The Curse of Oak Island Season 6 is underway and episode 4 has been aired. It was a long-anticipated episodes and brothers Rick and Marty Lagina have found some peculiar items in the previous episodes. And the best way to make an introduction is to see what Marty said.
“Well, we know seismic works to some extent, to the extent is yet to be determined, but we know that a new technology shows promise here. We know that, we know we have another very significant find, probably the first treasure this year. We know that we were much more focused on information and results of experiments and then we are actually searching at depth – but we’re going to search at depth so we’re just trying to hone it in, we’re trying to you know cross all the T’s and dot all the i’s and then dig.”
Keep reading to find out what happened in the fourth episode of Oak Island Season 6. But first, a slight revision for those who have just tuned in!
There is an island in the North Atlantic where people have been looking for an incredible treasure for more than 200 years. So far,the brothers and their team have found a stone slab with strange symbols carved into it mysterious fragments of human bone and a LED cross whose origin may stretch back to the days of the Knights Templar.To this date, six men have died trying to solve the mystery and according to legend 7 needs to die before the treasure can be found.
The beginning
The episode starts with the way it ended when the team found a curious crossbow that is considered to be very old.
it is the end of another long day on Oak Island as Rick Lagina, Craig Tester and members of their team gathered to inform Rick’s brother Marty and area archaeologist about a new and potentially important discovery. They showed them what they found and what they believed it was.
Earlier this same day, while metal detecting at the beachfront on lot 26, Jack and geophysicist Mike West discovered an unusual metal object approximately 10 inches beneath the rocky soil.It was used as a deadly weapon as early as the 7th century BC – the crossbow was for its time a type of high-tech bow and arrow one that could shoot projectiles with great speed deadly accuracy. The arrows or bolts were so finely sharpened they could even penetrate metal armor.
A medieval crossbow bolt found in the shore of Oak Island? But if so, how did it get here? Could it be connected in some way to the lead cross found at Smith’s Cove last year? These are all questions they needed answers.
Meanwhile Rick said: “it’s clearly very interesting what they found this so-called crossbow bolt, very interesting, a very out of place. I mean it’s an interesting object there’s no question about it, it’s unlike anything we’ve ever found before. More significant than the cross!
The drilling continues
The next day, Rick Lagina Craig Tester and Charles Barkhouse head over to the area known as the money pit. They are in the early stages of finding out if recently conducted seismic testing has allowed them to pinpoint the precise location of the original treasure site first discovered in 1795.Just one day ago, the team drilling began at a new 6.5-inch wide borehole known as D6. At a depth of 93 feet they discovered evidence of a horizontal would be followed by a three-foot void. It was at this same depth that recent seismic scanning of the areas revealed what could be a network of underground tunnels.
Is it possible that Rick Marty and their partners have actually located one of the legendary booby-trapped flood tunnels? The tunnels which many believe were constructed in order to prevent searchers from finding this centuries-old treasure vault?
Although the team is encouraged by locating a possible tunnel they are even more hopeful to reach another one of the intriguing anomalies that was detected by seismic scanning – a nearly 30-foot-wide void at a depth of approximately 170 feet. It was at this depth, last year, that the team, while drilling with a 60-inch wide steel caisson, encountered what they believe could be the legendary Chappell vault – a 7-foot tall wood box first discovered by treasure hunters William Chappell and Frederick Blair in 1897. However, instead of penetrating the vault the caisson is believed to have actually pushed the mysterious object further down into the mud and off to the side.
Impenetrable Object
While drilling a new borehole in the money pit area the Oak Island team has just found an object at a depth of some 200 feet deep underground, an object that seems impossible to penetrate.They would believe that they have encountered the Money Pit, but now, after hitting the bedrock, they were disappointed. It means they may have missed the large underground anomaly that was indicated on the 3D map created by the team’s recent seismic scanning. It also means they will be forced to choose a different site in the hopes of locating the legendary Chappell vault…
Marty: “We certainly didn’t hit the center of the anomaly and you know that’s good and bad news but as long as the drill is down hole there’s hope.”
Examining the Iron
The next day, as Rick Lagina remains on the island to begin planning the team’s next steps,his brother Marty Craig Tester and Marty’s son Alex heads some 50 miles northeast of Oak Island to St. Mary’s University in the city of Halifax.They are meeting once again with associate professor of chemistry Dr. Krista Bruce, an expert in the study of metals and their chemical compositions.They are hoping to find out if scientific testing on what they believe to be a crossbow bolt.
Using samples carefully collected from the surface of the artifact,Dr. Bristow and her colleague Dr. Shawn Yang performed a chemical analysis of the metal with the help of a high-powered scanning electron microscope or SEM.
What’s SEM?
Unlike traditional microscopes which rely on a combination of light and lenses to magnify objects, the SEM performs scans with a focused beam of electrons which can produce magnification as much as 200 thousand times greater than an object’s actual size. it can also provide a detailed analysis of the items chemical composition.
And besides iron, manganese was found to be a part of the bolt! Manganese?
Manganese was used in the production of steel and iron at the beginning of the 9th century BC. It’s presence in the sample could be an indication that the Oak Island team may be in possession of something far older than what they first thought possible.
Cofferdam Construction Continues…
Following his informative trip to St. Mary’s University Craig Tester has arrived back on Oak Island to Smith’s Cove, where one of the team’s most ambitious and expensive projects is well underway – the construction of a massive 525-foot-long steel cofferdam!
Since construction of the cofferdam began, just one week ago the team from Urban Equipment Limited has installed nine out of the nearly 120 sections of steel sheet pilings that will form the watertight barrier. Once completed, it will allow the site to be fully drained so that it can be excavated not only in the hope of finding historically significant artifacts but also the remains of the legendary box drain flooding system that has effectively booby-trapped the entire money pit area.While Craig continues to oversee the cofferdam construction at Smith’s Cove, Rick Lagina has called members of the Oak Island team together for an important meeting in the war room.
The Dramatic News
Rick’s close friend, ZenaHalpern has passed away at the age of 88 which comes with great sadness for him and the rest of the team. The New York-based author and historian spent more than 50 years researching possible journeys to North America by members of the Knights Templar, journeys that she was convinced were made centuries before the so-called discovery of the new world by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Two years ago Zena presented Rick Lagina and the team with a number of intriguing documents including one which she believed to be a 14th century Templar map of Oak Island.
Rick was very emotional and at the edge of his tears, he said: “Zena had very serious health issues and our health was filmed, to be honest as sad as we are by Zena’s passing I am immensely grateful for having met her. Can’t speak highly enough about her. Her life has certainly impacted my own.”
He also read this: “My heart is heavy at the loss of our dear friend Zena. She was a sweet but tough woman in love with history I’m comforted in believing she now has all the answers to all of the questions she ever had about history. As she listens to her creator she now knows the full history of Oak Island and what lies below the beautiful surface. I am thankful to have known her. I love you Zena. Rest my dear friend.”
Visit to Her Home
Three days after learning the news of his friends passing, Rick Lagina along with his nephew Peter Fornetti travel some 800 miles southwest of Oak Island to Visit Zena’s former home in Long Island New York.
They are pouring through more than 50 years of research collected by the noted author during her lifetime research. Rick hopesthat may help him and his partners solve the Oak Island mystery.
The Cremona Document
Rick and his friends found a lot of interesting stuff at Zena’s home and one of the papers was the Cremona Document
The Cremona document discovered during the 1970s in a church in Cremona Italy. The so-called Cremona document is a collection of maps, ciphers and journal entries which are believed to have been authored in part by the 12th century Templar knight Ralph de Sudeley. It describes his activity at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where he is believed to have discovered priceless religious artifacts such as the Holy Grail and the Ark of the Covenant. It also details the voyage that he made to North America with other members of the Knights Templar. Although many mainstream historians remain skeptical as to the Colonna documents authenticity, Rick Lagina is convinced that much of the information contained within it, is most likely true.
Return to Oak Island
The next day, following this emotional trip, the team returns to the island and at the money pit site, the drilling has begun at a second location. They are hopeful they will soon reach a mysterious 30-foot-wide void located at a depth of some 170 feet and which was identified earlier by seismic scanning.
Using a specialized sonic drill, the drilling team extracts core samples of Earth and any objects contained within at intervals every 10 feet these samples are then transferred into a plastics layer so that they can be carefully examined by hand for any important clues or possible treasure.
An Amazing Discovery
The thing which is found here may be small, but it is quite relevant. It is coconut fiber!
In 1804, when the money pit was excavated by the Onslow company, searchers reported finding a large amount of coconut fiber at a depth of 60 feet. Given that the nearest coconut trees are located some 1500 miles south of Nova Scotia, they concluded that it had been used to make a kind of room that would enable depositors and followers something of great value down into the shell.
Could the discovery of coconut fiber be an important indication that Rick, Marty and the team have finally located the site of the original money pit?There are plenty of questions that still need to be answered.
What do you think of the fourth episode of the show?
