Marty announces in the War Room that caissons will not go in this year. The Garden Shaft water problems have been resolved, but Dumas needs the full work area to continue deepening, so the placement of 10-foot caissons is pushed to next season. The team will press forward with the drill program to identify targets. Scott notes there is still considerable work ahead in the Garden Shaft: once Dumas approaches the seven-foot tunnel, lateral drilling will provide an 80-foot investigative diameter and allow the team to collect wood samples and pinpoint the source of precious metals found in the water. Borehole HI6.75, positioned just 2 feet from H8, targets the Chappell Vault at 171 feet. A core at 118 feet, however, contains PVC from a nearby borehole, likely H7 or H6.5, meaning the drill has drifted off course. The team must relocate.
Near the swamp's southern edge, Billy excavates and uncovers a line of rocks that Rick and Craig describe as very uniform. The formation appears to be an extension of the stone road or work material from its construction. Gary notes the rocks form an incline or ramp descending from the stone road. Billy continues to excavate while Gary scans the spoils, soon spotting blue-and-white Chinese porcelain. Early in the 16th century Portuguese explorers, including Vasco da Gama, a member of the Portuguese sect of the Knights Templar, began trading expeditions to China and brought back fine porcelain. More pottery emerges in subsequent scoops, some with black glaze and different designs from the first batch, and Rick decides they need to sort through the spoils by hand. Among the finds is a leather shoe heel with a square hole made by handmade square-shank nails. Gary notes that a modern heel would be glued and dates this piece to the 1800s or older.
At the Interpretive Centre, Laird and Emma present analysis of a coin and a glass bead found on Lot 5. Gary confirms the coin is the correct size for a penny or half penny. The CT scan leads Laird to identify it as Georgius III Rex, dating from 1760 to 1820. Alex notes the coin was found in the fill near the top of the foundation. The glass bead is a stretched bead that Laird attributes to Venice, where the technique was developed around 1470 A.D. for use in both decoration and barter. In Halifax, glass bead specialist Phillip Doucette examines both beads and confirms they were manufactured in Venice using the drawn bead method, with early glass color formulations placing them between 1500 and 1650. He explains that five or six such beads could purchase a beaver pelt, a high-value trade item, and that Portuguese merchants carried barrels of them for trading along the North American coast.
At the end of the episode, Rick and Marty watch as Dumas begins the lateral drilling program inside the Garden Shaft. Ronnie immediately hits something. The team believes it is wood from the tunnel below, and when the core is opened it reveals a six-inch piece of wood that will be sent for carbon-14 testing. Marty suggests drilling the north corner next to gather more information about the structure.
