We’re getting down to that layer that the road was built on.
Every scoop we’re going back another hundred years in time.

You’re in the Pete now.
Yeah.
Now we’re into the same stuff they built the road on.

What are you hoping to find in terms of trying to figure out what has gone on here?
I mean, really what we’re looking for is an artifact.
Yeah.
And finding coal is a big deal. It gives us an indication of time and purpose.
Yeah. That’s what I’m looking for.

Oh, what I would do is instead of digging it, have Gary detect this layer and see if he sees anything down.
That Pete layer is contemporaneous with the road.
So, if there’s anything, it’s right in here to me.

I’ll whistle Gary over.
Yep.
Gary.
Yep.

Maybe we should detect this whole surface.
I agree with that.
I’m coming over.

The underwater road has age on it and it also has about 20 inches of sediment on top of it.
So that speaks to it being a little older.

It’s really exciting.
And as usual, you know, you go in there thinking you’ve kind of got it figured out and you find something that is completely new to everybody.

Woo. Very squidgy down here.
No, hardly any of metal.
I’ll try over here.
Yeah. Look at that. Right here.

Check that out. Top of a keg.
Wow.
So, that’s a keg lid to a keg.
Yep.
How far down?
Right there.
Holy crow. That’s very important.

The lower one is the important because it’s going to frost heave and every that’s right at the cultural level, right?
Like right at the pretty much you got this.

Look at the amount of mud we have over this.
It was just gunpowder that they put in kegs. It was all treasure coins as well.

Could this piece of a keg barrel be more evidence that the stone pathway was once used to haul heavy cargo or as Gary Drayton is suggesting treasure onto Oak Island?

And if so, could it be connected to the piece of the keg barrel recovered from the money pit in 1861?

Right, here’s Yeah, there’s another.
Yeah, double piece.

Does these go together?
This looks too rounded.
Yeah, they’re different radiuses.

This is very important.
It’s because this is down at the bottom of this mud layer.

I think as we move more towards that road, we’re going to find more and more stuff.
I’m hoping we come up with some more coal.

Yeah.
We should get some answers from these two pieces.
I think there’s some information to be gleaned from them.

Might they indicate a certain type of tool, i.e. a certain type of cultural influence?

I think the thing to do at this point is not to speculate about why they’re there or how they came to be there.
I very much look forward to whatever chemical analysis could be done.
It’s all about the application of science.

We should get some answers from these two pieces.
Should we bag this?
Because what if there is a chemical trace here?

Yeah, because it’s not.
Look at how distinctly different, right?
Yeah.

Why don’t we do that?
I’ll get a bag.
I mean, this little piece could tell us some things.
Hopefully, it tells a story.
Hopefully, there’s more in there that’ll tell a better story quicker.

What do you think?
Oh my god, what is that?

That’s the proper question to ask.
What is that?
That is not something that should be in a swamp.

As another exciting morning begins on Oak Island for brothers Rick and Marty Lagginina and their partners.
That is absolutely amazing to see in a place like this.
You would never think this would be here.
I mean, it’s just awesome.

They continued to uncover two of the most incredible discoveries ever made in the 225-year search for a legendary treasure.
Massive stone pathways that have been unearthed in the southeast corner of the triangle-shaped swamp.
One of which may be leading directly toward the original money pit treasure shaft.

To ensure that the continued investigation of the swamp is conducted as completely and as carefully as possible.
They have enlisted the help of archaeologist Dr. Aaron Taylor.

Tom has some questions for you and he’d probably like to hear your opinion to date as to what you think this might be.
Sure.
If I had to give you my opinion on what it is right now, I’d say it’s a road leading up to the uplands and then we have sort of a rubly pathway all the way down to here.
Yeah. Possibly they had built a little harbor somewhere to unload things and it was a road that would have taken a lot of work to build.

This is an incredible discovery.
I’ve never seen anything like it.
Yeah.

Question is what’s keeping the stone up and we’re finding pieces of wood.
So, we’re thinking possibly some cribbing underneath.
Yeah.

So, that’s what we got right now.
What’s that right there?
There’s no wood or anything.
Darren, you thought there might be some wood here, right?
Some timbers.
Yeah. Yeah.
There’s no or some sort of cribbing.
There’s another layer of stone underneath this one though.
Right here.

It’s really careful.
It’s really firm right here.
Feel how firm that is.
Yeah.

And then stone here.
And you’ve got that real thick whatever it is.
Cut stake. That’s very interesting.

Yeah, there’s some sort of cribbing or support.
Another layer of stones and wood cribbing.

Has Rick discovered another feature in the construction of this stone road in the swamp?
Or could it be another structure below it?
If so, just what is it?
And why was it built?

That might be something Spooner wants to look at.
Eh.
Mhm.

And it looks cut.
Definitely not natural.
And it’s running right under that big stone there.
So, we’ll take that, sample it, and see if we can get some testing.

Oh, look at that chunk.
Coal.
Yeah.
Nice.
Wow.

So, that’s the coal we’re finding.
Yeah, we found some pieces fairly large.
We have pounds of it now.

What would coal be doing down here?
Well, and coal doesn’t float.
So, it’s not like it came in here floating in the water.
No, somebody left it here.
I’d say whoever did this.
Yeah.
That shows there was a burn event.

Yeah. Charcoal found on the stone pathway in the swamp.
This is off of a sailing ship.
Yes, that’s what we’re looking for in the swamp.

One year ago, metal detection expert Gary Drayton discovered a badly burned strap identified by blacksmith Carmen Leg to have come from an early 18th-century ship.
And one other fact that has been in a really hot and sustained fire.

This offered compelling evidence of a long-held theory by Fred Nolan that at one time Oak Island was two islands and that a treasure gallion had been sailed in between them, unloaded of its precious cargo and then burned and sunk in a man-made swamp.

Could the discovery of charcoal on the stone pathway be corroborating evidence that Fred’s theory is true?

The only time we know coal was used in any volume on the island, at least as far as the search goes, was 1860 or beyond.
There’s no need to burn coal on that island in the search until then.

So, what’s the coal for?
Another mystery.
Another one.
Another piece.

So, we’re finding these stakes that are cut stakes.
Well, something would have to hold all this up, you know, in a bog.
Yeah.

We get excited at all these things we find and we’re just left with more questions.
Yeah. Bigger questions.
Well, it’s a mystery, that’s for sure.
Absolutely.

This is another fine mess you’ve made here.
I see.
Mhm.

We have made a heck of a mess.
Yeah.

At the southern border of the Oak Island swamp, Marty Lagginina and Craig Tester join Rick Lagginina and other members of the team to inspect the wooden structure that was just unearthed beneath the stone road.

That’s the edge.
Really? You believe it ended right there?
Yeah.

There was two logs underneath the edge of the rope, but it looked really like they were fitted together.
Like you took one log and you know, like if you were building a cabin, like that kind of…
Yeah.

There was brush just like under the construct itself and smaller logs as though to underpin the road and then it stopped abruptly.
Really?
Yeah.

Swamp muck mixed with bigger logs on the bottom that were running perpendicular to the road, but it was also well enough into the structure of the stones that you can say it was put down during the construction of the road.

Yeah, I got it.
Yeah.

Okay. There’s big timbers underneath the stone road, which just underscores that that was a massive undertaking.
Somebody put that road in for a specific reason, and I think they wanted it to not be found after they were done.
It could be leading us back to where the treasure is.

And then just before we got to the end of the road here, I mean, we have pulled up some really, really nice artifacts.
Old-looking chains, some really interesting.
I’ve seen this chain. I heard about this chain.

Very unusual. This looks old.

Two weeks ago, while excavating the southern edge of the potentially 500-year-old stone road, the Oak Island team uncovered a large hand-drawn chain and hook, which blacksmithing expert Carmen Lake dated to the 16th century.

Is it possible that this artifact was once used in the swamp area to offload cargo from a ship onto Oak Island?

The chain was a three-point hitch and forged by the look of them.
Yeah. Might have even been a four-point hitch.

Yeah. To me, you could stay there a nice stable surface, hook a box or something very heavy three-point hitch and then load out here, right?
Because if you’re pulling with a three-point hitch, you can pull it across this heavy ground and then get it to the bog and pull it right up that road.

If you’re trying to fit the chain to the road, to me, that’s an explanation.
Really is.
Mhm.

Yeah. I think it’s an important discovery.
We have clearly defined the extent of the construct of the road and where it transitions to the beach.

Does it align with the idea that a larger ship offshore, a tender comes, brings the material to a crafted slipway or wharf or dock?
Sure. It fits perfectly.

It’s very interesting all the stuff you have found.
Hopefully, it can tell part of the story.
Hopefully, it ties together to give us a date and hopefully we find something even better yet.
Yeah.

What’s next here?
What are you going to do next?
We’re only beginning to get to that point.
Oh, you’re going to keep digging underneath where Billy is?
Yeah.
Yep.
Okay. Well, the best dig is yet to come for this.
Let’s get it done.
All right. Here we go.

The high hopes for this one, mate.
All right, Gary.
Come on.
Yeah. Let’s go find some treasure.
Come on. Where are you?

Wow. There’s nothing in here.
This is quiet.

What we got here?
That looks like a bit of a barrel stave.
Maybe similar to those barrel staves we found digging in the swamp there.

Yeah, it looks like a barrel stave, Gary, because it’s wider here than it is there.
Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on here. Probably where it ripped out.
But yeah, I’d say that’s a bit of a barrel.
Yeah.

Well, one thing for sure, we’ve got enough of those barrel staves that were recovered. Not too far away. We can compare it.
That’s right.

Well, we’re trying to see whether the idea that this is an off-loading area is correct or not.
And a barrel certainly would fit with that.
Yeah, that’s how they transported stuff.

A barrel stave found near the stone road or ship’s wharf.
Could Gary be correct that it might be related to the pieces of wooden cargo barrels that were unearthed in this area 3 years ago at which Carmen Le believed could be as much as 600 years old.

Every time we dig in and around the swamp, we find something.
The stone road, the paved area, the ramp, lots of artifacts.
So, we’re going to continue digging.

We’ll do a little analysis on that, but I’m wanting to find more stuff.
Oh yeah, some coins.

Put it right over there.
All right, mate.
Something in there for sure.
Nope. What the hell’s going on?

It’s catching on something.
I wonder if it’s wood or rocks.
There’s a boulder.
I don’t know if that means that’s the end of the road.
I don’t know if we want to do a little shovel work to check that.
That’s up to you.

You’re all go have a look.
Yeah. Go have a look.
Let’s go have a look.

Check it out. Where’s the boulder?
To your left.
Oh, right here.
Yeah.

And that’s the first one.
So what you’re suggesting is there could be a row here.
Well, if just from my angle, it could be in alignment with the stone road.

Those are the first two big rocks.
We’ll have to dig a little further.

So like you’re thinking these are like retaining rocks.
Yeah. It would only be the retaining edge, I would say, for sure.

I don’t think it’s possible to stand and look at that stone road and not think that this had to have a special purpose.
It’s a rather massive construction and it had to be done for a reason.
What was it for?

I’m prepared to just see what the data suggests as we dig more.
That could lead us directly to what we’ve been seeking for years.

Well, what I would say, Billy, is just as you go in this way, look for others. Kind of scrape along.
All right. I’m going to go start that pump gear.
Yep. I’ll check the spoils.

One thing that’s really exciting about being in the swamp is that possibility that Billy sticks that bucket in and next thing you know you come up with some really great old artifacts.

Oh, three interesting pieces of wood.
Barrel staves.
Got two strips.
And then this looks like a handle.

Yeah, that is rounded edges. It’s a peculiar piece of wood.
Yeah. Wonder if it was like an old pickaxe handle.
Could be, Gary.
It almost looks hand-shaped.

A hand-shaped tool.
Could it have been used in the original construction of the stone road?
If so, is it possible that scientific analysis might help identify not only its age, but also who brought it to Oak Island?

Okay, let’s get back to work.
Yeah, there’s another rock there.
There’s more bigger rocks coming this way.
Ain’t it a line?

Yeah. Okay, Billy, we’ll go have a look.
[Music]

Where was the original rock here?
There.
Yeah.

Then there one’s buried.
And then there’s another one there.
There’s pretty steady row right to…

And then there’s a flat one lower behind you, Gary. See the…
There’s one here, one there, one there.
Yeah, but what’s that mean? Maybe some buried in between.

I think there are clues in the swamp. Clearly, they are.
I have been absolutely wrong about the extent of the workings in the swamp.
I thought there was nothing there and there’s a lot there.

Some good stuff in there, I’m sure.
Now, Marty was never a big fan of the swamp, but the more discoveries we have found in the swamp over the years, the more I see the twinkle in his eye, I think he’s beginning to like the swamp.

You know, we may want to take that over a little bit.
I don’t know if that means that’s the end of the road.
You know, we thought it might have been the log, but the log was an edge.
Yeah. See, you know, Rick’s coming up a little bit.

Let’s see…