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The Curse of Oak Island – Season 13, Episode 5

A Stunning Blend of Medieval Artifacts, Deep Drilling, Stone Engineering & Emotional Reflection

Hey guys—Season 13 of The Curse of Oak Island continues to dig deeper, both literally and historically, into the island’s centuries-old mystery. Episode 5 delivers one of the strongest combinations of archaeology, scientific analysis, medieval speculation, and emotional storytelling we’ve seen all year.

From the hunt for the solution channel beneath the Money Pit…
To a possible medieval hand cannon in the swamp…
To a mysterious Templar-like stone structure on Lot 5…

Episode 5 ties together years of clues into one gripping chapter.

Let’s break it all down.

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1. Drilling Deep Into the Money Pit – Chasing the Solution Channel

The episode opens with Rick and Marty Lagina supervising the drilling of borehole G4.5, pushing past 200 feet in search of the elusive solution channel — a natural cavern some believe may hold collapsed treasure from the original 90-foot vault.

The Theory

• The original vault at 90 feet collapsed centuries ago.
• Multiple collapses may have carried treasure deeper into a mud-filled cavity.
• That cavity — the solution channel — could still hold man-made objects.

But the early core samples aren’t promising:

• Dense material instead of soft, washed-out voids
• Rock, rubble, and compacted soil
• No coins, no metal, no artifacts
• Just data and disappointment

Rick openly admits frustration. Marty says the absence stings.
But the brothers don’t lose hope — the geology still suggests they’re close.

The solution channel may still be out there.
They just haven’t intersected the right pocket yet.

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2. The Swamp Strikes Again: A Possible Medieval Hand Cannon

While the Money Pit disappoints… the swamp delivers one of the most astonishing artifacts of the season.

Last episode, the team found what looked like a fragment of a hand cannon — one of the earliest gunpowder-based weapons in history.

In Episode 5, the artifact undergoes scientific analysis by Emma Culligan and Laird Niven.

Key Findings

• Metallurgy suggests 1700s or older — likely pre-colonial.
• Low impurities indicate early European forging techniques.
• CT scans reveal a touch hole, confirming it as a firearm.
• Military historian Matthew Bolzan dates it possibly between 1200–1500 AD.

This is explosive.

A weapon centuries before European settlement…
Found in a swamp…
On a remote island in Nova Scotia.

How Did It Get There?

Theories emerge:

• Portuguese explorers
• Templar-connected groups
• Early European visitors using it as a construction tool, not a weapon

Bolzan adds a surprise:
Early hand cannons were sometimes used for rock breaking.

Suddenly the hand cannon may link to:

• The nearby 800-year-old stone paved area
• Medieval construction
• Pre-columbian engineering

Once again, the swamp refuses to be ignored.

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3. A Corduroy Road in the Swamp — Medieval Transport?

Gary Drayton and Billy Gerhardt uncover something even more dramatic:
A possible corduroy road—a log-lined roadway used in medieval Europe to transport heavy loads across marshland.

What They Found

• Logs laid perpendicular, bark peeled
• Cut stones and clay beneath
• Coal matching samples found at the Portuguese-style stone road
• A large iron buckle (possibly from a chest)
• A small iron needle lodged deep in the clay

This isn’t random debris.

This is infrastructure.

A deliberately engineered roadway used to transport something heavy into the swamp.
Heavy crates?
Supplies?
Treasure?

The swamp is beginning to look less like a natural bog… and more like a central workspace for pre-18th-century activity.

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4. Lot 5 Deepens the Mystery – Stone Engineering With Templar Echoes

If the swamp gives artifacts…
Lot 5 gives architecture.

The team returns to the circular stone feature previously discovered and begins clearing it with archaeological precision.

What Stands Out

• Hand-cut stones resembling Portugal-style masonry
• Charcoal layers suggesting activity dating to 1474
• A central, propped split stone — likely intentional
• An east-west orientation, matching Templar/Masonic norms
• A diameter of 6 ft 72 inches, echoing Templar geometry and the rule of 72
• A possible connection to Nolan’s Cross

Lot 5 already produced:

• Roman coins
• Ancient artifacts
• Pre-colonial metal objects

This new structure strengthens the case that Lot 5 is one of the island’s most historically rich locations.

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5. A Quiet Moment at Smith’s Cove — The Heart of the Show

One of the episode’s most powerful scenes isn’t a discovery at all.

Marty finds Rick sitting alone at Smith’s Cove, discouraged by the Money Pit setback.
Rick admits he had hoped for just one artifact — even a sliver of a coin — to justify years of work chasing the solution channel.

But the brothers share a moment of profound reflection:

• The joy of the hunt
• The privilege of unraveling history
• The belief that success may be inches away

It’s a reminder that Oak Island is not only a mystery…
It’s a legacy.

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6. A Season Defined by Contrasts: Failure Below, Breakthroughs Above

Episode 5 juxtaposes:

Failure:

• G4.5 finds no artifacts
• No metal
• No treasure
• Only geological clues

Breakthroughs:

• A medieval hand cannon
• A corduroy road
• Coal samples
• A chest buckle
• An iron needle
• A stone structure with Templar geometry

The deeper the team drills…
The more the surface mysteries multiply.

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7. The Bigger Picture — Oak Island as a Multi-Century Timeline

The episode emphasizes a crucial shift:

Oak Island may not be a single treasure deposit.
It may be a timeline:

• Roman coins
• Medieval weapons
• 15th-century lead cross
• 1600s scissors
• 1700s tools

Different groups across different centuries may have left their prints.

This explains why Oak Island resists simple answers.
It’s not one story — it’s many stories layered together.

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8. The Stakes Are Rising

As the season approaches its midpoint:

• Weather is tightening
• Permits are limited
• Drilling windows shrink
• Swamp and Lot 5 discoveries demand deeper excavation
• Resources must be divided strategically

The team must choose where to push hardest — and soon.

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Final Thoughts — The Real Treasure Might Be in Plain Sight

Episode 5 shows us that Oak Island’s greatest secrets may not be 200 feet down…
But within the first few feet of soil across the island.

With every new find — medieval metalwork, engineered roads, charcoal horizons, stone geometry — the evidence grows stronger that Oak Island’s history is:

• Older
• Stranger
• More engineered
• More intentional

…than traditional accounts ever acknowledged.

The real treasure might not be gold at all.
It might be the story of who came here long before 1795 — and why.

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