Echoes of an Earlier Era | The Curse of Oak Island
Echoes of an Earlier Era | The Curse of Oak Island
So, you ready to put some coil to the soil, mate?
I’m ready. I’m ready.
Metal detection expert Gary Drayton and treasure hunter Michael John arrive at lot 32.
Different lot, different treasure. Them prospects, mate. All the time.
Exactly.
They are eager to search for new and hopefully valuable clues and artifacts.
I expect there’s going to be some signs
of war activity in this area.
Exactly. Yeah. Um, this could be a golden opportunity for us.
That’s right.
What have we got here?
Just one week ago.
The size of that.
Working with Marty Lagginina, Gary uncovered a large spike that may date back three centuries or more, and which blacksmithing expert Carmen Legge believes was used to anchor ships to large boulders on the beach.
It would be anchored into rock and then pull a ship. You could pull a ship offshore home.
Yes.
And it was also on lot 32 that one year ago, the team found not only a large wharf spike, but also a lead cargo bag seal.
With there being a wharf and the artifacts we’ve already recovered, mate, I want to know what they were unloading here,
um, and what connection this area has to the money pit.
I got a good feeling about this lot, especially having so many flags to go for.
All right, mate. You ready to get stuck in?
I’m ready.
Let’s go for it.
We made some significant discoveries on lot 32, uh, close proximity to the ocean. One could suggest or speculate that people were in that area carrying a load on and onto a wharf. If we find that they’re headed in a certain direction, we can draw that line. So, every little clue is important.
All right, mate. Another good two-way repeatable signal.
Oh, still in the hole, I believe.
Yeah, that’s it. It’s on the edge. Come on, baby. Big in there.
Oh, look how deep that is, mate. Yep. Okay. I was telling you, Michael, the deeper it is, the older it normally is.
I don’t know. We’ll see if we got it out.
You have got it out.
There we go.
I always get excited when you see this edge. You see that nice round edge there, mate? Is it a coin or is it a button?
Can it be a coin?
It’s a coin, mate. It’s a coin.
Yes.
Look at that.
Oh my gosh.
On lot 32 just west of the swamp, metal detection expert Gary Drayton and treasure hunter Michael John have just made a potentially valuable discovery.
Now, I don’t know how old, mate. And it is always tempting just to rub it, but we can’t just in case we damage it.
Get this to Kelly in the archaeology trailer, mate. He’ll do his business on this.
But why I’m excited about this coin, mate, it looks like an old British copper. And it wasn’t that long ago when it was Rick, Marty, Dave, and I. We were on that ridge on the other side of the swamp. We pulled two coins up.
British coppers from the 1600s, mate.
That’s Charles II.
Come on.
Yeah, that’s Charles. And I can see a Carolus.
Four years ago on lot 16, in the same area where the team has found evidence of cargo being transported between the swamp and the money pit.
That’s way too early for people to be here.
Gary, along with Rick, Marty, and Dave Blankenship, discovered two 17th century British coins.
It means something.
That is fantastic.
This has been taking a dirt nap for a very long time.
Although the team has found evidence dating as far back as the 14th century of both French and Portuguese activity on Oak Island, could this coin offer possible evidence that a British operation to hide valuables here took place sometime later, perhaps in the 17th century?
Can’t believe how thin the coin is, you know, which is great for us. The thinner it is, the more chance that it’s an older coin. Dang, mate. This is brilliant.
Fantastic.
You can’t beat it.
No.
This is the reason why Michael, John, and I came back to lot 32. The chance of holding a beautiful old coin like this in your hands.
Uh, this has got 1700s written all over it. And I’m fairly certain when this coin is cleaned up, there is going to be a king on it. Beautiful. Love it.
Rick Lagginina, along with members of the team, search for more clues near the stone road or possible ship’s wharf in the southeastern corner of the triangle-shaped swamp.
It is kind of amazing how the stone road seems to extend, let’s say, out into a stone dock perhaps into the water.
Two weeks ago, Terry Deveau, who serves as the president of the New England Antiquities Research Association, made an astonishing assessment of the feature.
This is a type of road that was built in Europe in the 1500s.
Wow.
Last week, following Terry’s presentation, the team found not only pieces of wooden cargo barrels in this area, but also what could be part of a large sailing galleon.
We are engaged in a process in the southeast corner of the swamp. So, the way this is going to happen is Billy’s going to come in with the excavator. Basically, we’re unzippering the land. We’re going to peel it back, open it up. Gary will come in and metal detect, hopefully find some items.
Yeah, that is nice.
Hey, Gary.
Hi, Miriam.
What you got?
We’ve got some big shards of pottery here.
And they’re all in this area, so I didn’t want to disturb them too much. There’s a piece there.
Oh, and an old bit of black glass. It’s super bubbly. So when you find the bubbles, it means it’s older because the process of making it was not as refined.
Could archaeologist Miriam Amirault be correct? Is this piece of black glass found near the stone road part of an ancient container? And if so, will it be an important clue to help verify when the road was constructed?
Yep. We’ve hit a mother lode here. Must be fun piecing it together.
Yeah. 1700s written all over it. You’d have to find the neck and the rim.
Oh my goodness. We have not found this many pieces of like one single artifact in all of the swamp. So, this is really cool.
Gorgeous, isn’t it?
That’s nice. This could easily be an English wine bottle.
We want the finish, the top, to be definitive about it.
And it might be it.
Yep.
Oh my gosh.
What do you have?
Nice. This exactly what we were looking for.
Yep. It’s a nice finish. And that’s 1770s, 1780s, I’d say.
Wow, that is so cool.
An English wine bottle dating back as much as three decades before the discovery of the money pit.
Since the team has found a number of 18th century British artifacts across the island in the past, could this bottle have been connected to a prior searcher operation on Oak Island, or was it left by someone who made a deposit?
So, I guess this is a good area.
Yep. Top pocket finds.
On lot 5, located on the western side of the island.
This test pit area has been a conundrum to us. We really felt that there was something that we were going to discover at this level, and we haven’t yet.
Rick Lagginina and metal detection expert Gary Drayton join archaeologist Fiona Steele and other members of the team to assist with the investigation of a mysterious stone foundation.
We haven’t totally given up on this. So, we would really like to see if you wouldn’t mind doing a check too.
All right. In fact, Gary, you can wander everywhere just in case.
Yeah.
Over the past two years, this stone structure has yielded numerous clues that suggest it may be directly connected to the Oak Island mystery.
These discoveries include 17th century trade beads, a mortar-like material that matches soil samples from more than 100 feet deep in the money pit area, and iron tools that have been scientifically linked to Sir William Phips, the 17th century English politician who some believe conspired with a high-ranking Freemason named Andrew Belcher to bury a vast cache of Spanish silver and gold on Oak Island back in 1687.
Now, since the feature has been deemed a special place by the government of Nova Scotia, Gary is allowed to detect potential metal targets. However, the archaeological team must then slowly and methodically work to uncover them.
The lot five feature, though it has expanded two to three times its original appearance, is still not completely exposed. And to do it properly, you have to have a lot of patience. And that’s fine. That’s the process.
Yeah, I’m getting iron.
Bigger piece of iron there. Iron. There’s iron all over in this one.
That’s different.
Non-ferrous.
There’s a good chance that’s a coin. A non-ferrous target indicating that something potentially composed of precious metals is buried in the feature.
If so, could it mean that this structure was used to hide something of great value?
I’m telling you now, there’s only three metals that really make that sound. It’s going to be copper, lead, or gold. You’ve got some great things waiting for you there.
And the search continues.
If so, the button could place human activity on Oak Island decades earlier than previously confirmed, and potentially connect the feature on lot five to Sir William Phips and the mysterious disappearance of Spanish silver and gold in 1687.
The ornate design, combined with its age and location, suggests it was not casually lost but deliberately brought to the island by someone of status.
As the team reflects on the find, the implications begin to settle in.
Artifacts from multiple centuries.
Evidence of organized activity.
And a growing pattern that points toward intent, not coincidence.
With each discovery, Oak Island continues to challenge long-held assumptions about who was here, when they arrived, and what they were willing to hide.
The search is far from over.
In fact, it may only just be beginning.
As the sun sets over Oak Island, the team packs up for the day knowing that what they uncovered may represent only a fraction of a much larger story still buried beneath their feet.
Each artifact, each signal, and each carefully excavated layer adds another piece to a puzzle that has defied explanation for more than two centuries.
Connections between the swamp, the stone road, lot five, and the money pit are becoming harder to dismiss as coincidence.
Evidence of early European activity continues to surface, suggesting planning, movement of cargo, and possibly concealment on a scale never before proven.
Yet for every clue revealed, the island answers with silence, holding back just enough to keep its secrets intact.
Tomorrow, the search will resume.
The coils will swing again.
The ground will be tested once more.
And Oak Island will continue to reveal its story
one discovery at a time.
