This week on The Curse of Oak Island, the team reckons a piece of coal can tell them who built the mysterious stone roadway and why they built it.
Also, this week, the guys suspect they may have unearthed a support beam from the original Money Pit.
In the words of surveyor Steve Guptill, the guys finally took their “first shot at the Money Pit this year.” Working off an old map found by historian Doug Crowell they began drilling in a new location, hoping to hit the Money Pit.
And the excitement levels went through the roof when at 79 feet, they encountered some very old-looking wood. Terry Matheson said it looked like a support beam, and Rick Lagina suggested it might actually be the Money Pit. The rest of the guys all looked quite shaken at these words.
Unfortunately, this excitement was extremely short-lived as the curse of Oak Island appeared to strike again. This time the curse manifested itself in the form of a busted sonic drill rig with a blown hose; this signaled the end of drilling for the day.
The drilling was recommenced the following day, but this time the guys were bombarded by an Atlantic storm front. Sometimes it really does feel like a supernatural power is holding the guys’ back. They managed to continue working, but they decided to call a halt for the week as they just weren’t getting results.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team continued to uncover the stone roadway originally unearthed in the swamp. The guys are becoming increasingly sure that the road is leading them in the direction of the Money Pit.
Piece of coal is ‘most significant artifact’ they’ve found
And it was on the roadway that the discovery of a small piece of coal led Geologist Dr. Ian Spooner to suggest they’d just found their most significant artifact. Ian says if he can analyse the coal to get a date and a place of origin then they can determine who built the roadway and also perhaps why they built it.
The excitement levels rose once again only to be somewhat dashed by Ian when he set the test would last months. You could see the frustration etched in the guys’ faces at the thought of waiting so long.
However, while the team and us viewers are obviously impatient, the wood found in the Money Pit along with this piece of coal on the roadway could both prove to be hugely significant finds moving forward.
Team also discovered a barrel lid maybe from 1400s
There was one other intriguing find this week, near the roadway; the guys unearthed the top of a wooden cask/ keg or barrel, and they took it to blacksmith expert Carmen Legge, who told them its age range was from the 1400s to 1760s.
Carmen was also able to say it had not been manufactured in Nova Scotia and that it wasn’t watertight, so the barrel would have been used to transport dry goods like gunpowder or flour. Or treasure!
This season is really heating up now; we just got to keep our fingers crossed that the equipment stays intact and the weather stays calm, and hopefully, the guys’ will keep coming up with great finds.
The Curse of Oak Island airs at 9/8c on History.