The Curse of Oak Island Season 11 opens tonight with the first episode in five months, and the Lagina brothers will be hoping to hit the ground running by breaking through to treasures detected at the bottom of the garden shaft.
Rick and Marty Lagina will return with their determined teammates, hoping to unearth hundreds of artifacts across Oak Island. As usual, their eyes will be on the main prize, the elusive treasure of the Money Pit, but they will also have numerous other ideas to explore the island.
While much of last season seemed blighted by frustration and a lack of process, it seemed as though the Fellowship of the Dig started making real progress just as they ran out of time.
In the final episode, the Dumas Mining Company finally got the guys to the bottom of the garden shaft, where Gary Drayton detected non-ferrous metals below the surface. Non-ferrous metals include gold and silver.
Working with data analyzed by Dr. Ian Spooner, the Laginas concluded there is likely another shaft or offset chamber, hopefully containing treasure a mere 15 feet away from the bottom of the garden shaft.
Unfortunately, the team didn’t have the time or the equipment to break through to this potential load of treasure. But that means it’s waiting for us this season.
Oak Island team hopes to reach precious metals near the garden shaft
On tonight’s season premiere, viewers can expect to see the Lagina brothers and their buddies recommence exactly where they left off. They will be donning hard hats and heading straight down that garden shaft in the hopes of breaking through to the loot.
The area around the garden shaft will likely be the main focus for the Fellowship this season, but viewers can continue to expect the team to dig up artifacts from all over the island.
Every year, the team finds hundreds of artifacts. Last year, they even found a coin from ancient Rome dating back to 300 BC on Lot 5. A second piece found nearby was categorized as Viking in origin.
These findings led Gary to remark that treasure can be found all over the island.
Rick and Marty Lagina to hunt for treasure all over Oak Island
However, the Fellowship has limited means and time, so we can expect the guys to focus on Lot 5, newly acquired last year, and Lot 26.
The archaeologists will be working hard to ascertain the meaning of a mysterious circular stone structure found on Lot 5. Laird Niven was particularly excited about what it could be.
The fact the structure resembles the dimensions of the original Money Pit is, alone, a cause for cautious excitement.
Lot 26 has also consistently fascinated the team as it was the site of Samuel Ball’s home. Ball was an 18th-century landowner/cabbage farmer who many believe found at least some of the Oak Island treasure.
Finally, viewers can also expect the team to unveil some plans for the swamp tonight. Evidence has been mounting that the swamp is actually human-made and may have been created to hide something. The guys will want to get to the bottom of this mystery as soon as possible.
The History Channel synopsis for the Season 11 premiere reads, “As Rick and Marty Lagina and their team relaunch their quest to solve the Oak Island mystery, they make a number of the most historic discoveries ever unearthed in North America.”
The guys often talk about rewriting the history of North America, so let’s hope this is their year to do so.
Oak Island’s millions of fans enjoy the show for various reasons. Some are in it purely for the hunt for gold and silver, while others love learning about the island’s history, and some fans just enjoy the camaraderie of the Fellowship.
Whatever your reason for watching, let’s hope the guys provide us with over 20 episodes of quality TV!
The Curse of Oak Island Season 11 premieres Tuesday at 9/8c on History.