Season 5 of The Curse of Oak Island (AI-assisted historical reconstruction, not a photograph)

The Curse of Oak IslandSeason 5

The French Connection

18 Episodes • Nov 7 – Mar 6, 2018

Written by Corjan Mol, author & Historical Researcher, Oak Island Team

Artifacts found and discussed in Season 5

41 artifacts were found or discussed in Season 5.

All 41 artifacts

Season 5 in brief

A devastating winter storm washes away the South Shore Road and cuts off vehicle access to the Money Pit, but the team regroups and launches an unprecedented Geotech drilling operation: 38 six-inch boreholes arranged in a grid pattern to map the underground at depths up to 200 feet. Borehole H-8 produces the season's most dramatic finds, including pottery fragments, old book bindings, and two fragments of human bone, one carbon-dated to the Middle East. At Smith's Cove, Gary Drayton and Rick Lagina recover a hand-carved lead cross that Templar researchers connect to the 14th-century prison at Domme, France, where imprisoned knights carved nearly identical symbols into the dungeon walls. Rick travels to France to see the carvings firsthand, deepening the Templar connection that will drive future seasons.

Key events

Medieval lead cross (pre-1500s, Southern France origin), human bone fragments with Middle Eastern DNA, garnet brooch, Domme prison visit, bone dating 1650s-1780s

Key people

Rick Lagina
Marty Lagina
Craig Tester
Alex Lagina
Dave Blankenship
Dan Blankenship
Gary Drayton
Charles Barkhouse
Doug Crowell
Laird Niven

+ 6 more

Dr. Christa Brosseau
Jack Begley
Terry Matheson
Dan Henskee
Peter Fornetti
Vanessa Lucido (Irving Equipment)

The underground works of Season 5

7 holes and 2 tunnels and areas appear in Season 5 episodes, the deepest hole at 235 ft (10-X). Bars share one scale, 0 to 240 ft.

All 7 holes

Tunnels and areas

Open the full borehole map

Research behind the season

The Hunt

Dan Blankenship and Borehole 10-X

Dan Blankenship gave up everything for Oak Island. In 54 years he drilled the deepest shaft, survive...

The Theories

The Knights Templar on Oak Island

Knights Templar and Oak Island: 20 medieval-dated artifacts cluster on the year 1212, within the ord...

The Hunt

The Chappell Family and the Vault Beneath Oak Island

In 1897 William Chappell drilled into a sealed wooden vault at 153 feet. His son Melbourne spent the...

All 18 episodes of Season 5

1 Episode 1Nov 7, 2017 Forever Family Season five opens under a cloud of tragedy and destruction. A series of harsh winter storms has devastated Oak Island, washing away the South Shore Road and cutting off all vehicle access to the Money Pit area. Rick Lagina returns early to assess the damage with Dave Blankenship and his wife Garnett, who have weathered more than 25 years on the island and call this winter one of the worst they… 2 Episode 2Nov 14, 2017 Dead Man's Chest The Geotech drilling operation begins in the Money Pit area, with the team planning to drill 38 six-inch boreholes in a grid pattern to depths of up to 200 feet, using the GAL-1 shaft as a center point. Geologist Terry Matheson is hired to log the cuttings every five feet, and a shaker table separates soil from artifacts as each hole is drilled. At roughly 195 feet, charcoal appears in the… 3 Episode 3Nov 21, 2017 Obstruction The Geotech drilling operation advances through the Money Pit grid, with geologist Terry Matheson logging the cuttings every five feet while Craig Tester and Jack Begley monitor progress on the surface. At borehole H-3.5, drilled to investigate a potential debris field from the original Money Pit collapse, the drill encounters stiff resistance at approximately 162 feet. Pieces of bright, shiny… 4 Episode 4Nov 28, 2017 Close Call With 16 Geotech boreholes completed, Rick Lagina, Dave Blankenship, and island historian Charles Barkhouse oversee the drill as it advances into the area of the Chappell Shaft, where M.R. Chappell dug in the 1930s near the site of the seven-foot vault his father William discovered in 1897. Bedrock arrives at 168 feet, and Terry Matheson recommends stopping, but Rick calls Craig Tester to confirm… 5 Episode 5Dec 5, 2017 Bone Dry Geophysical engineer John Wonnacott, who helped design the Geotech grid with his partner Les MacPhie, joins the team at the Money Pit to review progress after 16 completed boreholes. Wonnacott and Rick Lagina agree to skip several lower-priority holes and concentrate on the area near the 1897 drill platform, where William Chappell first encountered the suspected vault. Separately, Alex Lagina… 6 Episode 6Dec 12, 2017 Remains of the Day Jack Begley and Dan Henskee spend days washing and sorting the Borehole H-8 spoils from the Money Pit area. Their painstaking work turns up additional pottery fragments with patterns unlike any previously found on the island, a dense piece of wood bearing an unusual surface pattern that Charles Barkhouse and Rick Lagina agree looks artificial rather than natural, a scrap of leather that Dan… 7 Episode 7Dec 19, 2017 The Lot Thickens With 44 Geotech boreholes completed and Borehole H-8 confirmed as the primary target, representatives from Irving Equipment Limited return to Oak Island to inspect the drilling pad and begin delivering equipment for a large-scale 50-inch caisson excavation to a target depth of 200 feet. In the War Room, area historian Paul Speed presents a theory linking the Money Pit to Sir Francis Drake. Speed… 8 Episode 8Jan 2, 2018 Dan's Breakthrough In the War Room, Craig Tester delivers the carbon-14 results from Beta Analytical on the two human bone fragments recovered from Borehole H-8. The Middle Eastern bone dates to between 1682 and 1736, and the European bone to between 1678 and 1764. Both predate the Money Pit's 1795 discovery and fall below the depth of any known searcher activity. For Rick Lagina, the results meet a threshold he… 9 Episode 9Jan 9, 2018 The French Connection While the Irving Equipment crew continues advancing the H-8 shaft toward its 150-foot target depth at the Money Pit, Rick Lagina travels to France with nephews Alex Lagina and Peter Fornetti. On the train from Paris to Charente, professional researcher and translator Nichola Lewis briefs the group on her findings linking the mysterious HO Stone from Oak Island to Templar imagery. Lewis has… 10 Episode 10Jan 16, 2018 The Signs of a Cross The 60-inch caisson in Borehole H-8 grinds through thick wood that Rick Lagina and Charles Barkhouse identify as remains of the Chappell Shaft, the searcher tunnel M.R. Chappell dug in the 1930s. Corner timbers confirm the team is cutting through the edge of the old shaft as planned, and project manager Vanessa from Irving Equipment Limited reports the casing has reached 155 feet with the hammer… 11 Episode 11Jan 23, 2018 Moving Targets In the War Room, archaeologist Laird Niven examines the lead cross Rick Lagina and Gary Drayton recovered from Smith's Cove. Laird confirms it is lead, pierced by a square nail, crudely made and asymmetrical, and says he has never seen anything like it in Nova Scotia. He notes the metal shows little wear or white patina, suggesting it was recently unearthed rather than long exposed, and agrees… 12 Episode 12Jan 30, 2018 A Key to the Mystery In the War Room, the team connects by phone with Jerry Glover, the Templar expert who guided Rick Lagina, Alex Lagina, and Peter Fornetti through the 14th-century prison at Domme, France. Glover confirms that the lead cross Gary Drayton found at Smith's Cove closely matches carvings made by imprisoned Templars, and agrees the object resembles a mortuary cross, a type worn during times of plague… 13 Episode 13Feb 6, 2018 Unhinged The DMT shaft advances quickly through undisturbed ground, with project manager Vanessa reporting 32 feet of casing and no wood from previous searcher activity. Charles Barkhouse notes the caisson has just clipped the south edge of the Chappell Shaft, confirming the new hole is in fresh territory. In the War Room, Rick Lagina, Gary Drayton, and historian Doug Crowell contact Zena Halpern, the New… 14 Episode 14Feb 13, 2018 The Templar Connection On October 16, 2017, Rick Lagina and metal detection expert Gary Drayton are searching the northeast corner of Oak Island at Smith's Cove when Gary uncovers a small lead cross. He estimates its age at somewhere between 1200 and 1600 AD. The discovery carries extraordinary weight because just one week earlier, Rick and two of his nephews had traveled to the 700-year-old Templar prison in Domme… 15 Episode 15Feb 20, 2018 Steel Trapped Author and Templar researcher Kathleen McGowan Coppens visits Oak Island at the invitation of Rick and Marty Lagina to examine the lead cross in person. After handling the artifact and viewing side-by-side photographs of the Domme prison carvings, Coppens shares intelligence from Tobi Dobler, Grand Master of the modern Knights Templar in France. Dobler believes the cross may have been part of a… 16 Episode 16Feb 27, 2018 Seeing Red With the DMT shaft stalled on a mysterious obstruction at 77 feet, Rick Lagina and the team arrange a video call with veteran diver Mike Huntley. Charles Barkhouse confirms the archival record shows no metal at that depth, and the team briefs Huntley on the situation: the oscillator could not advance, an 8,300-pound hardened alloy chisel broke against the barrier, and the Irving crew believes it… 17 Episode 17Feb 27, 2018 A Family Album This special documentary episode chronicles the multigenerational family bonds that define the Oak Island treasure hunt. The narrative begins with the 1795 discovery by Daniel McGinnis, John Smith, and Anthony Vaughn, and the persistent legend that the three young men recovered a portion of the treasure early on. Descendants of McGinnis recall a family secret passed down through five generations… 18 Episode 18Mar 6, 2018 Amazing Discoveries Gary Drayton reports to the War Room that the deep red gemstone discovered on Lot 8 has been identified by a certified gemologist in Halifax as a rhodolite garnet, not a ruby. The gemologist dates the hand-cut stone to 400-500 years old based on its pre-modern faceting technique, which predates the era of calculated refraction cuts. The silver setting contains up to 73 percent copper, consistent…

Keep exploring Season 5

Deepest hole 10-X 235 ft, on the borehole map Top artifact Lead cross See the full record Research Dan Blankenship and Borehole 10-X Read the analysis

Season 5

Frequently Asked Questions

Question One

How many episodes does Season 5 have?

Season 5 of The Curse of Oak Island has 18 episodes, which aired on the History Channel from November 7, 2017 to March 6, 2018. Every episode has its own summary page, listed below.

Question Two

What was found in Season 5?

Artifacts recorded as found in or discussed during Season 5 include Lead cross, Human bone fragments (2 individuals), Leather book binding fragments. This page lists all 41, each with its own record.

Question Three

Which holes were drilled or discussed in Season 5?

Season 5 episodes refer to 7 holes on Oak Island, including 10-X, H-8, GAL-1. The deepest record of the season is 10-X, at 235 feet. Each links to its record on the Money Pit borehole map.

Written by

Corjan Mol Author & Historical Researcher, Oak Island Team since 2019 TheCurseOfOakIsland.com

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