The team gathers for the final War Room session of the season to review the year's progress and chart a course forward. The Garden Shaft was deepened to nearly 100 feet before saltwater flooding forced evacuation, but not before tunnel timbers were recovered from the bottom bearing rose head nails from the 1600s to 1700s, with carbon dating placing the wood at 1631 to 1684. Muon tomography revealed density anomalies near the shaft, including a possible metal-lined chamber at 230 feet and Aladdin's Cave at 150 feet. Sonar mapped the cave at 25 by 15 feet with possible manmade entry points, and water testing detected gold inside the cavity.
Swamp excavation uncovered extensions of the stone road, a wooden structure with adze-cut timbers near the southern border, a French backing bolt from the early 1600s, and tree stumps carbon dated to 1296 through 1396. Professor Gaspani confirmed that the Lot 15 stone piles were placed around 1250 A.D. and that the Stone Triangle encodes winter solstice alignments, concluding the Templars most likely built all three features. Research trips to Italy revealed Morimondo Abbey and Bianzano Castle sharing the same stellar alignments as Nolan's Cross. The Caestert quarry in the Netherlands and Valkenburg Castle yielded Templar inscriptions and four-dot cross symbols matching the H+O stone. In Denmark, sites on Bornholm and the Ladby Viking Museum strengthened the Norse-Templar connection, while in Iceland the team found Arcturus references in medieval manuscripts and a cross carving resembling the Oak Island lead cross.
On Lot 5, mortar matching Money Pit material from 104 feet was discovered in the stone foundation, along with Venetian glass beads dated 1500 to 1650, a 90-percent silver artifact qualifying as treasure under the treasure trove license, and gilded military buttons. Over 800 artifacts were recovered across the island during the season. The borehole program targeting the Baby Blob and Chappell Vault area will continue next year with caisson placement as the primary objective.
