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The Curse of Oak Island - Season 13 - Episode 22: Road Trip
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00:04Tonight, on the Curse of Oak Island.
00:07I want to find something that we can date.
00:09Exactly.
00:10There you go, Mike.
00:11Hello.
00:12Oh.
00:12What's under there?
00:13Wow.
00:14I want to see what's underneath here.
00:16Some of the highest silver and gold values
00:18show up right in there.
00:19Hold on, Josh.
00:20Hold on.
00:20Boom.
00:21Definitely into some hard stuff.
00:23Wow.
00:24Check that one out.
00:25That's a great find.
00:26That all adds up to a possible human presence here
00:28in the 1400s.
00:29That's really rare.
00:30It's amazing.
00:34There is an island in the North Atlantic
00:37where people have been looking for an incredible treasure
00:41for more than 200 years.
00:44So far, they have found a stone slab
00:48with strange symbols carved into it,
00:50man-made workings that date to medieval times,
00:54and a lead cross whose origin may be connected
00:58to the Knights Templar.
01:00To date, six men have died trying to solve the mystery.
01:05And according to legend, one more will have to die
01:11before the treasure can be found.
01:24Hello, gentlemen.
01:25Hey, guys.
01:25Hey, guys.
01:26Welcome back to the War Room.
01:28Well, we're all assembled here again
01:30for probably the most important job we can do this year,
01:34which is to try and get these caissons in the right spot.
01:37As another fall day begins on Oak Island,
01:42Rick, Marty, Craig, and other members of their team
01:44meet in the War Room
01:46regarding the search for treasure in the Money Pit area.
01:50Last time we got together to talk about canisters,
01:53we placed them,
01:54and the canisters so far haven't brought up what we want.
01:58So I think it's entirely appropriate
02:00to readdress everything at this juncture.
02:03Right.
02:05Here comes the bucket.
02:06Another bucket, another chance, guys.
02:08Here it comes.
02:08Yep.
02:09Over the past several weeks,
02:12the team has excavated three eight-foot diameter steel shafts
02:17more than 200 feet deep in the solution channel.
02:20They are trying to locate the source of precious metals
02:23that have been detected across the Money Pit area
02:26through underground water and soil testing
02:29conducted by Dr. Ian Spooner and Dr. Fred Michael.
02:35Incredibly, the evidence of silver they have found
02:37matched the composition of a 14th century Portuguese coin
02:41that was reportedly discovered in the original Money Pit back in 1849.
02:48The caissons we've put into the ground this year
02:51have been certainly what I would call a technical success.
02:55The cumulative data thus far indicates
02:58that our theory about the solution channel
03:01being the repository of the collapse of the Money Pit,
03:04including hopefully the treasure, is true.
03:08But it is frustrating because we were hoping
03:10that these caissons would bring up some sliver of gold
03:13or something and would say, ah, there it is.
03:16Ian, you will no doubt recall, I'd asked you and Dr. Fred
03:20to weigh in on where you would like to put a canister
03:22to find this treasure.
03:24You know, funny thing, we've kind of transitioned
03:27from being scientists to people just like you
03:31trying to figure out where the treasure is.
03:33Right.
03:34The bottom line is there's metal down there that isn't natural.
03:38So Fred and I put our heads together
03:41and this is where Fred and I are interested in this area.
03:46So we picked this location because some of the highest
03:49silver and gold values show up right in here.
03:52And I would say this is a space that we haven't explored adequately.
03:57Okay. And your required total depth would be?
04:02Well, the bedrock is about 160 feet.
04:06So there is a extension of the solution channel there.
04:10That is sort of a shelf.
04:12Okay.
04:13During the team's previous drilling operations,
04:17they have found that the solution channel
04:19generally has a bottom depth of some 215 feet.
04:23However, in this new target area, where surprisingly high concentrations
04:28of gold and silver have also been detected.
04:32The flooded natural cavity reaches bedrock at a much shallower depth
04:36of nearly 160 feet.
04:38Dr. Michael and Dr. Spooner have exhaustively done this study of the science
04:44and they believe that something is in this area.
04:47I think there's every reason to believe that this location holds great promise.
04:52So, Dr. Fred Nien, I think you've convinced the fellowship that this is a very good location.
04:58Yeah.
04:59We think it's a good place to go.
05:01Well done, guys. You've carried the day.
05:04Let's dig that one for sure.
05:06Yeah, I agree.
05:07All right. Thank you, guys.
05:08Thanks, Fred.
05:12Later that morning...
05:15Good morning.
05:16Hey, guys.
05:16Good morning.
05:17Hey, Rick. How you doing?
05:19You tell me.
05:19Rick arrives in the Money Pit area as the dig in the caisson dubbed Michael Spooner,
05:25or MS-1, is already underway.
05:29So, we've already pushed about 40 feet.
05:31We got a good head start on the day.
05:33Good.
05:34Well, you are making progress.
05:36Now, I like this pick because of those tests that came back to gold, silver, copper.
05:44Well, they're all the ingredients of coins.
05:46So, high amounts means there could be a big treasure down there.
05:51Well, that's what we're hoping, right?
05:52Absolutely.
05:53I just think this is a magical place.
05:57People from long ago came here to do something extraordinary and positive.
06:02I'm upbeat. I'm excited about the possibility of this whole MS-1.
06:06It's an exciting location that the potential is sky high.
06:11Yeah.
06:11So, let's just keep going.
06:13See what we find.
06:14We're gonna find some stuff on this whole.
06:15Yeah.
06:16Here, here.
06:17Here's hoping.
06:21Later that day...
06:24Hey, Billy.
06:26Hello.
06:27I'm pretty excited because this sand road's very intriguing.
06:31I don't know what to make of it.
06:32Right.
06:33Peter and Gary join Billy in the western region of the swamp to continue investigating the mysterious sand road.
06:40I want to find something that we can date this.
06:43Exactly.
06:45And that is gonna be today.
06:46Yep.
06:47Alright.
06:53Over the past two weeks, the team has exposed several more sections of this sand-covered cobblestone feature
07:00that is lined with eight-sided wooden survey stakes.
07:04And curiously, while the road appears to be coming from somewhere further inland on the island,
07:09the team has noticed that it may also be in line with the stone road in the southeast corner of
07:16the swamp.
07:16A feature which may be more than 500 years old and of Portuguese origin.
07:23As we continue following the sand road, it seems to turn towards the corner where the stone road is,
07:29the southeast corner.
07:31And as everyone knows, the money pit is uphill from there.
07:35But I think it's too early to project that line.
07:38I think we need to just do a much more comprehensive exposure of the sand layer.
07:50Pretty much the edge there, right?
07:52Yeah, I think there's the edge, yeah.
07:57Not only that.
08:00Yep, it looks like you've just found another stay.
08:02How many sides does that be?
08:05Not a clue.
08:06It's pretty decayed.
08:07Might have been eight.
08:09Another possible eight-sided wooden survey stake found along the edge of the sand road?
08:15The astronomical and symbolic dynamics lead to the sea.
08:25Recently, archaeoastronomy expert professor Adriano Gaspani analyzed a line of eight-sided stakes that the team found in the northern
08:34end of the swamp.
08:36Based on their alignments with specific stars in the night sky, he concluded that they were placed on Oak Island
08:43back in the early 13th century.
08:46And because of those purposeful alignments, Professor Gaspani also believes they could be connected to the Knights Templar.
08:55No, no metals, not at the moment.
08:59Is it possible that the numerous eight-sided stakes the team has found along the sand road are directly related
09:06to those in the northern region and offer key clues as to the origin of this feature?
09:13Do you want to take a quick check, Gary, before I take another scoop?
09:16Oh, yeah.
09:20You've got some iron around here.
09:22You've got to dig that up.
09:23Yeah.
09:25It seems to be in that area there.
09:26Okay.
09:28It's going to be deep, maxed out, depth rated.
09:31That's good.
09:34Well, I hope it's from whoever built it.
09:38Yeah.
09:45There you go, mate.
09:47Oh.
09:48Wow.
09:49Look at this.
09:54There you go, mate.
09:56Oh.
09:57Little ox shoe.
09:58Yeah.
09:58On the western side of the Oak Island swamp, Gary and Peter have found another curious clue along the sand
10:05and cobblestone road.
10:07You know what?
10:08That is a really old ox shoe.
10:10I can tell by the condition of it.
10:12It's been down there a while.
10:13Yeah.
10:13It was deep within the sand road.
10:15That was a good foot down.
10:19Yeah.
10:20If the road was rougher and less finished early on, then that's probably why it lost the shoe, right?
10:26Yeah.
10:26Yeah.
10:26They might have been, back in the day, taking the small oxen to the money pit.
10:31Maybe.
10:31And this is where it shed a shoe.
10:33Great little artifact.
10:34That's great.
10:35I'll recheck the old.
10:38Ox shoes mean signs of activity, people travelling over this area.
10:44It's got to be all in.
10:46Maybe.
10:47Treasure.
10:48One thing for sure, the sand road looks like it's heading directly to that Portuguese-style
10:55stone road, which is near the money pit.
10:59Our friend Carmen Leg will tell us more about this ox shoe.
11:02Yeah.
11:03Great find.
11:03I'm hoping to find something with a date.
11:05Yeah.
11:06Same here.
11:08I know there has to be more.
11:09Yeah.
11:14As a new day breaks on Oak Island.
11:17Good morning, Dr. Rayside.
11:19Good morning.
11:20Welcome to the War Room.
11:23In the War Room, members of the team meet via videoconference with Dr. Robert Rayside,
11:30a professor of geology and earth science at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
11:36We have in front of us one of the big surprises of this year.
11:40What we think is a stone shot.
11:42The reason it's cut in half is because we already sent this to Dr. Rayside.
11:46He cut it in half so he could analyze it and then sent the sample back to us.
11:50Yes.
11:51The team has asked Dr. Rayside to analyze an artifact found last week in the spoils of the
11:58Peacock one shaft, a stone shot, which is a type of medieval cannonball that was replaced
12:05by cast iron munitions in the late 15th century.
12:09That stone shot that you have there is unnaturally round.
12:13I would not expect to see it quite as perfectly spherical as it is.
12:17In recent years, Dr. Rayside has also examined two other pieces of stone shot that were found
12:24on the island, one which also came from more than 100 feet deep in the Money Pit area.
12:31And incredibly, he believes that both of them may have originated in the Portuguese islands
12:37known as the Azores.
12:40It's something to be a good candidate for fighting for a canister.
12:43There's no doubt about that.
12:45So it suddenly looks like you're dealing with something for a similar purpose.
12:51Yeah, that's excellent.
12:53I mean, these apparently were phased out in the 1400s as actual munitions.
12:59So it looks like it's way beyond the preponderance of the evidence.
13:02I'm going to call it 90% certain this is a projectile used in the 13 and maybe early 1400s.
13:10Yeah, exactly.
13:11This looks like the same size as the material that I saw before.
13:14And it's of the same totally spherical shape.
13:18What's it doing north of the Money Pit?
13:20This is definitely not a searcher rock.
13:23This is a depositor.
13:25Unless they're Rick searchers from the 14th century.
13:27Yeah.
13:28But I can't come up with a non-exciting way this got here.
13:31Yeah.
13:33You know, especially in the Money Pit where they're protecting something.
13:36As work was going on, they had a gun up there.
13:39So I just think it's amazing.
13:42Yeah.
13:42Okay, that all adds up to a possible human presence here in the 1400s,
13:47which I've been a skeptic of, but I'm staring at it right here.
13:53Is it compositionally, is it similar, I assume?
13:57Looking at the inside of it was a bit of a surprise, actually.
14:01It consists of the mineral plagioclase.
14:04It makes a rock which you've probably never heard of, a rock called anorthosite.
14:08You're right.
14:09We've never heard of it.
14:10You're right about that part.
14:11What does that mean?
14:13Where might that come from?
14:15Anorthosite is a rock that we find in the pre-embrian shields of the world.
14:20It's not found anywhere in mainland Nova Scotia.
14:25They're quite common along the north coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec,
14:30and extending up into Labrador.
14:32And so that means that this stone was picked up and brought down to Nova Scotia.
14:38To me it's exciting because obviously we're looking for somebody who traveled here.
14:44If it comes from Labrador, the north coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Portuguese, that was one of
14:52the first areas they were in exploring.
14:54Labrador itself is named after a Portuguese explorer in the 1400s by the last name of Labrador.
15:01Right?
15:02So if they're looking for source material for stone shot, they could acquire it there as anywhere.
15:07That's a good point.
15:08Anorthosite boulders would be quite abundant along shoreline there.
15:12In the late 15th century, Portuguese mariner João Fernandes Labrador helped survey the North Atlantic region,
15:21known today as Newfoundland and Labrador.
15:25The area was then explored and claimed as a Portuguese settlement by brothers Miguel and Gaspar Corte Real of the
15:34Azores Islands.
15:35Both were members of the Knights of Christ, the Templar-related order connected to the so-called Pitlado coin.
15:43Curiously, both men are rumored to have led undocumented expeditions as far south as Nova Scotia.
15:52It sounds like we now have stone shot that could have easily been sourced by the Portuguese.
15:57The first we believe may have come from the Azores and now another one from a region that the Portuguese
16:03were in at a very early time here in North America.
16:06Is it possible that the three stone shots offer critical clues that could help identify who created the original money
16:14pit?
16:14And that fits perfectly with the idea that there's an old world, new world connection.
16:22We're building a timeline of Europeans being in North America, here specifically, well before conventionally accepted wisdom suggests.
16:33I think it's fabulous.
16:36So we have now three almost perfectly spherical rocks and it becomes more and more unlikely that it was just
16:43random.
16:44And two deep in the money pit.
16:46Keep in mind, all the same size as well.
16:50Here we have an artifact found in the money pit, which Pitlado coin supposedly was.
16:58And now we have two items that distinctly align in terms of the timeline associated with each.
17:05The hope is that, you know, we find something else.
17:09But right now this is significant.
17:12Okay.
17:13Well, thank you very much.
17:14I mean, this is excellent.
17:15Just absolute excellent data.
17:17I look forward to seeing any more stone shot you find.
17:19It's making a great teaching collection.
17:21I hope we find even more than that.
17:23I want to keep sending you samples of things that are interesting.
17:26Yep.
17:27I know I speak for everybody here.
17:28Thanks.
17:30You're welcome.
17:36As excavation continues on the MS-1 shaft in the money pit area.
17:41I want to see what's underneath here.
17:43It feels like rocks, rocks, and more rocks.
17:45Yeah.
17:46It's turning out to be more interesting than we anticipated.
17:49On lot eight, members of the team carefully dig deeper into the cradle-shaped stone feature.
17:56When you're done with that, why don't you hand me the bucket?
18:01After recently discovering a mortar-like material between the stones that could date as far back as the 13th century,
18:08and detecting traces of silver in the soils within the feature.
18:13It's showing silver.
18:14Yeah.
18:15Yeah.
18:16The team is looking for more clues to reveal what might be buried deeper below.
18:23Why someone would create a basin, line it with rocks, and then putting the rock back on, it kind of
18:29defies explanation right now.
18:31It's a monumental effort.
18:33We don't have answers yet, but we have a mystery that still needs to be explored much deeper.
18:45Oh, what's under there?
18:47The soil color there is different.
18:50Like you kind of get back into the browns again.
18:52Yeah.
18:52Yeah, that's a lot of really dark, organic-looking soil underneath the orange layer.
18:57Yep.
18:58One of the open questions is if we really are at the bottom, correct?
19:01Yeah.
19:02It's sounding like we're getting down through the bottom of the feature into undisturbed soil,
19:07but that doesn't look like what I expect Sea Horizon to look like.
19:10It's still modeled.
19:11So what would it take to be certain?
19:12Keep going a little bit and...
19:14Yeah.
19:14You want to be absolutely sure.
19:16Mm-hmm.
19:17Love to hear it.
19:17Let's do that.
19:18All right.
19:21The term we hear archaeologists referring to a lot is Sea Horizon.
19:25And what that's referring to is one of the bottom layers of the soil.
19:28And that should be sterile soil that is void of any cultural artifacts whatsoever.
19:37Seeing that, it looks pretty uniform.
19:41That's pretty deep.
19:43Texture-wise, you still think it's kind of acting like Sea Horizon?
19:47Yeah, I think that looks like the bottom to me.
19:51Yeah.
19:51Right.
19:51We've been fooled before, so I think we should confirm...
19:55Yeah.
19:56...that that is the bottom of the feature, at least in this area.
19:59Absolutely.
20:00How far does it extend? We don't know.
20:02What's it for? We don't know.
20:04Yeah.
20:04I think the fact that we've excavated to what Laird and I both felt was natural bottom,
20:09but we still haven't hit bedrock or slate, means that we really do have to explore a little bit deeper,
20:14just to make sure.
20:15You know, I think my dad's been kind of chomping at the bit to dig under this with a faster
20:20approach.
20:20Yeah.
20:21But I think he's going to want to know the extent of it, the bounds of it. With a backhoe
20:25or an excavator, we would get as close as we can, as close as you guys are comfortable with.
20:29I would say not within an area that that material could fall in.
20:33Whatever distance you guys prescribe, and then quickly get more answers without disrupting anything.
20:40Exactly.
20:40Yeah.
20:41We have been tricked by the very unique soil characteristics of the island before, and we have thought that we'd
20:47reach the bottom of the feature when in fact there was a lot more yet to go.
20:50So I think that's a test we need to run here as well.
20:53I mean, I know we were kind of hoping there was something underneath it, but that doesn't mean there isn't
20:57something somewhere else off to the side.
20:59Yeah. Oh, for sure.
21:01We're running out of time on the year. If we can dig nearby and get an answer and find something
21:06man-made without destroying anything, without disturbing the dig, we want to do it.
21:11I think one simple thing we can do is clean up that area. We can continue your search for the
21:17sides.
21:18Yep.
21:19Level it off and get a good profile.
21:21Yeah.
21:21And he can take a look at that.
21:23That'd be great. So I'm going to go and get in touch with him and see what he thinks.
21:27All right. Perfect.
21:28Thanks, guys.
21:28All right. See you later.
21:29See ya.
21:33Later that day, on the western side of the swamp.
21:38Still sandy.
21:40It's definitely still sandy, the dirt.
21:42Peter, Gary, and Billy are uncovering more of the mysterious sand road near the edge of their permitted dig area.
21:49It is their hope to determine if the road originates in this area or continues somewhere further inland.
21:57I mean, I think the interesting thing is we have sand here in this general area.
22:02Yeah.
22:04I'm curious. You want to take a scoop maybe out of here?
22:06Yep.
22:09We've uncovered a lot of the sand road and the style or construction of it is peculiar.
22:15This is a unique structure, but it's also a very involved effort.
22:21This is still sand there, Pete?
22:23Yeah, here.
22:25Because this is the line, kind of.
22:27Yeah.
22:28Any sand is a sign that it was going that way.
22:30Mm-hmm.
22:37What have we got here?
22:41A snake.
22:42Yeah, nice one.
22:44My guess is it continues.
22:46Here.
22:47You're holding the proof in the rampage.
22:50Yep.
22:50This isn't some random stakes plonked in the swamp.
22:55There's a pattern going on here, and the next set of stakes should be just in front of us following
23:03this line.
23:05Hey, Craig.
23:06Hello.
23:06How's it going?
23:07Did you find the end?
23:09Found a stake right here.
23:11And there's a little bit of sand in this general area, which fits the line.
23:17Mm-hmm.
23:18You know, to me, it looks like it ties up to the center road.
23:21Right.
23:22Yeah.
23:23The sand road is a continuation of the center road.
23:26It was this road here, and they came in to survey the islands, split up the lots, and said, let's
23:31use this line.
23:33Mm.
23:34This sand road might predate 1762, the survey.
23:38And that's mind-boggling to me.
23:42Center road cuts through the middle of Oak Island and runs along the property boundaries that were drawn by Surveyor
23:49General Charles Morris,
23:51a high-ranking Freemason who divided the island into 32 four-acre lots back in 1762.
23:59It is generally thought that Center Road was created in the early 1800s by treasure hunters after Charles Morris conducted
24:08his survey.
24:10But has the team just found evidence that it was built on top of a much older, sand-covered cobblestone
24:17road?
24:18If so, who created it, and for what purpose?
24:23Maybe the survey was based on the road as opposed to the other way around.
24:28And there's clay in here?
24:30You know, it's seeming very old, and now we need to find out if it's free or post-survey.
24:36We'll see where it takes us.
24:38Unfortunately, we've come to the end of the permitted area.
24:41Mm-hmm.
24:41Okay.
24:42Yep.
24:43I think everything that we found today has been really interesting.
24:47Absolutely.
24:48I'm gonna text Michael Rick and have him come down.
24:50Okay.
24:53Yeah, correct.
24:54Hey, Rick.
24:55Hey.
24:55How are you, mate?
24:56That's the corner of our permit, and we've dug to it, so we are done digging here.
25:02But the one thing that was obvious is going towards Center Road.
25:07Hmm.
25:08What do you make of it?
25:10Well, it was just the original road, and it was just built up over the years.
25:14All right.
25:15People just build the road on top of a road on top of a road.
25:21We do have hard evidence that Lot 5 and the Money Pit are connected.
25:26Hmm.
25:26And we've been puzzled about how did they get from Lot 5 to the Money Pit.
25:30Well, if there's a road that goes throughout the island, that would explain it at some level.
25:37Maybe.
25:39Is it possible that this sand and cobblestone road may actually run beneath what is now Center Road all the
25:46way to Lot 5?
25:49Since 2022, when the team began investigating the Rounded Stone Foundation near the shore on Lot 5,
25:56they have not only found a mortar-like material that matches soils from deep in the Money Pit area,
26:03but also artifacts and valuables, some of which have been dated to as early as the 14th century.
26:10This has led them to speculate that Lot 5 once served as the base camp for whoever created the Money
26:17Pit.
26:19Have they found the road that may have been used to move treasure across the island to that legendary location?
26:27I think the work to get that treasure up there involved this road, and I think we have to follow
26:33the clues.
26:33I think we should go ahead and dig a cross-section along Center Road.
26:38Mm-hmm.
26:39And hopefully we find an old path underneath there that says people were here a long time ago.
26:48Okay, well, let's dig it just a little bit further.
26:50Yep.
26:51Billy, you've got a lot of work to do. We've got our homework.
26:55Yep.
26:56So, thanks for a long, hard day.
26:58Okay.
26:58Appreciate it.
26:59All right. See you, buddy.
27:00Yep.
27:06The next morning...
27:08How deep are we?
27:09About 140.5, so we've still got a ways to go.
27:13Rick and members of the team oversee the dig in the MS-1 shaft.
27:18You push that can down as far as you can.
27:21The excavation is now just 10 feet from reaching target depth.
27:26That means that all spoils removed from the shaft as it proceeds deeper will be scanned by Gary on site
27:33and meticulously searched by hand at the wash plant.
27:37You cannot deny the science that has been applied to this location.
27:41They are showing extremely high values of silver and other associated metals.
27:46We're looking to hopefully be the target and recover the treasure here.
27:52All right. Let's go take a look.
28:02Gary?
28:03This wood, Neil.
28:04Hey?
28:05No, no.
28:07Bring it back to the table.
28:10What do we make of this wood here?
28:12Looks like we've got an outside edge of the timber here.
28:15It's a pretty clean cut.
28:16You know, there's a mark right there that almost looks like it was struck with something.
28:21Maybe ads cut?
28:23Ads cut wood?
28:25And ads is a tool for cutting and shaping wood, dating back to ancient Egypt and used prior to the
28:32invention of mechanized saws in the late 18th century.
28:37Hopefully something else comes up in that next scope and we'll see something there.
28:41Feels a better indication.
28:43If the team has indeed found ads cut wood, is it possible they are near an old structure deep in
28:50the money pit area?
29:01Hold on, guys. Hold on.
29:03That's the best, guys. I'm good.
29:07I'm chewing that sucker.
29:09Come on, girl.
29:11They seem to be hung up in very solid material.
29:14I can be able to drive that can much farther.
29:18Yeah, we're definitely into some hard stuff.
29:20I'm hanging any headway right now.
29:23An obstruction between 140 and 150 feet deep? The question now is whether it's something natural, such as a large
29:33boulder, or perhaps something that is man-made.
29:38I can just keep working away at it here and see if I can get it, but...
29:41Just dig her out and take us home, buddy.
29:45As the team from SB Canada and Rock Equipment work to break through the obstruction in MS-1...
29:53I'm gonna find it, whatever it is.
29:56Some 500 feet to the east, near Smith's Cove, Charles and Derek carefully sift through the spoils at the wash
30:04plant.
30:11I thought it was concrete. That's just granite.
30:30Wow.
30:32Charles.
30:32Check that one out.
30:34That's pretty cool.
30:36That's a great find.
30:40Wow.
30:41That doesn't look like a regular rock.
30:43No.
30:45At the wash plant, Derek has just found another intriguing artifact in the MS-1 spoils.
30:51You know what?
30:53Way it's round like that, that may be another stone shot.
30:57Kind of looks like one.
30:58Yeah.
30:59Pretty round.
31:01Yeah.
31:02I think you may have one.
31:04That's really cool to find that.
31:07Another possible stone shot?
31:10Discovered more than 100 feet deep?
31:12And in an area where high traces of silver and gold have been detected?
31:17It may tie in with the other ones that we have.
31:21Great find, man.
31:22Great eye.
31:24You're two for two now.
31:25I know.
31:27I'm gonna text Alex, have him come down and take a look at that.
31:30All right.
31:31The stone shot that was found years ago, which comes from the Azores, has influenced a lot of the research
31:37going forward on O'Connor.
31:39In addition, we have the coin, which is Portuguese from the late 1300s.
31:44I mean, that's really intriguing.
31:45Charles.
31:46Hey, Alex.
31:47What do you find?
31:48Well, take a look at that.
31:50Is that another stone shot?
31:52It could be.
31:54This looks like it was deliberately made, doesn't it?
31:56It does.
31:57I mean, Mother Nature's good.
31:58I don't think she's that good.
32:00The other stone shots came from the Azores, so maybe that one did too.
32:04If we can also trace this back to the Azores, and with the Portuguese coin that we think might have
32:08come out of the money pit,
32:09we've got just further substantiation of this kind of Portuguese, if not Templar, connection.
32:15I love it.
32:15I'm gonna get this back to the lab as soon as I can.
32:17Thanks, Alex.
32:18See ya.
32:19See ya.
32:19While the search continues for more clues at the watch plant.
32:24It's on rock there now.
32:25Yup.
32:26Look at the can.
32:29All right, guys.
32:30Here it goes.
32:31Over in the money pit area.
32:32Here we go.
32:33The team has broken through hard materials in the MS-1 shaft,
32:36and are removing the final spoils from some 150 feet deep.
32:42Keep your fingers crossed.
32:46And now we got a really good chance at finding whatever there is to be flown.
32:53Oh, man, that's a full bucket.
32:55Right?
32:56Yup.
32:56Go take a look.
33:09Nothing?
33:10No.
33:14Those are limestone boulders.
33:18Well, it's...
33:19Bottom line is, there's no artifact.
33:24Not even the wood we were hoping for.
33:26We've gone as far as we can with this excavation in it.
33:30We had high hopes.
33:31We all wanted it to be there, but it's not.
33:33At the end of the day, it's hard not to be disappointed with what we had.
33:39I agree, Peter.
33:40It's...
33:41It is a little bit hard.
33:44But you know what?
33:45I'm not about to give up.
33:47Yeah.
33:48Nobody's walking away.
33:49Yeah.
33:50We've just got our COVID solution channel till we find it.
33:54Yeah.
33:56Before digging this location, Marty and I decided if this caisson did not find the one thing,
34:02we need to move back, if you will, to top pocket find location.
34:07The silver signature in that area is undeniable.
34:11And you can't dispute the Portuguese silver coin.
34:14It's suggesting that you're in the area of the original deposition.
34:18And so there's great excitement and great anticipation here.
34:21But we're going to be dealing with backfill issues.
34:25What is your time frame?
34:27You've seen him there.
34:27He's crunching and grinding.
34:28So there's some welding repair to do.
34:31We've got to reset the pad.
34:32It's going to be likely several days.
34:35Oh, wow.
34:37SP Canada has some repair work to do.
34:39And they're going to be working on the pad to make sure it's exactly right.
34:42So we're going to have a little downtime here.
34:44It's frustrating, but we're going to use the time as best we can.
34:48Maybe we don't have the one thing in our hand.
34:50But it doesn't mean we won't find it tomorrow.
34:53We still have a lot of work to do.
34:55Oh, yeah.
34:55You know, the next hole could be the location.
34:58That's right.
34:59We've got to move on.
35:00Yeah.
35:01Let's just keep going.
35:03Sempre avanti.
35:04I love it.
35:04We've got one more chance.
35:06That's right.
35:07Okie doke.
35:09Onward and downward.
35:10There you go.
35:14The following morning.
35:16Hey, Uncle Marty.
35:17Good morning.
35:18Hello, treasure hunters.
35:20Good day.
35:21Rick, Marty Craig, and other members of the team meet in the war room at the request of
35:27Doug Crawl, Emiliano Cicchetti, and Judy Rudabush.
35:31We have in front of us on the table some of the artifacts that have been found.
35:36There was some inclination to look into a possible association with Portugal, but specifically the Azores.
35:43And that is indeed what Doug and Emiliano and Judy have done.
35:48Doug, if you want to take the lead here and let us know what you found out.
35:52Will do.
35:54The Pilato coin, alongside the stone shot that haven't been associated with the Azores, lend to a real possibility of
36:01how treasure may have got here.
36:03The coin, we know, was minted in Portugal between 1367 and 1383, and King Ferdinand is the one that produced
36:12this coin.
36:13So when he died in 1383, the country went into a kind of a civil war over succession, and it
36:19looked like Portugal basically ceased to exist at that time.
36:26Following the death of King Ferdinand I in 1383, Portugal was thrust into a bloody two-year civil war over
36:36who should succeed him.
36:38This has made some researchers believe that the chaos inspired the Order of Christ, who descended from the Knights Templar
36:46to move priceless religious treasures to a new safe haven.
36:52If they were guarding something that the Templars had brought to the country in 1307, there was the motivation to
36:59find a new sanctuary for it.
37:02And I believe it was the Azores.
37:06What history tells us is that the Azores were officially discovered by the Portuguese in 1427.
37:12It was actually Prince Henry the Navigator, probably the most famous member of the Order of Christ, that the Azores
37:19were settled and developed.
37:20But there are clues that the Azores were well known before this time.
37:26There are extant maps from the 1300s that position the Azores exactly where they are now, out of the coast
37:35of Portugal, in the middle of the ocean.
37:37We found maps, starting from 1339 up until 1385, that features the Azores, and that is mind-blowing.
37:49They could well have moved the treasure to the Azores.
37:54The coin is attached to Portugal, and the stone shot is attached to the Azores.
38:00We see a real tangible historical scenario that explains why both these items came from the money pit.
38:08So, from the Azores, the treasure made its way to Oak Island.
38:11I think it's worth putting boots on the ground in the Azores, because that is likely a stepping stone to
38:18the treasure arriving here on Oak Island.
38:19I think there could be answers there to be found.
38:23Quite interesting.
38:26The Order of Christ could well have moved the treasure to the Azores.
38:30I think it's worth putting boots on the ground in the Azores, because that is likely a stepping stone to
38:37the treasure arriving here on Oak Island.
38:39I think there could be answers there to be found.
38:41Quite interesting.
38:43Yeah.
38:43In the War Room, Doug and Emiliano have presented new research suggesting that clues to the Oak Island mystery
38:51maybe some 2,000 miles away in the Azores Islands of Portugal.
38:57If you're right, it adds to the intrigue here, I think.
39:01Absolutely.
39:03Emiliano has already been there doing some scouting, and he's identified some really good experts for us to talk to.
39:09There are experts and also artifacts to compare to what we found here.
39:16We have a chance to possibly explain this idea that Templar treasure found its way to Oak Island.
39:22So I think it's well worth it to go there and see what we can discover.
39:27It sounds like a worthy expedition.
39:29I think there's enough here to do this.
39:31I understand we do have a little time right now between caissons.
39:34Let's put together a group and go.
39:37Yeah, Marty, you're right.
39:38We have a gap in time between the search agenda out back and this trip.
39:44If we can support the data we have in front of us with more data, all the better.
39:49Yeah.
39:50I think it holds real promise.
39:53We may come back with some pretty remarkable connections.
39:58We may have left a trail for us to follow.
40:01Absolutely.
40:02Well, I'm in.
40:03I'd love to go.
40:05I can hold on to port.
40:08These expeditions, they've all been valuable.
40:11Each one of those expeditions has come back with data.
40:14Data that we can act upon.
40:16Knowledge that we were previously unaware of.
40:19So I'm fully in support of it.
40:21A great treasure that was moved, of connections to the Knights Templar,
40:26that would explain these very old things that we have found on Oak Island.
40:30And they think that they might find better evidence of that in the islands themselves.
40:37That makes the trip worthwhile.
40:40So we'll figure out what we need to do and we'll keep everyone informed.
40:45Excellent.
40:46Bring back some really good stuff.
40:48All right.
40:49See ya.
40:51See ya.
40:51Hey, Marty.
40:52Nice job.
40:53Okay.
40:54Let's go.
40:56Although another massive dig in the money pit was unable to recover a vast cache of riches,
41:03it produced a tantalizing clue that has inspired the team to go further for the ultimate answers.
41:12Now, as winter approaches, where all others have failed, they will stop at nothing to succeed.
41:22No matter how deep they must dig.
41:25And no matter how far they must journey.
41:29To find the truth.
41:33Next time on The Curse of Oak Island.
41:36Welcome to Azores.
41:37There's a number of questions that can be answered in the Azores.
41:40Some things here relate to our search.
41:42We have this on Oak Island.
41:43It's time to dig.
41:45We need to get to the treasure.
41:47Woo!
41:48Oh, what we got here?
41:50Wow.
41:51You might have some evidence to a 14th century Portuguese presence in Oak Island.
41:56The proof might be underground right here.
41:59Wow.
41:59Fantastic.
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