Dig uncovers 200-year-old message in a bottle from archaeologist

In almost poetic moment of communication through time, an archaeological team in Normandy has unearthed a message in a bottle left by the archaeologist who excavated the site in 19th century.

Volunteers led by municipal archaeologist Guillaume Blondel were excavating the Camp de César site near the Puys beach in Dieppe in an emergency rescue dig due to cliff erosion threatening the site. They had unearthed mostly fragments of Gallic pottery. Then, on September 16th, one of the volunteers, a history student named Pierre, uncovered a circular rim from a pot with an oval piece rising up from the center. Blondel examined it and determined it was not Gallic ceramic, and after confirming that it wasn’t unexploded ordnance from World War II, the team fully excavated the piece.

It turned out to be a pot covered with a small glazed cup that contained a clear glass object sticking up out of it. Blondel identified the pot from its type and a 19th century object, and the clear glass piece was a small, flat glass vial of the type that used to hold smelling salts. Women would wear these vials around their necks to keep handy in case they fainted from the pressure of their tightly-tied corsets. Inside the vial was a rolled up piece of paper.

The next evening, Blondel carefully removed and unrolled the paper while the entire team of volunteers watched as breathlessly as the ladies who once wore those vials. On the long, thin rectangle of paper was a message written in exquisitely tidy penmanship:

“P. J. Féret natif de Dieppe, membre de plusieurs sociétés sçavantes a fouillé ici en janvier 1825. Il continue ses recherches dans toute cette vaste enceinte appelée Cité de Limes ou Camp de César.”

[P.J Féret, a native of Dieppe, member of various intellectual societies, carried out excavations here in January 1825. He continues his investigations in this vast area known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.]

When Féret began his excavation, the site was reputed to have had a Carolingian settlement. He was the first to investigate the area and find evidence of a far older Gallic presence, and no Carolingian remains.

“It was an absolutely magic moment,” said Mr Blondel. “We knew there had been excavations here in the past, but to find this message from 200 years ago… it was a total surprise.

“Sometimes you see these time capsules left behind by carpenters when they build houses. But it’s very rare in archaeology. Most archaeologists prefer to think that there won’t be anyone coming after them because they’ve done all the work!”

* This article was originally published here