In the War Room, Laird Niven confirms that a general permit for the swamp has been approved, covering the south side and the paved area. This reopens an area where Fred and Tom Nolan believed key evidence lay and where 2018 seismic scanning revealed a ship-shaped anomaly. Marty asks Billy Gerhardt about getting a swamp excavator, but Billy recommends a long-reach excavator capable of reaching eighty feet. At the Money Pit, Terry Matheson and Charles Barkhouse oversee the drilling of Borehole F2, located in the C1 Cluster where the team has found wood dating to 1480 to 1650 and metal from D2 that contained gold. Adam brings a core from 86 feet that feels heavy and appears to be solid wood. Terry notes that the grain runs perpendicular to the drill stroke, indicating they have hit a shaft wall. When Scott Barlow and Steve Guptill arrive, Terry shows them a substantial section of stacked timbers. The team will drill F2 to 120 feet in search of a tunnel believed to be at a depth of 110 feet.
On Lot 4, Rick and Gary Drayton continue searching for one of the points listed on Zena Halpern's map. Since the team began working in the area, they have found a leather strap and a gold-plated button, but more evidence is needed to apply for an excavation permit. Gary gets a signal and Rick digs out a large iron spike that Gary considers old because of its weight. On the next pass Gary picks up a two-way repeatable signal, and the pair unearth what Gary thinks might be an adze, a tool used since ancient Egypt for shipbuilding and detailed woodwork. At Northville Farm, Carmen Legge identifies it as a topping adze used for smoothing timbers. Carmen calls it English and says the square-style hole dates it to 1620 to 1740. Marty notes that while nothing is known to have been constructed on Lot 4, anyone putting in a shaft would need exactly this kind of tool to make timbers fit together. Back in the War Room, Alex Lagina shares Carmen's findings with the team and the group agrees to continue the search on Lot 4.
The long-reach excavator arrives at the swamp the next day. Billy begins digging while Marty uses a 13-ton excavator to keep water away from the work area, and Gary scans the spoils for artifacts. Billy pulls a large log from four to six feet deep in the muck that resembles oak wood. Rick and Laird discuss the fact that oak trees cannot grow in a waterlogged environment, and the volume of organics now sitting on top of the log suggests significant time has passed. The following morning, Billy continues dumping spoils for Gary to detect. Rick notices a piece of wood that is flat on one side with what appear to be chop marks and calls Laird over. Laird thinks it looks hand hewn. Marty examines a second shaped piece, and Gary pulls yet another that Laird calls cut. Billy suggests the pieces could be from a wharf, and the team agrees there is still much to find in the swamp.
In the War Room, Dr. Christa Brosseau presents her analysis of artifacts found on Lot 4 the previous week. The button is a tombac button, an alloy with high zinc and copper content. The elemental breakdown shows mostly copper and tin with a fairly high amount of zinc, along with arsenic and lead that were original to the copper itself. The copper loop contains a high bismuth content indicating a British origin, and concentric circles around the eye date it between 1726 and 1776. Dr. Brosseau then examines the curved metal piece, also from Lot 4, and identifies it as a copper alloy with high tin content consistent with tin bronze and bell metal. Because of the arsenic, the copper is likely older. Rick points out that the analysis notes bell metal was used in the early construction of cannons by the Spanish and Portuguese, and Doug Crowell adds that the Portuguese were among the first to mount cannons on their ships.
