A History Student In France Discovered A 200-Year-Old Message In A Bottle That Was Actually Written By A 19th-Century Archaeologist To Future Archaeologists
In the French town of Eu, a team of volunteer archaeologists stumbled upon a 200-year-old message in a bottle.
The note was rolled up and tied with string. It was written to future archaeologists by a 19th-century archaeologist who used to work in the area.
The message read: “P.J. Féret, a native of Dieppe, a member of various intellectual societies, carried out excavations here in January 1825. He continues his investigations in this vast area known as the City of Limes or Caesar’s Camp.”
Pierre-Jacques Féret was a notable resident of the area in the 19th century. He created some of the first accurate topographical maps of the site.
He was also the first to unearth evidence that it had been a Gallic village later used by the Romans. It is believed that the name Caesar’s Camp was coined by Louis XIII while he was on a fishing trip in the area in 1617.
The archaeological site is near a port town called Dieppe, located in Normandy. During their excavations, the volunteer group found multiple Gallic artifacts, including shards of pottery.
But the most interesting discovery was a glass salt bottle resting in a clay pot. There were two coins lying next to the bottle.
The initial find was made by a history student in Caen named Pierre. Pierre spotted a strange object in a trench.
After the team confirmed that it was not a bomb from World War II, they extracted the item from the ground.
Léna Constantin – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
“It was an absolutely magic moment,” said Guillaume Blondel, the excavation leader. “We knew there had been excavations here in the past, but to find this message from 200 years ago—it was a total surprise.”
The 2,000-year-old site sits on a cliff and is in danger due to coastal erosion. So, the team is volunteering in an emergency effort to learn as much as they can about its history before it’s gone for good.
The glass vial was the kind that 19th-century women filled with smelling salts and wore around their necks.
The bottle was not the oldest object at the site, but it was the rarest find. It isn’t every day that a well-preserved, intact note from the 19th century is discovered. It may even be the oldest message in a bottle ever found.
According to Guinness World Records, the oldest recorded message in a bottle was found by Kym and Tonya Illman in 2018 on Wedge Island, Australia.
It was written by a German ship captain in 1886. At the time of its discovery, it was 131 years old. Now, the recently discovered bottle will be added to the collection of known time capsules.
“Sometimes you see these time capsules left behind by carpenters when they build houses. But it’s very rare in archaeology,” Blondel said.
“Most archaeologists prefer to think that there won’t be anyone coming after them because they’ve done all the work!”
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