This week on The Curse of Oak Island, we have perplexing hidden roadways, mysterious serpent mounds, and even the enigmatic Templar Knights, all of which will feature on the show.
After last week’s focus on finding the Money Pit, we can expect to see the focus switch back to the swamp with the beginning of further draining and excavation of the marshy land. There the guys investigate the mysterious stone structure that is looking increasingly like a hidden path or roadway.
We’ll also see further examinations of the puzzling serpent mound structure that was discovered only a couple of weeks ago. At the time, Archaeologist Aaron Taylor said the mound reminded him of the Serpent Mounds of Ontario, which are 1000s of years old.
But this week, we can expect to see evidence that Oak Island’s mound actually dates back to the medieval period of the Knights Templar, which is perhaps even more intriguing, particularly if it has implications for buried treasure.
The History Channel’s episode description states:
Further excavation uncovers more evidence that the stone structure in the swamp could be a roadway, and analysis of the serpent mound has it dating back to the Templars, suggesting it may be one of the most important features discovered in North America.
And Craig Tester teased us in the preview when he announced an intriguing date: “That one had a date of 1320 to 1440,” he said, which caused shocked gasps from the other team members in the war room.
Unfortunately, the preview didn’t reveal exactly what Craig was talking about, but it was probably from a charcoal sample retrieved from the serpent mound last week.
Did Templar Knights build the serpent mound?
The reveal caused Doug Crowell to point out that the dates coincide with Xena Halpern’s mysterious map and the Knights Templar.
Xena’s strange map from the 14th century has featured heavily in recent times as expert Erin Helton has used it to try to direct the guys to the elusive Money Pit. If the serpent mound is connected to this time period, then we have more irrefutable evidence that there was activity on the island during the time of medieval knights.
Gary Drayton keeps detecting artifacts on Oak Island
Due to the lack of major excavations this season, the team, and the viewers, have been heavily reliant on the finds of metal detectorist Gary Drayton to keep us all interested. And to be fair, he’s not disappointed thus far.
This week we can expect him to uncover another ancient coin. He recently found a Chinese coin that was hundreds of years old, which led to the guys speculating about ancient Chinese sailors exploring the island.
This episode will also see Gary and Jack Begley further exploring the recalled land from the swamp, and from the preview, it seems like they’ve discovered more tunnel and shaft building equipment.
The Curse of Oak Island airs at 9/8c on History.