ensure that the testing is thorough and unbiased.
06:29Dad, this is Edward Von Zell.
06:31He's coming from D3D to come help us do some scanning.
06:33Hey, Edward.
06:34Good to see you.
06:35Thanks for coming, man.
06:36We've been waiting for you.
06:37My pleasure.
06:38So when I got to Alexandria, I met with Edward,
06:40and he brought in his 3D scanner.
06:42So as the boys were already at the museum,
06:44Edward and I went over there to meet them.
06:46Mackenzie arrives with scanning expert Edward Von Zell.
06:51He will be creating high-resolution 3D scans of the runestone's inscriptions.
06:56This should determine the carving method originally used
07:00and if it has been altered at all.
07:03The team is hoping that the advances in technology since its last scan
07:07will yield definitive results.
07:10So, famous Kensington runestone.
07:13The most well-known runestone in the entire world
07:16because of the controversy surrounding it.
07:19The way it was found, the way it was true, the way it was false,
07:22the polarization.
07:24But with your equipment scanning this,
07:27and we're going to get the plastic off for the first time probably in 20 years.
07:31Hasn't been scanned since 2008.
07:33Wow.
07:34This is epic.
07:35So what resolution do you think you can get here?
07:37And why we're interested is will we be able to see chisel marks in very fine detail
07:42because we want to hand this a very nice model to the museum
07:46so they can continue their research.
07:48Right, well, if we can get the glass off,
07:50we can go down to 0.02 millimeters of accuracy,
07:54which should be plenty enough to get any information from it.
08:04Before Edward can start scanning,
08:06the glass case needs to be removed.
08:08This has not happened since 2008
08:11and will need approval from the museum's board of directors,
08:14something the team has overlooked.
08:17There was a question at one point,
08:19do we want to take the cover off the runestone?
08:23And that really had not been approved in advance
08:26because we don't take the cover off the runestone for almost any reason.
08:30I can't believe that we are not going to be able to get the glass off
08:36because if we can't get the glass off, we can't scan anything
08:40and then we have zero new data to analyze
08:43and we might as well just go home.
08:46With troubling news, the team waits for a decision on the runestone case.
08:51While they are waiting, they are approached by Lisa,
08:54a resident who heard about the arrival and equipment they have with them.
08:59She wants them to put it to use close to where she lives.
09:02Lisa volunteers at a local graveyard
09:06and she found out that we had the ability to scan under the ground
09:10and asked if we could come and scan for some bodies they have lost as unmarked graves.
09:16So we are going out there to do that.
09:19Joe and David think ahead to the big expedition to find the Viking Cairn,
09:24which could be a grave.
09:26Having equipment to see beneath the surface could benefit the trip.
09:31In our quest we decided we needed the best technology.
09:35We're not experts at searching under the ground
09:38so we called the world's leading company that makes the gear
09:42and Mark volunteered to come and be our technical guy using the equipment.
09:47So we came out here with our EXP 5500 Pro.
09:52It's one of our newest magnetometers.
09:54It uses flux gate sensors and basically we're measuring the Earth's deviations
09:59in the Earth's magnetic field.
10:01A magnetometer measures magnetic fields
10:04and are useful in geology and archaeology
10:07by locating metallic objects beneath the surface.
10:10Mark also comes equipped with a GPR.
10:14Ground penetrating radar works by sending radio wave pulses into the ground
10:19and if there's an object the waves will bounce back
10:23allowing the user to determine its depth and the type of material located.
10:28Metal detector Randy Guerrillo is also joining the team
10:32along with Mark Harris and his subsurface searching equipment.
10:36They are ready to see what is under the ground
10:39and help Lisa find where the unmarked graves are.
10:43There is something metallic right into the second line right before the end.
10:52It's right here.
10:54It's a metal something metal?
10:55Something metal there.
10:57Okay.
10:58Do you want...
10:59Should we get Randy to bring out the big guns and see?
11:03Do you have that little one that shows it right at the...
11:07Yeah, the pinpointer?
11:08Yeah, we'll see if it's not right on the surface and we'll just leave it there.
11:14Oh my gosh, it's a 1340s Swedish coin.
11:18And we can't get to it.
11:22No, we can't get to it.
11:23Yeah.
11:24We have to really chop it down.
11:25Yeah.
11:26Frozen in.
11:27The ground is too frozen to dig, so Mark suggests another plan.
11:34Okay, so let's swap this line, keep that line where it is
11:39and so we're going to go past unverified sites and see if those...
11:44Okay.
11:45If we can see anything here.
11:46A little, like, right in here.
11:59Randy's got a non-ferrous head over here.
12:01It's not iron, it's copper or something else.
12:04It's a number.
12:09I bet you it's a plot number then.
12:11It's a plot number.
12:12Yeah, but is there anything in the plot?
12:15Hey, Lisa.
12:18Did they put plot number pins in here?
12:20I don't know.
12:22Do you think that's the same thing that you noticed over there?
12:26Possibly.
12:27I think getting it out's the problem.
12:28We'd have to get some leverage to get it up.
12:31Let's let her do it so she has responsibility.
12:37Whoa!
12:38Oh, yeah!
12:39Whoa, he got it.
12:40Plot or property marker?
12:4246.
12:43Probably a plot.
12:44The team will later visit Kensington Park,
12:47where the runestone was originally located.
12:50So this is a great test ahead of that.
12:53We haven't found a really clear grade that shows up really well
12:57in the middle of a screen.
12:59Do you want to find one of those?
13:00I can do a quick scan and see.
13:03Mark does one more scan
13:05to see if he can find what we've been asked here for,
13:08locating unmarked graves.
13:11We've got some, we've got, you can see it here pretty clear.
13:14These are the, that's where the graves,
13:17they're so close together they're blending in.
13:19Yeah, when I put it in the software,
13:21then we'll get the, we'll see a better definition resolution on that.
13:26Yeah, you definitely need experience to, to understand what the hell you're looking at.
13:31Because I'd be going like, oh, the graves must be this way.
13:34Most every target has a particular signature.
13:39And based on the signatures that we saw today, we clearly saw the tombstones.
13:43We found two pieces of metal that were just indiscriminately placed, you know,
13:48somewhere on the cemetery yard.
13:50And then we were able to find the graves around the tombstones.
13:54Some were marked, some were unmarked.
14:00Barbara has been consulting with the board of directors about removing the glass case
14:05that's protecting the Kensington runestone.
14:07We need to get the glass off the runestone,
14:10because we came down here with the newest 3D scanners.
14:14Because when we go north, if the cairn has writing on it,
14:17we only have two ways to record it.
14:19Photogrammetry, which we've done and it works well.
14:22Or this very high-tech 3D scanner.
14:26And we need to ensure we know how to use it.
14:29But we also want to help the museum and the researchers with, like,
14:34the best data they can to take a look at the runestone.
14:37While waiting for an answer, Barbara shows Joe and David
14:41some other artifacts in the museum they might be interested in,
14:45including a fascinating fire steel.
14:49So right here in this cabinet, straight under my finger there, is the fire steel.
14:53It was found in 1871.
14:55There have only been two that have been found in North America.
14:58And they match the fire steels that they have in Norway.
15:02This design.
15:03That design, too.
15:04Yeah, okay.
15:05The other ones that we have, I've heard also that they were used by Native Americans,
15:09but that could have been something that they traded.
15:11Yeah, probably trade goods.
15:12The Native Americans obviously didn't make those.
15:15Right.
15:16Those are European.
15:17They came from Europe.
15:18Just depends on what time they came.
15:19A fire steel is a durable piece of metal alloy called ferrocerium,
15:24which, when struck with a sharp object, creates hot sparks that can ignite kindling and start a fire.
15:31We're on the hunt for Viking presence in North America.
15:36We're looking for even the smallest item that, if it was found in Europe, would probably not be a big deal.
15:41I'm excited to find the answer no matter what it is.
15:43Yeah, I don't think there's many people making their own steel or iron to fake out old artifacts in the last couple hundred years.
15:52I don't think they're making it from scratch, that's for sure, because, you know, I mean, let's face it, even a couple of three hundred years ago, it was pretty modern.
16:01Wow.
16:02You know, compared to what we're looking at, the date of the runestone.
16:05So anything that's aligned with the age of the runestone is well before, you know, making your own metal in North America.
16:14It's interesting to me, too, that most of these artifacts that we have here and in the other case were found when homesteaders were coming in,
16:21and they were farming, they just started farming their land.
16:24So all of these things were under, you know, inside the ground already.
16:29It's like, where did they come from and how did they get there?
16:31And who put them there? Who used them?
16:34We've been looking for Viking artifacts in this part of the country, and we found traces of things.
16:41And we think it's significant, and even more so when we talk to our European colleagues and they say,
16:46listen, almost none of the things that you've found in North America have been found there,
16:51because hardly anything gets left.
16:53They travel so light, everything is so valuable to them.
16:56They're not carrying much, and they're not losing much, and there was never very many of them.
17:01When the Vikings were exploring new lands, they traveled light.
17:05They brought only what they needed to survive and establish trade routes.
17:09It's part of the reason why proving Viking migration in North America is so difficult.
17:15I would love to see the history behind some of these pieces and where did they really come from.
17:20Seeing the artifacts in the museum make Joe and David consider how connected everything is or could be.
17:28The coin that Randy found in Manitoba is from the 1320s, and the Kensington runestone is potentially from 1362.
17:38It makes them think these finds are less a coincidence and more linked together than anyone has previously thought.
17:47We found something just recently en route to that, like right here, just inside Manitoba, on the shores of the Red River.
17:55A really interesting thing no one has ever even looked at before.
18:00Randy's coin discovery may have far-reaching effects in the historical community.
18:06Understanding why it was found in a field in Manitoba is now just as important as figuring out why the Kensington runestone was found in the Minnesota field.
18:19That 14th century or early 1300s coin is astounding because that, from what we've seen, is the oldest known English coin found in North America, found on the banks of the Red River.
18:32It's a dot up to Lake Winnipeg, up to Hudson Bay, and it's one of the primary routes that they would have used to get down to where the Kensington runestone is.
18:43Wow.
18:44It could be serious.
18:45Yeah, the museum in Alexandria has a striker they found, and this is the border, so where Grand Forks is, about 90 miles south, so 150 kilometers south of the border.
18:58Just south of that, they found the striker in the banks of the Red River.
19:03Oh.
19:04And so, and why this isn't preposterous is because this is how everybody came into the continent when they started fur trading.
19:14Mm-hmm.
19:15The French and the English have been traveling this for 500 years, but the 500 years before, absolutely no reason the-
19:23Someone else couldn't have done it.
19:24Someone else couldn't have done it.
19:25Right.
19:26And there's, and there's artifacts along the way, so that's why we're, this is really interesting in here.
19:30It's sort of, it's sort of a corridor.
19:32I'm excited to see what the results are on some of these pieces of metal, to see how old they are and where did they really come from.
19:41Well, I'm looking for, we have the XRF machine, let's get that out and start scanning, get you some data.
19:45Sounds great, let's go.
19:46Yep.
19:47XRF, or X-ray Fluorescent Scanners, are used to analyze the composition of elements by firing X-rays at an object and measuring the X-rays it emits back.
19:59This is a fast, accurate and non-destructive way to investigate what an object is made of.
20:06So, with the software, I'm going to see if I can, you know, we can make a data package, get the pictures, get this data, you know, share the information,
20:16and then get it out to some of our experts.
20:20Well, I'm really glad we got the XRF gun from Thermo Fisher because that is like the most modern system for analyzing metals right now
20:28that you can use in place on site without taking something back to a lab.
20:33We talked to Thermo Fisher right after we scanned them and they said,
20:36yep, they seem old, please share us the complete file so we can take a look at it.
20:41Data gets downloaded off the device onto a computer that we can share data files with and they have experts in archeological analysis of things.
20:52So, they're already giving us feedback of how we did the sampling, what the initial data looks like.
20:58Hey, good afternoon. We're going to send you three scans and some data to get your advice as to the quality of the scans
21:06because we're in the museum and turned into a live fire of the XRF.
21:10I will talk to you soon. Bye.
21:12And then we're sharing it with some medieval European, northern European metal people.
21:19Things that could be Viking spear points also look like they are Royal Navy or American Navy boarding pikes.
21:27And the shape might be similar, but the metals will not look the same at all.
21:31Barbara hears back from the board of directors and they can remove the glass case so that Edward can start scanning the Kensington Brunestone.
21:43Corners up. Whoop. Get your fingers under. Okay, just a sec. Okay, walk to me. Walk to me. Walk to me. And down we go.
21:53You guys put your corner down first, slowly. And we're down. Do I hear an alarm?
21:58That would be the trigger for that, is my guess.
22:01Edward gets set up for the first scans of the Brunestone since 2008.
22:07So, the first challenge was, like, how do I... I'm not allowed to put anything or touch the stone.
22:12So, how do I get these markers on them? So, I just got some PVC pipe and improvised, built little towers.
22:19The film crew is really good at helping, using their C-stands, and we just...
22:23We rigged up a really good system to scan it piece by piece, and then I just combined the scans afterwards.
22:33In between Edward's scanning, David and Mackenzie get their own scans with the XRF scanner.
22:40On my drive into Alexandria, I did a little bit of a tutorial on Zoom, Dad and I, with Fisher.
22:45So, they kind of walked us through how the gun worked, all the settings, what we needed, the technology to download onto your computer.
22:53And so, we kind of got a little crash course.
22:55Number one thing is, don't point it at anyone, full of radiation.
22:58So, we learned that one pretty quick.
23:01So, yeah, the gun itself was relatively easy to use.
23:05You just kind of set it up for the composite that you needed, clicked a couple more buttons, and then you just held a scan for a little bit.
23:11The best way was to do about two to three scans on each thing to make sure that it was consistently scanning the same thing.
23:17And then you basically uploaded it to a computer, and it kind of did the work for you.
23:21You ready to go?
23:22Yep.
23:23Alright.
23:24How am I doing this?
23:26Let's... I don't know, man.
23:28I'm actually allowed to touch the stone?
23:29Yeah, with that.
23:30This exclusively?
23:31So, don't touch it, touch it, but just, I mean, touch it with the nose.
23:34Yeah.
23:35But how about, yeah, let's do it, like, three points.
23:38That's right.
23:39And just be careful, because this is literally an x-ray machine.
23:43Yeah.
23:44And so, if we go this way, it's firing that way.
23:48And so, we probably want to not be on that side of the stone and fire away.
23:53I don't want to touch this stone.
23:55Prior to today, Mackenzie and David have little experience with this scanner.
24:00So, they are proceeding cautiously.
24:03Val refers to balanced amount of signal the instrument is unable to attribute to an element.
24:07Oh.
24:08So, 97% of the signal...
24:10Oh, it's dropping.
24:11Oh, okay, I feel better now.
24:13You know what?
24:14It's because the three filters pick different sections of the atomic table,
24:18or, you know, the purity of the elements, or whatever it is.
24:20Mm-hmm.
24:21All right.
24:25Uh, why don't you fire it this way?
24:28Yeah, see, this is when it starts dropping.
24:31Look at this.
24:34This one's still sitting pretty high, I'm sure.
24:39So, we were just scanning all the artifacts that we were able to,
24:44and just kind of took a look at the composition of the stone,
24:47just to see what was natural to the area, what was not natural.
24:51Are you going to do the top?
24:52Oh, do I get to do a one?
24:54I quite literally...
24:55My hands would be numb by the time that it finishes.
24:57Oh.
24:58Oh.
24:59There's a learning curve with new devices,
25:02so patience and a sense of humor are important.
25:05All right, you ready?
25:08Yep.
25:10Oh, there's phase one.
25:11Oh, 30 seconds to go.
25:14No.
25:15Yeah, 30 seconds.
25:1850 seconds.
25:19All right.
25:20There it is.
25:25Oh!
25:26Because now my hand is in a cramp.
25:31The stone's a little different,
25:32because it's literally a stone.
25:34What that's going to tell us is,
25:36is that stone from someplace else?
25:37Is it from here?
25:38Probably we're going to find out the stone is from here,
25:41but it's just interesting to see if it could be from someplace else.
25:47David and Mackenzie are done with their scanning
25:50and check in with Edward on his results.
25:53I used two scanners.
25:55First, originally, I was going to use an iStar Vega.
25:58It's just like a little portable, completely wireless scanner,
26:01structured light.
26:03But then I also brought an iScan HX with me,
26:08which does 0.02 millimeters of accuracy.
26:11So it's a lot better.
26:13And it collects like 1.2 million data points per second.
26:16It scans really fast and really accurate.
26:19If you kind of go like this, right?
26:21Mm-hmm.
26:22You can see there's definitely something there.
26:24Right.
26:25There's a little...
26:26Mm-hmm.
26:27Okay, that was one of the comments that if that were in there,
26:30that that would be an argument for authenticity of the stone.
26:34Yeah.
26:35That is exciting.
26:36Look at that.
26:37Yeah, see?
26:38We could see individual chisel marks,
26:41because we got down to a 0.01 millimeter resolution.
26:44And the interesting thing about the new technology
26:47is we could also flip the scan upside down
26:49and look at it from inside the rock.
26:52And you could see the contentious issues of dots and hooks
26:56and chiseling.
26:58You can get very good looks at it.
27:01Yeah.
27:02So that's 0.02 millimeter resolution.
27:04Yeah.
27:05Nice job.
27:07And he's not done.
27:08So don't pat him on the back yet.
27:10Okay.
27:11It's still pretty exciting.
27:12Unless you want to just have like a...
27:14It's the mystery of the half of the stone.
27:16Oh, look at that hooked X.
27:18Look at that.
27:19How obvious that is.
27:20This one with the X, I call it an X.
27:22Yeah.
27:23Lack of...
27:24But yeah, with the little thingy that goes out.
27:26Yeah.
27:27Wow.
27:28That's pretty cool.
27:29Yeah.
27:30So I guess maybe we'll get out of your way
27:31and let you finish the rest of that stone.
27:32Okay.
27:33Because they're going to start selling 3D stone printouts soon.
27:38Perfect.
27:39Oh, is that cool?
27:40All right.
27:41Isn't that exciting?
27:42That's a good thing.
27:43That's a good thing.
27:45Okay.
27:46It's good.
27:47You're good.
27:48Yeah.
27:49Yeah.
27:50Scanning the Rune Stone was probably the coolest thing I've ever scanned.
27:51Using a blue laser scanner, it projects laser lines onto a surface.
27:55And then depending if the surface has like hips or valleys, it deforms the light.
28:00and it has cameras that picks up that deformation
28:03and that forms your 3D image through fancy software.
28:09And at the last hour,
28:10we were able to take the cover off the stone
28:13so that we could look at it closely.
28:16In the end, if we learn more about the stone,
28:20that's where we want to be.
28:21It's believed that runestones originated in the Viking Age,
28:31and there are many examples of them
28:33in almost all Scandinavian countries.
28:36While runestones have also been found in North America,
28:40the authenticity of the Kensington runestone
28:42is still up for debate.
28:45They have found runestones in dozens of locations
28:48in the United States,
28:49but none of them have been dated.
28:53Yeah, many of them are highly suspect, too.
28:55Yes, they are.
28:56So the problem is that you've got one of the ones
28:58that appears to be most genuine of anything out here,
29:03and it was found a long time ago.
29:06It's got great providence, regardless of the controversy,
29:10and if we can find more artifacts surrounding it
29:13that approach this old,
29:15we've got a great platform to start looking everyplace else.
29:18Right, I agree.
29:20I agree.
29:22So we're taught that Christopher Columbus
29:25discovered America in 1492.
29:27If it is true that the runestone is real
29:32and it's dated 1362,
29:35there's a potential for us to say,
29:37wow, there were other actual people here,
29:39and this would be the oldest written document
29:42in our history,
29:44and that would be an important historical fact
29:48that nobody can disavow, really.
29:52We know already that the Native Americans
29:54had been here for 10,000 years or more,
29:56and so it's just kind of bringing everybody into the picture.
30:01I'm just open to the possibility
30:03that there were lots of people in this area
30:06before Christopher Columbus came here
30:10and other Europeans,
30:11and that's what I'm open to.
30:13I'm open to learning more about that.
30:16I think people fight the idea
30:17just because it's a different story,
30:19and that's what you learn in school,
30:21that's how it's always been for so long,
30:24and I think trying to change that
30:27and having people find artifacts to change that
30:29is just something that people aren't comfortable with.
30:33People don't like change, really, I think is what it is.
30:35Why is academia so resistant to this idea?
30:40What if we go and follow this this way,
30:42just for a second?
30:43Well, we actually want to go that way.
30:44We just got to get out of these trees and then it ends.
30:47There's a path right here.
30:49The team is searching for a wolf esker,
30:51which will serve as a landmark
30:53to tie together maps of the same location
30:56over multiple time periods
30:58and add some credence to the idea
31:00that Fali Moat included factual hints in his books
31:04for a real Viking Karin.
31:06These are thick trees.
31:07How much of this do we need to go to?
31:09We're going the wrong way.
31:10Guys, let's go to the high ground, which is over there.
31:13Yeah.
31:14Sounds like a good idea where I was going.
31:17Who's leading this?
31:17Before you said go right.
31:19Who's leading this?
31:21I am.
31:22Okay.
31:22So just shut the fuck up
31:24and don't say go right.
31:26Oh, yeah, Captain.
31:32There'd be a wolf esker.
31:34And that's the point of land.
31:35It leads to that point of land
31:37and the mysterious cache is in there somewhere.
31:40Yeah.
31:40So that's the point of land.
31:42The mysterious cairns over in that area there.
31:45Oh, okay.
31:46And the Windy Smith map that we looked at
31:49aligns coincidentally with where Farley has this mysterious cache.
31:55He has a mysterious cairn marked on here.
31:57So it's highly probable that what we're looking for is over there.
32:02So that's where we're going next.
32:04But it's super exciting to finally put everything together that we have in the last few months
32:09and finally make it here.
32:10I think we're definitely on the right path of getting to our final discovery.
32:13Back in Minnesota, the team is on the hunt for another lost relic.
32:20There's rumor of a sunken Viking vessel in a nearby lake.
32:24So they've got their trusty utility task vehicle
32:27to take them out on the ice to its resting place.
32:30Well, here we are at an undisclosed location
32:34in the vicinity of the Kensington Runestone, where it was found.
32:38Local legend has it that there is a boat,
32:42perhaps Norse origin, so the legend goes.
32:45And we're here to find out if we can find it.
32:49They've enlisted Katie from Frontier Precision to join the team for the day
32:53and utilize her company's drones and submersibles in the pursuit of the ship.
32:58So this is an underwater ROV.
33:02Deep Checker is the company, Canadian.
33:04It's really meant for being underwater, doing visual inspection.
33:08It could also be used in search and rescue purposes.
33:11We're out checking ice now.
33:12It's pretty thin.
33:13That's why we're driving a Sherp,
33:14because we don't have to worry so much about going through the ice.
33:18I think it's going to hold up, but we've got sort of like 6 to 12 inches.
33:22Okay, so, hey, have you ever ridden one of these before?
33:24No, I haven't.
33:25Okay, don't worry.
33:26We're not going to sink, I don't think.
33:28That's what I like to hear.
33:33The UTV takes to the ice with a full crew inside.
33:38How deep's the water, Jay?
33:39You've got 6 inches of water on top of the ice now.
33:43Okay, if it gets over a foot, what we can do is we'll launch the rover
33:48and then we'll drive...
33:50Correct.
33:51Leaving you behind because someone has to be left behind.
33:54It was in your contract in really small letters.
33:58Sacrifice.
33:59Jay cuts holes in the ice to allow Katie to deploy the ROV quickly.
34:06We're probably going to move in about a minute.
34:08Yeah.
34:09Yeah, we're sinking.
34:10I think it's like slowly breaking through.
34:12You can keep everything inside and JD can walk it back to the hole.
34:15How's that?
34:16That's already out.
34:17We're good.
34:20They don't want to linger for long on the melting ice.
34:24Just leave it or move?
34:26You can move.
34:28You watch, okay?
34:29Yeah.
34:32There we go.
34:34Yeah, water's coming in the back.
34:37Yeah, water's coming in the back.
34:39Shit.
34:40Move up to the front, boys.
34:44Close the back door if you can, okay?
34:47Close the back door.
34:50Close the back door, Mac.
34:51I did.
34:51Like, block it, block it.
34:53I'm trying.
34:54So when we broke through the ice, we had the back doors open and the Sherp tilted down.
34:59But it's pretty dramatic when things are at 45 degrees, you know, to the right and back.
35:04And you're kind of just trying to plow your way up the ice on the other side and you're falling back.
35:11This door is not locking.
35:15Is that door locked?
35:17No, it won't lock.
35:17It's unlocked.
35:18Keep it closed.
35:19You gotta, you gotta get Jay to lock the door.
35:23Then stop moving.
35:24Open the hatch, open the hatch.
35:26Which hatch?
35:27Stop.
35:27This hatch?
35:27The Sherp may be able to float, but that's only when the tires are underneath it.
35:33The crew is in a dangerous situation.
35:37The threat of ice-cold waters...
35:38Get to the high side, guys.
35:40Get to the high side.
35:41...or being trapped beneath the ice lingers below.
35:46Though it was purposely designed to excel in conditions like this, including sinking,
35:52it's still not a great feeling to be inside the vehicle.
35:55I'm gonna try and get out again.
35:57Are you guys ready?
35:58No, that's not locked.
35:59Don't move.
36:00Why isn't it locking?
36:01Lock the door.
36:01Yeah, we're doing it right now.
36:02You keep moving.
36:03Don't move.
36:04I can't...
36:04Don't move.
36:06Jay's locking up.
36:07We're good.
36:07All good.
36:09Having fun yet?
36:10Everybody in?
36:11Everybody in?
36:12Yeah, we're good.
36:13I'm moving.
36:21Stop, stop, stop, stop.
36:22What's happening?
36:23This thing's catching on ice, so now it's floating.
36:25We're dragging our thing, so don't...
36:26Do you want me to...
36:27Tell Jay to get the rover.
36:31Jay, we need the rover.
36:32I'm disconnected.
36:33We're good.
36:34No, we're a boat.
36:34We're not...
36:35We're totally fine.
36:36Yeah.
36:37Yeah, feel alone.
36:40Okay, get everybody in.
36:41Okay.
36:42Okay, you can close that up, Mac.
36:44Okay.
36:45We're all good.
36:46All good?
36:47Onwards.
36:47Steer at your convenience.
36:52You need me to bilge pump on?
36:53Yeah, I can't see it.
36:55Can you see the lions?
36:56Jay is out on the ice trying to help,
36:59but he's dangerously close to the open water.
37:02No one notices Jay slip on the open ice.
37:05He's in danger of falling through.
37:07Move to the back a little bit,
37:09but be prepared to move to the front again.
37:11Say it again?
37:11Oh, can you guys move two feet to the rear
37:14and then be prepared to move to two feet
37:17to the front again?
37:22And lean forward.
37:24Forward.
37:30Come back in.
37:32Yee-haw!
37:34All right.
37:34You were up?
37:35No, we're back in.
37:37Why don't we rover it right now,
37:38get work on that, and then...
37:40No, let's get out of the hole first.
37:41Where are we going to go?
37:42We're just going to go back into a hole.
37:43No, no, we sank because we were by that hole.
37:47If we make a hole, we make farther away,
37:49we're fine, we'll get water,
37:51but we'll go through, right?
37:52Hang on, everyone!
37:54Yeah, we're, uh...
37:56High probability we're coming out now.
37:59All right!
37:59Hey!
38:00Yay!
38:01You're a very good driver.
38:06With catastrophe avoided,
38:08Joe and David try to persuade Katie
38:11to join their northern expedition.
38:14So you're a drone person, too?
38:16Yes.
38:16So you do, like, airborne lidar?
38:18Yes.
38:18I do a lot of airborne lidar.
38:20What?
38:20Yeah, that's predominantly what I do.
38:22Catch me on one of those days,
38:23and I'll promise I'll look a lot more professional.
38:25Have you ever been to the Arctic?
38:27No, I haven't.
38:28Oh.
38:29Yeah, we need some airborne lidar.
38:30Yeah, we do.
38:31All right.
38:31We were actually looking for airborne lidar...
38:34It's like a two-week commitment.
38:35Hey, Jay, she's a drone lidar lady as well.
38:39Yeah.
38:39Oh, look at this.
38:40It's all coming together.
38:41Coming to the Arctic.
38:42Coming to the Arctic.
38:42We'll get a big drone.
38:43It was fate, and she survived the sinking.
38:46Yeah, and she didn't panic.
38:48That was the test, actually.
38:49Oh, yeah.
38:50Really, we just did that just for you.
38:52I was totally calm.
38:52Katie's skill, experience, and ability to stay calm
38:56are useful traits to have in a fellow explorer.
38:59Now that they are back on stable ice,
39:04Katie can get back to the task at hand,
39:06using the underwater ROV to scan for remnants
39:10of a possible Viking ship.
39:12I want to pull it up just a bit.
39:13Yeah, just a bit.
39:14Do you want to pull it up just a touch?
39:15Just a bit, and then...
39:17I don't feel like I have throttle anymore.
39:21Coming up.
39:21Yeah, we're out of battery.
39:23So will it die faster because of the cold?
39:25Yeah.
39:25Frigid temperatures do not play well
39:28with onboard batteries,
39:30something the team will have to make note of
39:32for their expedition to the north.
39:34It seems as though this search will end fruitless.
39:38Go on.
39:39Yeah.
39:39Close the back door,
39:41and let me get out of here before we go through again.
39:45Say when, Jay.
39:47Go.
39:47Go.
39:48Door's closed.
39:50Hang on.
39:51We're good.
39:52Yeah.
39:53All right, Mike.
39:54While the team wasn't successful finding a shipwreck,
39:58they narrowly avoid ending up on the bottom of the lake,
40:01creating a wreck of their own.
40:03However, they did find someone
40:05who can offer skill and technology
40:08that could help narrow down search time up north
40:11with airborne LIDAR.
40:12Oh, okay.
40:17Terrifying, exciting.
40:19Mackenzie was essentially my center out there.
40:22She was so calm as she was hanging out the back,
40:25trying to close the door as we were going into the ice.
40:28But, no, it was really fun.
40:29I, yeah, it was a new experience.
40:31So, very exciting.
40:33Heading back into the town,
40:34the team anxiously awaits the results
40:37from the scanning session at the museum
40:39and with Katie's equipment.
40:42In the meantime,
40:44there's a lot more of Minnesota to explore.
40:51Unless they go further up there.
40:53What's the depth look like to the right there?
40:56Three feet.
40:58Not too good.
41:00It's early spring in Nunavut
41:03and Paul, the pilot,
41:05is having difficulties on the water.
41:07He can't get close to the shore
41:09for his passengers to disembark
41:11as the water is still partially frozen.
41:14Are we getting in there?
41:15Ah, there's a few big rocks.
41:17See if you can navigate us in.
41:19Okay.
41:23Nope.
41:24Nope.
41:25Where is the helicopter when you need it?
41:27Oh, man, we just got to figure out,
41:31like, how deep is it, Jay?
41:34Like, literally, are we up to your balls?
41:37No, no, no, no, you're up to your knees.
41:39But other than that,
41:40let's just, let's get ashore.
41:42You want to do it?
41:43Okay, well, let's go.
41:45Strip down there, gitch, boys.
41:47The only viable option
41:49is to strip down
41:50and wade through the water
41:52to get to shore.
41:54Once there,
41:54they can build a fire
41:56and hopefully warm up.
41:58There was a patch
41:59that was waist-deep and up.
42:01Took off her pants
42:02and took off her boots
42:03and went barefoot,
42:05and that was not a good idea.
42:06The rocks were sharp,
42:07the rocks were big.
42:09Both Jay and I
42:10ended up with a bunch of cuts
42:12from wading ashore.
42:14I'm cold.
42:15Yeah, let's get moving.
42:17Oh, my gosh.
42:19Wait, wait, wait.
42:23You're going to carry that
42:24and that?
42:25It's like 65 pounds.
42:27Okay.
42:28David?
42:29Let's go.
42:30You ready?
42:30Oh, my gosh.
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