A crew of pupil volunteers on an archaeological dig within the stays of a Gaulish village close to Dieppe, Northern France have uncovered an earthenware pot containing a small glass flask.
“It was the form of vial that girls used to put on spherical their necks containing smelling-salts,” stated team-leader Guillaume Blondel, who heads the archaeological service for the city of Eu.
Contained in the bottle was a message written on paper, rolled up and tied with string. It learn: “P.J Féret, a local of Dieppe, member of varied mental societies, carried out excavations right here in January 1825. He continues his investigations on this huge space generally known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.”
Féret was an area notable and municipal data verify that he performed a primary dig on the website 200 years in the past. He created among the first correct topographical maps of the positioning and uncovered proof that it had been a fortified Gallic city earlier than later being utilized by the Romans.
“It was a fully magic second,” stated Mr Blondel. “We knew there had been excavations right here previously, however to search out this message from 200 years in the past… It was a complete shock.
“Typically you see these time capsules left behind by carpenters once they construct homes. But it surely’s very uncommon in archaeology. Most archaeologists want to suppose that there gained’t be anybody coming after them as a result of they’ve finished all of the work!”
It was additionally accompanied by two cash.
The dig was ordered as an emergency on account of cliff erosion on the spot simply north of Dieppe. A considerable a part of the fortified village, or “oppidum”, has already disappeared.
Mr Blondel stated: “We knew it was a Gaulish village. What we don’t know is what went on contained in the village. Was it a spot of significance?”
Because the dig started every week in the past, a number of artefacts courting from the Gaulish interval, largely items of pottery from round 2,000 years in the past, have been uncovered.