Volunteers on an archaeological dig within the ruins of an historic Gaulish village excessive above the cliffs in northern France this week uncovered a small glass vial —and inside it a neatly rolled, 200-year-old message from a colleague from one other period.
The word was written by archaeologist P.J Féret, who performed a dig on the Cité de Limes website in January 1825, the city supporting the dig, Eu, mentioned in a Fb submit.
Féret wrote —maybe as inspiration to the nascent archaeologists standing in his footsteps practically two centuries later— that he was a member of a number of scientific societies and he “continues his analysis on this total huge compound.”
“It was a completely magic second,” Guillaume Blondel, who heads the archaeological service for the city of Eu, informed the BBC. “We knew there had been excavations right here up to now, however to seek out this message from 200 years in the past… it was a complete shock.”
“Generally you see these time capsules left behind by carpenters once they construct homes. But it surely’s very uncommon in archaeology,” Blondel mentioned. “Most archaeologists desire to assume that there will not be anybody coming after them as a result of they’ve finished all of the work!”
Municipal information confirmed that Féret performed a primary dig on the website 200 years in the past.
The oldest message in a bottle ever discovered was 131 years and 223 days outdated when it was found, Guinness World Data mentioned in a press release. Australians Tonya and Kym Illman discovered the message on Jan. 21, 2018, at Wedge Island, Australia.
A German ship captain threw a gin bottle overboard on June 12, 1886, Guinness World Data mentioned, with a message written in ink, that contained the ship’s coordinates and particulars, together with departure and arrival instances. The word, from the Deutsche Seewarte in Hamburg, requested the finder ship the word to the closest German Embassy.
If authenticated, Féret’s 200-year-old message in a bottle would be the oldest ever discovered.