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00:03Famous Kensington runestone.
00:04The 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.
00:18Oh, yes!
00:20There we go!
00:22Oh, my God.
00:23There have only been two that have been found
00:25in North America.
00:26There is something.
00:27It's right here.
00:30There's a potential for the runestone
00:33to rewrite part of American history.
01:14Good afternoon.
01:16Welcome to the Runestone Museum.
01:17Oh, I'm David Collette.
01:18Was I talking to you on the phone?
01:20You were.
01:20I'm Barbara Hockey.
01:21I'm the executive director.
01:22I'm Johan Sigurdsson.
01:23Very pleased to meet you.
01:24Nice meeting you too, Johan.
01:27Joe and David are in Alexandria, Minnesota,
01:30visiting the Runestone Museum.
01:33He has never been here before.
01:34No.
01:35Welcome.
01:35We have a lot of fun things to show you.
01:36Oh, listen.
01:37Can I already wait?
01:37The museum houses a collection of ancient artifacts
01:41that suggest Norse explorers may have ventured
01:44further into the continent than previously thought.
01:47Viking explorers were the first to land
01:50on the North American continent,
01:52and these artifacts could prove they didn't just stay
01:56on the eastern coast of Canada.
01:58So the runestone is in here.
02:01The team is using a lot of the equipment they've been testing
02:04recently 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.
02:14A Swedish farmer named Olaf Oman was farming,
02:16and 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.
02:35Looking at it closely, it was something
02:37that nobody could decipher.
02:39So they sent a transcription of the runestone
02:44to the University of Minnesota
02:45where they could have it start to be translated.
02:49Runic writing is Germanic in nature.
02:52Of course, rune means a secret.
02:54And within the stone, there are actually secret messages as well.
03:00Doubts surrounding the stone's authenticity were almost immediate
03:04when it was found in 1898.
03:07We don't know who carved it.
03:09We don't know exactly where it came from or who put it there.
03:12The more information we have, the more we know.
03:16And I'm keeping my mind open.
03:18While it has never been definitively proven to be real or a hoax,
03:23Olaf Allman, the farmer, never changed his story,
03:26despite the ridicule his family endured.
03:29It wrecked his family.
03:31I mean, his children never recovered.
03:34And one of them committed suicide.
03:35And it's, as a find, it didn't help.
03:41It's just a weird thing to forge and then deny for the rest of your life
03:46and have nobody else come up and say,
03:49ah, yes, this was a fake.
03:50It's just a lot of work for no upside.
03:53And it did not turn out well for him.
03:57The stone has been in the museum, behind glass, since it opened in 1958.
04:05I've seen some of the analysis of the runes.
04:08I know that someone just recently did a composition analysis.
04:12I'm really kind of curious if we can scan the surface and take a look.
04:18Because if we can get down to .0001 or .001 resolutions.
04:25That would be an amazing 3D scan to be able to look at chisel marks
04:29and obviously share with the museum to see if there's new information
04:33we can get.
04:34This stone hasn't been scanned since 2008, so it's almost 20 years old.
04:38I 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 before 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.
05:02Jay had previously met with Janie Weston, a calligraphy, languages and stone carving expert.
05:09He asked about her personal experience examining the stone alongside her father
05:14and what she ultimately thinks of its origins.
05:17Some people have proposed that the Kensington rune stone had to come from somewhere else
05:22and 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 that they were saying,
05:48oh, it had to come from down by St. Cloud because they're quarrying this type of stone down there.
05:54No, they're not.
05:55There is no gray wacky being quarried in the St. Cloud quarrying area.
06:01That's granite.
06:04So let's put that one to bed.
06:07Sure.
06:07No, it was a local stone.
06:11Ancient travelers could have carved this for many reasons,
06:15including 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 Saleh.
06:31He's coming from D3D to come help us do some scanning.
06:33Hey, Edward. Good to see you. Thanks for coming, man.
06:35We've been waiting for you.
06:36My pleasure.
06:37So when I got to Alexandria, I met with Edward and he brought in his 3D scanner.
06:42So as the boys were already at the museum, Edward and I went over there to meet them.
06:46McKenzie arrives with scanning expert Edward Von Saleh.
06:51He will be creating high-resolution 3D scans of the runestone's inscriptions.
06:56This should determine the carving method originally used and if it has been altered at all.
07:02The team is hoping that the advances in technology since its last scan will yield definitive results.
07:10So, famous Kensington runestone.
07:13The most well-known runestone in the entire world because of the controversy surrounding it.
07:19The way it was found, the way it was true, the way it was false, the polarization.
07:24But with your equipment scanning this, and we're going to get the plastic off for the first time probably in
07:3020 years.
07:31Hasn't been scanned since 2008.
07:33Wow.
07:33This is epic.
07:34So 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 so they can continue their research.
07:48Right.
07:48Well, if we can get the glass off, we can go down to 0.02 millimeters of accuracy.
07:53Yeah.
07:54Which should be plenty enough to get any information from it.
08:03Before Edward can start scanning, the glass case needs to be removed.
08:08This has not happened since 2008 and will need approval from the museum's board of directors.
08:14Something the team has overlooked.
08:17There was a question at one point, do we want to take the cover off the runestone?
08:23And that really had not been approved in advance because we don't take the cover off the runestone for almost
08:29any reason.
08:32I 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, a resident who heard about the arrival and equipment they have
08:58with them.
08:59She wants them to put it to use close to where she lives.
09:03Lisa volunteers at a local graveyard.
09:06And she found out that we had the ability to scan under the ground and asked if we could come
09:12and scan for some bodies they have lost as unmarked graves.
09:15So we are going out there to do that.
09:18Joe and David think ahead to the big expedition to find the Viking Cairn, which 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 are 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 probe.
09:51It's one of our newest magnetometers.
09:54It uses flux gate sensors and basically we are measuring the Earth's deviations in the Earth's magnetic field.
10:01A magnetometer measures magnetic fields and are useful in geology and archaeology by 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, allowing the user to determine its depth and the type
10:26of material located.
10:28Metal detector Randy Guerrillo is also joining the team, along with Mark Harris and his subsurface searching equipment.
10:35They are ready to see what is under the ground and 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, should we get Randy to bring out the big guns and see?
11:04Do you have that little one that shows it right at the, right, yeah?
11:08Yeah, the pinpointer?
11:10Yeah, we'll see if it's not, 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.
11:21And we can't get to it.
11:22No, no, we can't get to it.
11:23Yeah.
11:24We have to really chop it down.
11:25Yeah.
11:26Frozen in.
11:28The 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.
11:39Yeah.
11:39And so we're going to go past unverified sites and see if those, if we can see anything here.
11:56Um, a 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.
12:08It's a num, it's a number.
12:10I bet you it's a plot number then.
12:11It's a plot.
12:12Yeah, but is there anything in the plot?
12:15Hey, Lisa.
12:18Did they put plot number pins in here?
12:21I 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, we'd have to get some leverage to get it up.
12:31Let's, let's let her do it so she has responsibility.
12:36Whoa!
12:38Oh, yeah!
12:39Whoa!
12:40He got it!
12:40Plot or property marker?
12:4246.
12:43Probably a plot.
12:44The team will later visit Kensington Park, where the runestone was originally located.
12:50So this is a great test ahead of that.
12:54We haven't found a really clear grave that shows up really well in 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 to see if he can find what we've been asked here for.
13:09Locating unmarked graves.
13:11We've got some, we've got, um, you can see it here pretty clear.
13:14These are the, that's where the graves, they're so close together they're blending in.
13:19Mm-hmm.
13:19Yeah, when I put it in the software, then we'll get the, we'll see a better definition, resolution on that.
13:26Mm-hmm.
13:26Yeah, you definitely need, uh, experience to, to, um, understand what the hell you're looking at.
13:31Cause I'd be going like, oh, the graves must be this way.
13:34Yeah.
13:36Most every target has a particular signature, and based on the signatures that we saw today,
13:41we clearly saw the tombstones, we found, uh, two pieces of metal that were just indiscriminately placed,
13:48you know, somewhere on the cemetery yard.
13:51And then we were able to find the graves, uh, around the tombstones.
13:55Some 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, because we came down here with the newest 3D scanners,
14:14because when we go north, if, uh, the Cairn has writing on it, we only have two ways to record
14:19it.
14:19Photogrammetry, which we've done, and it works well, or this very high-tech, uh, 3D scanner.
14:25And, uh, and we need to ensure we know how to use it, but we also, uh, wanna help the
14:32museum
14:33and the researchers with, like, the best data they can to take a look at the runestone.
14:37While waiting for an answer, Barbara shows Joe and David some other artifacts in the museum
14:43they might be interested in, including a fascinating fire steel.
14:48So 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 found, 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. Yeah.
15:05The other ones that we have, um, I've heard also that they were used by Native Americans,
15:08but that could have been something that they traded.
15:11Yeah, trade, probably trade goods.
15:12The Native Americans obviously didn't make those.
15:15Right.
15:15Those are European.
15:16They came from Europe.
15:17It just depends on what time they came.
15:19A fire steel is a durable piece of metal alloy called ferrocerium, which, when struck with
15:25a sharp object, creates hot sparks that can ignite kindling and start a fire.
15:32Yeah.
15:33We'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
15:41deal.
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, uh, steel or iron to, uh, fake out old artifacts
15:50in the last couple hundred years.
15:52I don't think they're making it from scratch, that's for sure, because, um, you know, I mean, let's face it,
15:58even a couple of three hundred years ago is pretty modern.
16:01Wow.
16:01You know, compared to what we're looking at, uh, the date of the rune stone.
16:05So anything that's aligned with the age of the rune stone is well before, um, you know, making, making your
16:12own 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
16:19found 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?
16:31Mm-hmm.
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, listen,
16:47almost 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.
17:37It makes them think these finds are less a coincidence and more linked together than anyone has previously thought.
17:47And we found something actually just recently en route to that, like right here, just inside Manitoba, on the shores
17:54of the Red River.
17:55A really interesting thing no one has ever even looked at it before.
18:01Randy's coin discovery may have far-reaching effects in the historical community.
18:07Understanding why it was found in a field in Manitoba is now just as important as figuring out why the
18:14Kensington runestone was found in the Minnesota field.
18:18That 14th century or early 1300s coin is astounding because that, from what we've seen, is the oldest known English
18:28coin 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
18:38would have used to get down to where the Kensington runestone is.
18:42Wow.
18:43It could be serious.
18:44Yeah, the museum in Alexandria, as a striker, they found, and this is the border, so, you know, where Grand
18:53Forks is, about 90 miles south, so 150 kilometers south of the border.
18:57Just south of that, they found the striker in the banks of the Red River.
19:03Oh.
19:03And so, and why this isn't preposterous is because this is how everybody came into the continent when they started
19:13fur trading.
19:13Mm-hmm.
19:14So, the, the French and the English have been traveling this for 500 years, but the 500 years before, absolutely
19:22no reason the, uh...
19:23Someone else couldn't have done it.
19:24Someone else couldn't have done it.
19:25Right.
19:25And there's, and there's artifacts along the way, so that's why we're, this is really interesting in here, around Bear's
19:30River.
19:30It's sort of, it's sort of a corridor.
19:33I'm excited to see what the results are on some of these pieces of metal to see how old they
19:38are and where did they really come from.
19:40Well, 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.
19:48XRF, or X-ray Fluorescent Scanners, are used to analyze the composition of elements by firing X-rays at an
19:55object, 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.
20:05So, with the software, I'm gonna see if I can, you know, we can make a data package, get the
20:11pictures, get this data, you know, share the information, and then get it out to some of our experts.
20:19Well, I'm really glad we got the XRF gun from Thermo Fisher, because that is like the most modern system
20:26for analyzing metals right now that you can use in place, on site, without taking something back to a lab.
20:32We talked to Thermo Fisher right after we scanned them, and they said, yep, they seem old, please share us
20:39the complete file so we can take a look at it.
20:40The data gets downloaded off the device onto a computer that we can share data files with, and they have
20:47experts in archeological analysis of things.
20:51So, they're already giving us feedback of how we did the sampling, what the initial data looks like.
20:58Hey, good afternoon, we're gonna send you three scans and some data to get your advice as to the quality
21:05of the scans, because we're in the museum and turned into a live fire of the XRF.
21:09I will talk to you soon, bye.
21:13And then we're sharing it with some medieval European, northern European metal people, things that could be Viking spear points
21:22also 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.
21:33Barbara hears back from the board of directors, and they can remove the glass case so that Edward can start
21:40scanning the Kensington Brunestone.
21:43Corners up, whoop.
21:45Get your fingers under.
21:46Okay, a sec.
21:47Okay, walk to me.
21:49Walk to me.
21:50Walk to me.
21:51And down we go.
21:53You guys put your corner down first, slowly.
21:55And we're down.
21:57Do I hear some 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.
22:08So 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?
22:14So I just got some PVC pipe and improvised, built little towers.
22:18The film crew is really good at helping using their C-stands.
22:22And we just, we rigged up a really good system to scan it piece by piece.
22:26And then I just combined the scans afterwards.
22:35And then I got 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,
22:49the 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,
23:09and 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
23:15consistently
23:16scanning 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?
23:21Yep.
23:22All right.
23:23How am I doing this?
23:26Let's...
23:27I don't know, man.
23:27I'm actually allowed to touch the stone?
23:29Yeah, with that.
23:30This exclusively?
23:31So don't touch it, touch it, but just like, I mean, touch it with the nose.
23:34But how about...
23:35Yeah.
23:35Let's do it with, like, three points just because.
23:39And just be careful because this is literally an x-ray machine.
23:43Yeah.
23:44And so...
23:45So 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...
23:54I 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 balance the 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.
24:12Oh, okay.
24:12I feel better now.
24:13You know what?
24:13It'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.
24:24All right.
24:25Why don't you fire it this way?
24:28Yeah, see, this is when it starts dropping.
24:30Look at this.
24:34This one's still sitting pretty high, actually.
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?
24:52Or do I get to do a one?
24:53I quite literally...
24:54My hands would be numb by the time that it finishes.
24:57Aw.
24:59There's a learning curve with new devices, so patience and a sense of humor are important.
25:05All right.
25:05Are you ready?
25:07Yep.
25:09Oh, there's phase one.
25:11Oh, 30 seconds to go.
25:14No.
25:14No.
25:17Yeah, 30 seconds.
25:1850 seconds.
25:19That's true.
25:19All right.
25:20There it is.
25:25You know, my hand is in a cramp.
25:30The stone's a little different because it's literally a stone.
25:34What that's going to tell us is, is that stone from someplace else?
25:37Is it from here?
25:39Probably 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 and check in with Edward on his results.
25:53I used two scanners.
25:55First, originally, I was going to use an Einstar Vega.
25:58It's just like a little portable, completely wireless scanner, structured light.
26:04But then I also brought an EinScan HX with me, which 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.
26:22Then you can see there's definitely something there.
26:24Right.
26:24It'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.
26:34That is exciting.
26:36Look at that.
26:37Yeah, see?
26:37We could see individual chisel marks because we got down to a 0.01 millimeter resolution.
26:44And the interesting thing about the new technology is we could also flip the scan upside down and look at
26:50it from inside the rock.
26:51And you could see the contentious issues of dots and hooks and chiseling.
26:57You can get very good looks at it.
27:01Yeah.
27:02So that's 0.002 millimeter resolution.
27:04Yeah.
27:06Nice job.
27:07And he's not done.
27:08So don't pat him on the back yet.
27:09Okay.
27:11It's still pretty exciting.
27:12Unless you want to just have like a...
27:14Half a stone.
27:14Half a stone.
27:15It's the mystery of the half.
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.
27:22Lack of...
27:23But yeah, with the little thingy that goes out.
27:26Yeah.
27:26Wow, that's pretty cool.
27:28Mm-hmm.
27:28Yeah.
27:28So I guess maybe we'll get out of your way and let you finish the rest of that stone.
27:32Okay.
27:33Because they're going to start selling 3D stone printouts soon.
27:38Perfect.
27:39Wow, is that cool?
27:40All right.
27:40Isn't that exciting?
27:45Scanning the rune stone was probably the coolest thing I've ever scanned.
27:50Using 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, we were able to take the cover off the stone so that we could look
28:13at it closely.
28:16In the end, if we learn more about the stone, that's where we want to be.
28:27It's believed that rune stones originated in the Viking Age, and there are many examples of them in almost all
28:34Scandinavian countries.
28:35While rune stones have also been found in North America, the authenticity of the Kensington rune stone is still up
28:43for debate.
28:44They have found rune stones in dozens of locations in the United States, but none of them have been dated.
28:53Many of them are highly suspect, too.
28:55Yes, they are.
28:56So the problem is that you've got one of the ones that appears to be most genuine of anything out
29:03here.
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 that approach this old, we've got a great platform to start
29:17looking everyplace else.
29:19Right. I agree. I agree.
29:22So we're taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492.
29:28If it is true that the rune stone is real and it's dated 1362, there is a potential for us
29:37to say,
29:37wow, there were other actual people here, and this would be the oldest written document in our history.
29:44And that would be an important historical fact that nobody can disavow, really.
29:52We know already that the Native Americans had 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 that there were lots of people in this area before Christopher Columbus came here
30:10and other Europeans.
30:11And that's what I'm open to. I'm open to learning more about that.
30:16I think people fight the idea just because it's a different story.
30:19And that's what you learn in school. That's how it's always been for so long.
30:24And I think trying to change that and having people find artifacts to change that is just something that people
30:31aren'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 just for a second?
30:43Well, we actually want to go that way. We just got to get out of these trees and it ends.
30:47There's a path right here.
30:48The team is searching for a wolf esca, which will serve as a landmark to tie together maps of the
30:55same location over multiple time periods.
30:58And add some credence to the idea that Fali Moat included factual hints in his books for a real Viking
31:05Karin.
31:06These are thick trees. How 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.
31:14Sounds like a good idea where I was going before you said go right.
31:19Who's leading this?
31:21I am.
31:22Okay.
31:22So just shut the fuck up and don't say go right.
31:26All right, Captain.
31:32There'd be a wolf esca.
31:33And that's the point of land that leads to that point of land and the mysterious cache is in there
31:39somewhere.
31:40Yeah.
31:44Okay.
31:46And the Windy Smith map that we looked at aligns 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 and finally make
32:10it here.
32:10I think we're definitely on the right path of getting to our final discovery.
32:15Back 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 to take them out on the ice to its resting place.
32:30Well, here we are at an undisclosed location in the vicinity of the Kensington Runestone, where it was found.
32:38Local legend has it that there is a boat, perhaps Norse origin, so the legend goes.
32:45And we're here to find out if we can find it.
32:48They've enlisted Katie from Frontier Precision to join the team for the day and utilize her company's drones and submersibles
32:56in the pursuit of the ship.
32:59So this is an underwater ROV. Deep Tracker is the company, Canadian.
33:04It's really meant for being underwater, doing visual inspection. It could also be used in search and rescue purposes.
33:11We're out checking ice now. It's pretty thin. That's why we're driving a Sherp, because we don't have to worry
33:15so 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.
33:22OK, so, hey, have you ever ridden one of these before?
33:24No, I haven't.
33:25OK, don't worry. We're not going to sink, I don't think.
33:28That's what I'd like to hear.
33:33The UTV takes to the ice with a full crew inside.
33:37How deep's the water, Jay?
33:39You've got 6 inches of water on top of the ice now.
33:43OK, if it gets over a foot, what we can do is we'll just, we'll launch the rover and then
33:48we'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 Casey to deploy the ROV quickly.
34:06We're probably going to move in about a minute.
34:08Really?
34:08Yeah.
34:09Yeah, we're sinking.
34:10I think it's like slowly breaking through.
34:12You can keep everything inside and Jay can walk it back to the hole. How's that?
34:16That's already out.
34:17We're good.
34:19They don't want to linger for long on the melting ice.
34:24Just leave it or move?
34:26You can move.
34:28You watch, OK?
34:29Yeah.
34:32There we go.
34:34Yeah, water's coming in the back.
34:37Yeah, water's coming in the back.
34:39Shit.
34:41Move up to the front, boys.
34:43Close the back door if you can, OK?
34:47Close the back door.
34:49Close the back door, Mac.
34:51We did.
34:51Like, lock it, lock it.
34:53I'm trying.
34:53Yeah.
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
35:10back.
35:11This door is not locking.
35:15Is that door locked?
35:17No, it won't lock.
35:18Keep it closed.
35:19You got it.
35:19You got it.
35:21You got it.
35:21Get Jay to lock the door.
35:23Then stop moving.
35:24Open the hatch, open the hatch.
35:26Which hatch?
35:27This hatch?
35:27Yeah.
35:28The Sherp may be able to float, but that's only when the tires are underneath it.
35:33The crew is in a dangerous situation.
35:36The 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,
35:51it's still not a great feeling to be inside the vehicle.
35:56Gonna try and get out again.
35:57Are you guys ready?
35:58No.
35:58That'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.
36:05Don'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 her thing, so don't...
36:26Do you want me done?
36:27Wait.
36:27Tell Jay to get the rover.
36:31Jay?
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, we're on.
36:40Okay, get everybody in.
36:42You can close that up, Mac.
36:44Okay.
36:44Okay.
36:45We're all good.
36:46All good?
36:47Onwards.
36:47Steer at your convenience.
36:52You got the bilge pump on?
36:53Yeah, I don't...
36:54I can't see it.
36:55You can see the lions.
36:56Jay is out on the ice trying to help, but he's dangerously close to the open water.
37:01No one notices Jay slip on the open ice.
37:05He's in danger of falling through.
37:07Move to the back a little bit, but be prepared to move to the front again.
37:11Say again?
37:11Oh, can you guys move two feet to the rear?
37:15And then be prepared to move two feet to the front again.
37:22And lean forward.
37:24Forward.
37:30Come back in.
37:31Yeah.
37:32Yee-haw!
37:34All right.
37:34We're on?
37:35No, we're back in.
37:36Why don't we rover it right now, get 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.
37:44No, no.
37:45We sank because we're on by that hole.
37:47Yeah.
37:47If we make a hole, we make farther away, we're fine.
37:50We'll get water, but we won't go through, right?
37:52All right.
37:52Hang on, everyone.
37:54Yeah, we're, uh, high probability we're coming out now.
37:59All right.
37:59There it is.
38:00Yay!
38:01You're a very good driver.
38:06With catastrophe avoided, Joe and David try to persuade Katie to 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, and 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.
38:29We need some airborne lidar.
38:30Yeah, we do.
38:31All right.
38:31We were actually looking for airborne lidar a couple days ago.
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.
38:42We'll get a big drone.
38:43It was fate, and she survived the sinking.
38:46Yeah.
38:47And she didn't panic.
38:48That was the test, actually.
38:49Oh, yeah.
38:50And that really, we just did that just for you.
38:52I was totally calm.
38:52Katie's skill, experience, and ability to stay calm are useful traits to have in a fellow
38:58explorer.
39:01Now that they are back on stable ice, Katie can get back to the task at hand, using the underwater
39:08ROV to scan for remnants of a possible Viking ship.
39:12Want to pull it up just a bit?
39:13Yeah, just a bit.
39:14Do you want to pull it up just a touch?
39:16Just 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 with onboard batteries, something the team will have to
39:31make note of for their expedition to the north.
39:34It seems as though this search will end fruitless.
39:38No one?
39:39Yeah?
39:39Close the back door, and let me get out of here before we go through again.
39:45Stay when, Jay!
39:47Go!
39:47Go!
39:48Door's closed.
39:50Hang on.
39:51We're good.
39:53All right, Mike.
39:54Okay.
39:54While the team wasn't successful finding a shipwreck, they narrowly avoid ending up on
40:00the bottom of the lake creating a wreck of their own.
40:03However, they did find someone who can offer skill and technology that could help narrow down
40:09search time up north with airborne lidar.
40:15Okay!
40:18Terrifying, exciting.
40:19Mackenzie was essentially my center out there.
40:22She was so calm as she was hanging out the back, trying to close the door as we were going
40:27into the ice, but no, it was really fun.
40:29I, yeah, it was a new experience, so very exciting.
40:33Heading back into the town, the team anxiously awaits the results from the scanning session
40:38at the museum, and with Katie's equipment.
40:42In the meantime, there's a lot more of Minnesota to explore.
40:50I want to say go further up there.
40:53What's the depth look like to the right there?
40:56Three feet.
40:58Not too good.
41:01It's early spring in Nunavut, and Paul, the pilot, is having difficulties on the water.
41:07He can't get close to the shore for his passengers to disembark, as the water is still partially
41:13frozen.
41:14Are we getting in there?
41:15Ah, there's a few big rocks.
41:17See if you can navigate us in.
41:19Okay.
41:22Uh, nope.
41:24Nope.
41:25Where is the helicopter when you need it?
41:29Oh, man, we just got to figure out, um, like how deep is it, Jay?
41:34Like literally, are we up to your balls, or?
41:37No, no, no, no, you're up to your knees.
41:39But other than that, let's just, let's, let's get ashore.
41:42You want to do it?
41:43Okay.
41:44Well, let's go.
41:45Strip down there.
41:46Gitch, boys.
41:47Nice.
41:47The only viable option is to strip down and wade through the water to get to shore.
41:54Once there, they can build a fire and hopefully warm up.
41:57There was a patch that was waist deep and up.
42:01Took off her pants and took off her boots and went barefoot.
42:04And that was not a good idea.
42:06The rocks were sharp.
42:07The rocks were big.
42:09Both Jay and I ended up with a bunch of cuts from wading ashore.
42:13I'm cold.
42:15Yeah.
42:15Let's get moving.
42:17Oh, my God.
42:21Wait, wait, wait.
42:23You're going to carry that and that?
42:25It's like 65 pounds.
42:27Okay.
42:28David?
42:29Let's go.
42:30You ready?
42:48Well, eh?
42:58Huh?
43:05Well...
43:06Let's go.
43:06Here's the house.
43:07To be continued.
43:07entrenance Premier League.
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