Unearthing Secrets Beneath Oak Island: Lot 5 Discovery Hints at a Deeper Mystery in The Curse of Oak Island Season 13

A new day dawns on Oak Island, and while the relentless core-drilling in the Money Pit area presses forward, a fresh wave of excitement stirs nearly half a mile to the west. On Lot 5 — a parcel of land that has quickly become one of the most intriguing sites in recent seasons — the Curse of Oak Island team is once again chasing history buried beneath centuries of soil and mystery.

Metal-detection expert Gary Drayton and longtime team member Peter Fornetti have joined the island’s archaeology crew to revisit an area that has already yielded some of the show’s most tantalizing finds: a large, circular stone foundation near the shoreline that may date back to the 1600s. The team hopes that new clues hidden in last year’s spoil piles — the leftover soil from prior digs — could reveal more about who once occupied this mysterious site and why it was built.

“Sometimes good stuff gets missed,” Gary remarks with a grin as he swings his metal detector over the ground. “They’re using sifters, but some bits can still slip through that quarter-inch screen.” It’s a reminder that Oak Island’s secrets often hide in plain sight — and that even a single overlooked artifact can rewrite everything the team thinks they know.

Within minutes, Gary’s detector emits a sharp, promising beep. “Yeah, this could be something, Pete,” he says, noting the distinctive tone of a nonferrous signal — the kind that usually indicates copper, brass, or even precious metals. But before the duo can dig, protocol requires them to call over Fiona, one of the team’s accredited archaeologists.

Ever since the Nova Scotia government designated the area as a “special place” in 2024, strict preservation laws mean no soil can be disturbed without professional supervision. Fiona arrives quickly, ready to assist. “This one’s in situ,” she observes — meaning it isn’t just loose soil from a spoil pile but an untouched section of earth, undisturbed since it was first laid centuries ago.

As Gary carefully digs, the signal sharpens. He soon lifts a tiny, flattened piece of lead from the ground. “A little bit of squashed lead shot,” he confirms — possibly from a musket or early firearm.

To most, it might seem an unremarkable find. But on Oak Island, even a fragment of ammunition can hint at who once walked these shores. Over the past three years, Lot 5 has yielded a surprising number of gun-related artifacts, including musket balls, flints, and a ramrod guide believed to date to the 17th century — more than a hundred years before the legendary Money Pit was even discovered.

“This probably created somebody’s supper one day,” Fiona jokes, but the team knows the implications run deeper. Could Lot 5 have once served as a campsite or outpost for early settlers, soldiers, or explorers guarding something far more valuable than their next meal?

Encouraged by the discovery, the group marks the location and resumes scanning. Soon, another signal breaks through — this one an iron hit, deep and heavy. “Hopefully it’s a chunky old thing,” Gary says, eyes gleaming with anticipation. “I like me chunky old things — especially on Lot 5.”

Working together, Fiona and Peter begin carefully excavating. When the iron finally emerges from the soil, its shape immediately sparks curiosity. “Look at the bumps on it,” Fiona says, turning the object over in her hands. “It’s corroded, but it looks like it has some kind of design.”

Gary nods. “My first thought was maybe part of a door hinge or locking mechanism,” he says. If true, it could connect directly to the mysterious round feature — suggesting it might have once been part of a structure, perhaps even a fortified building or hidden storehouse.

As they continue to search, Gary’s detector gives another deep, echoing tone. “This one’s substantial,” he warns. Fiona kneels beside him, trowel in hand. “Let’s be careful. We don’t want to break it.” Moments later, she spots something glinting beneath the dirt. “That looks like glass — and not modern glass, either. It’s thick and green, definitely older.”

Excavation slows to a crawl as Fiona identifies additional fragments: coarse earthenware, pottery shards, and what appears to be part of a larger iron object buried several inches deeper. The cluster of mixed materials suggests this could be more than just random debris. “We might be looking at another foundation layer,” Fiona says cautiously. “Maybe even part of the same structure connected to the round feature.”

Peter quickly connects the dots. “We found the starburst button just a few feet from here, and the spiral button right over there,” he recalls — ornate finds that some historians have linked to the Knights of Malta, a 17th-century order descended from the Knights Templar. Could this be more evidence of a centuries-old European presence on Oak Island?

Gary’s enthusiasm grows. “The people who were here clearly had locks, chests, and tools,” he says. “If they were building something substantial, this could be part of that story — maybe even part of why the Money Pit exists at all.”

But just as the mystery deepens, the team must stop digging. Because Fiona suspects the discovery could mark a continuation of the protected round feature, provincial law requires a formal archaeological excavation before they can proceed. The site will now be cordoned off for further analysis.

Still, the implications hang heavy in the air. “We might’ve just found another section of whatever’s been hiding under Lot 5,” Gary says, his voice equal parts excitement and reverence. “And who knows what else is waiting down there?”

For the Oak Island Fellowship — the close-knit team led by brothers Rick and Marty Lagina — discoveries like this reinforce their belief that the island’s western end may hold the key to the entire mystery. From early European traders and privateers to secretive religious orders like the Templars, the evidence seems to point to a deeper, older human presence than anyone once believed.

As Fiona sums up, brushing dirt from her gloves, “This is really encouraging.”

Indeed, with every artifact unearthed — every musket ball, button, and buried hinge — Lot 5 continues to rewrite Oak Island’s history. And as The Curse of Oak Island Season 13 marches on, one thing is certain: the real treasure might not be gold or jewels, but the truth buried just beneath their boots.