Hey guys, episode three of The Curse of Oak Island season 13 feels like a turning [music] point,
not only for the ongoing treasure hunt, but potentially for North American history itself.

Titled Medieval Intentions, the episode pulls back the curtain on some of the most startling discoveries ever made on the island,
raising a bold question.
What if the origins of Oak Island’s mystery reach back not just centuries, but millennia?

This episode begins with exactly the kind of moment treasure hunters live for.
A Roman coin confirmed via XRF testing and CT scan discovered on lot 5.
Emma Culligan’s analysis reveals clear traces of copper, [music] iron, calcium, silicon, and silver,
a signature of ancient Roman alloy composition.

And when she and the team examine the CT scans, everything changes.
The lettering, the headbust, the workshop markings all point to Claudius II, emperor of Rome from 268 to 270 AD.
The team isn’t just stunned, they’re speechless.
A Roman artifact nearly 1,750 years old, buried in Nova Scotia.
What the hell is going on?

The Lagginina brothers have found Roman coins before, but this one changes everything.
Not only is it better preserved, but Sandy Campbell, the team’s coin expert, flat out confirms its age and authenticity. [music]
Roman coinage has never been recorded elsewhere in Nova Scotia, and certainly not in this concentration.

Yet, lot 5 has produced six Roman coins, all from a similar era, raising a profound question.
Are these mere curiosities or the pocket change of people who were working on Oak Island centuries before Columbus arrived in North America?

Remarkably, [music] this question is scientifically grounded.
The elements found in the Roman coin match the same lead, tin, copper, and zinc detected deep in the solution channel beneath the money pit,
suggesting a possible connection between ancient artifacts on lot 5 and what lies beneath the money pit.
Could these items be part of the treasure or evidence of the people who buried it?

Even more astonishing, the elemental composition of the Roman coins appears to match that of the Portuguese piblatto coin found earlier this season.
Two artifacts separated by 1,000 years, yet potentially connected.

The team has long believed that Oak Island may have served multiple groups over multiple centuries.
And this evidence supports that theory like never before.

The swamp strikes again.
A new zone opens.
While lot 5 is producing historical shocks, the swamp also returns to center stage.
Steve Guptil identifies a new unexplored region on the western side of the bog, just 180 ft from the 13th century stone pavement previously found.

With machinery in place, the team begins excavating and almost immediately something catches their eye.
They uncover sharpened wooden stakes shaped by hand, not cut by a saw, but carved with an axe.
These stakes match similar ones found earlier along the cobbled path near the swamp center. [music]
Stakes that were carbonated from the 1630s to the 1700s.
This suggests the western swamp may conceal another ancient pathway.

But where does it go?
The stakes point toward purpose, not random settlement, not debris.
Intentional placement, pathways, directions, infrastructure.
Whatever happened here, it wasn’t accidental. Someone was moving something.
Maybe something heavy, something valuable.

As Rick says, the metals will tell the story of this place.
I’m hoping for coins. Lot five. The puzzle gets bigger, not smaller.

Just a few hundred yards away, archaeologist Fiona Steele investigates the rounded feature near the shoreline on lot 5.
Soon, she identifies a pipe stem with a bore hole dated between 1753 and 1800,
fitting perfectly within the island’s timeline before the money pit was discovered in 1795.

Then pottery emerges — large glossy fragments of a 17th to 18th century earthenware food bowl. [music]
This bowl suggests active habitation on lot 5 during a time when historically nobody was supposed to be living there.

So, who was preparing food on lot 5 in 1650?
Who cooked here? Who worked here?
And what were they hiding?

This episode doesn’t give us answers, [music] but it begins to connect every clue.
Roman coins from 250 AD. Portuguese coin from the 1300s. Pipe stem from the 1700s.
Glass Venetian bead from the Knights of Malta era.
Different cultures, different centuries yet all tied to one place.

Lot 5 may be the most important site ever found on Oak Island.
The Venetian bead, a Templar connection grows stronger.
A stunning twist drops mid episode.

A tiny glass Venetian bead recovered from the rounded feature might link lot 5 to the Knights of Malta,
a military order descended from a Knight’s Templar.
XRF results confirm the composition matches other Venetian trade beads found on the island.

Even more compelling, the Knights of Malta were active in Nova Scotia during the 1600s, specifically under Isaac de Razali,
a French naval captain who founded the Acadia colony.
In 1632, he set his headquarters just 15 miles from Oak Island.

If Venetian beads were found at Fort Point, it may prove direct contact between Lot 5 and known Templar link settlements.
One bead, one coin, one pathway.
Piece by piece, Oak Island’s timeline is expanding and aligning with history.

The Money Pit, the void that shouldn’t exist.
While the surface discoveries shock historians, the money pit is rewriting geology.
Core [music] drilling into borehole J 58.5 reaches nearly 230 ft with no bedrock and a massive 30 ft void of loose material.
The rods free fall up to 15 ft at a time.

The team realizes they’ve found a collapse zone, possibly a treasure fall through site.
Whatever was above this void may have sunk and may be resting at the bottom of the solution channel.

In Rick’s words, we’re nowhere near done.
This void may be the final trap of an engineered system, a system built to hide something permanent and incredibly valuable.
If treasure is dense, it sinks. And now the team may have found where it landed.

A lead cross, Templar Echo’s return on lot 4.
Gary and Charles detect [music] a strong signal.
What they uncover looks small, but could be monumental.

A beveled strip of lead with a hole eerily similar to the Templar cross found at Smith’s Cove in 2017.
This is not just Déjà Vu. It’s possibly part of the same artifact or made by the same hands.

Gary immediately says that we could be in Templar country.
And he might [music] be right.
The resemblance to crosses found at Templar sites in France, Italy, and Iceland is undeniable.
And earlier this season, the lead bartering token was scientifically matched to the Smith’s [music] Cove Cross.

Now, another piece emerges.
This isn’t coincidence.
It’s pattern, [music] and patterns lead to answers.

In episode 3, the Oak Island mystery transcends treasure hunting.
It becomes a historical collision where Roman coins, Templar symbols, 17th century pottery, and engineered geological traps converge.

The theories are no longer wild.
They’re supported by data, XRF tests, carbon dating, geology, and historical records.
The island isn’t just giving up artifacts.
It’s giving up a narrative.
A narrative that suggests Oak Island was used by multiple cultures across multiple centuries.

It may have been staged, planned, and engineered.
And someone long ago knew exactly what they were doing.

Whether it’s Knights Templar, Knights of Malta, Portuguese navigators, Roman traders, or a secret society the world hasn’t identified yet,
one thing is becoming clear. Oak Island was not random. Oak Island was chosen.

Next time, a new swamp feature could unwrap the whole mystery.
The money pit may yield coins and the truth may finally come to the surface because,
after this episode, history [music] is no longer whispering.
It is screaming from the ground as the excitement builds across lot 5.

The discovery of the Roman coin has also reignited discussions about the possibility of previously unknown European expeditions to Nova Scotia long before the official history books suggest.
The idea that Roman era items or even medieval artifacts linked to the Templars could have been [music] transported across the Atlantic centuries before Columbus
challenges mainstream historical narratives.

This isn’t just treasure hunting.
It’s a historical puzzle that could rewrite the understanding of early exploration of North America.
The team knows that every artifact matters because now deep history is at [music] stake.

The swamp investigation also adds fuel to long-standing theories that Oak Island may have been used by secretive groups across many centuries.
The various datable structures in the swamp, from the paved areas to the cobblestone paths, all point toward meticulous engineering and intentional planning.

This is no random mystery created by nature. >> [music]
The more the team uncovers, the more the swamp appears to be an ancient staging ground.
Perhaps not just for hiding treasure, but for organizing operations.

As Rick pointed out, once you understand the totality of the work in the bog, then you can apply possible connections to the money pit.
That statement may be the understatement of the season so far.

The wooden stakes found in the western swamp are especially intriguing.
Their similarities to the stakes found near the vault-like feature the previous year suggest another pathway.
Perhaps even a transport route used to move heavy items.

What if the pits were only part of a system, [music] a bigger engineering design involving tunnels, swamp concealment, [music] and stage deposits?
If the swamp served as an entry or movement point, then the team may finally be zeroing in on how the treasure got into the ground, not just where it is.
Every piece of timber could reveal part of a blueprint.

Meanwhile, lot 5 continues to shine as a treasure trove of historical context.
The discovery of the Venetian style glass bead now suggests European presence tied to the Knights of Malta and potentially the Templars.
Considering that members of the Knights of Malta were active in Nova Scotia in the early to mid-1600s,
the team may finally have a traceable human presence that links Oak Island to known historical networks.

If this is confirmed through further testing and comparison with artifacts from Fort Point,
it could be one of the most valuable historical confirmations in Oak Island history.

As excitement builds in the lab, the mood at the Money Pit [music] becomes one of intense focus and anticipation.
The team has now encountered one of the deepest [music] and most unusual voids ever recorded on the island,
stretching as far as 228 ft without hitting bedrock. That is unprecedented.

If the solution channel truly dips deeper than previously believed,
then the team [music] may be on the verge of discovering a treasure migration zone where heavy objects would naturally sink to the bottom.

That means [music] treasure or other evidence may still be waiting in untouched territory.
What [music] makes this particularly thrilling is the fact that treasure hunters throughout history may have never dug this deep or in this precise location.

When Rick said, “We’re going to be the first people to look at it.” [music]
He wasn’t just being dramatic. This is literally unexplored ground.

The very idea that artifacts may be lying at the absolute lowest, deepest point of the solution channel is enough to transform the search strategy entirely.
It may no longer be about randomness, but about gravity, geology, and intelligent placement.

But for every find, new questions emerge.
What was the true purpose of the solution channel?
Was it natural or modified?
Perhaps it was even utilized intentionally.

If a [music] group had planned a high-level treasure concealment using an existing geological feature,
it would have been an extremely clever, even genius strategy.
Literally using nature as camouflage could explain why Oak Island has never fully revealed its secrets.

The deeper the team digs, the more it feels like someone once tried very hard to make sure this treasure stayed hidden forever.

And then comes the final twist of the episode: the mysterious lead strip found on lot 4.
The moment Gary mentioned the possibility of it being part of a lead cross, the tension in the air shifted.

This could be direct evidence linking lot 4 to the famous Templar cross found at Smith’s Cove.
And if testing proves the isotope match, that would be groundbreaking.

The fact that this piece was found in spoil piles from Lot 5 near other medieval artifacts is no coincidence.
The team knows this could reshape everything they believe about who is here.

And when, as the episode concludes, anticipation hits an all-time high.
The swamp may be hiding yet another feature.
The money pit void may hold coins or relics, perhaps even treasure.
Lot 4 could confirm a medieval cross connection.
And lot 5 may provide the historical context needed to connect all the dots.

Roman, Templar, Portuguese, Maltese, indigenous, and beyond.
The Oak Island mystery is no longer just about gold.
It’s about history, technology, and deep cultural secrets. [music]

As Rick says, we mustn’t give up.
And now, more than ever before, they won’t.