Archaeological team stumbles upon vintage vial and letter in France

In a remarkable turn of events, a team of student volunteers excavating a Gaulish village near Dieppe, France, stumbled upon a fascinating piece of history—a message in a bottle dating back 200 years.

While sifting through the remnants of a Gaulish village on the cliffs near Dieppe on Monday, they found an earthenware pot that held a small glass flask, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

“It was the type of vial that women used to wear around their necks, containing smelling salts,” explained team leader Guillaume Blondel, who oversees the archaeological service for the town of Eu. Inside the flask was a piece of paper with a message, rolled up and tied with string.

Mr. Blondel unrolled the paper, which contained the following message: “P.J. Féret, a native of Dieppe and member of various intellectual societies, conducted excavations here in January 1825. He is continuing his research in this extensive area known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.” 

Féret was a prominent local figure, and municipal records confirm that he led an initial dig at the site 200 years ago.   “It was a truly magical moment,” Mr. Blondel remarked. “We knew there had been excavations in the past, but discovering this message from two centuries ago was completely unexpected. Occasionally, you might find time capsules left by carpenters when building houses, but it’s quite rare in archaeology.

Most archaeologists tend to think they are the last ones to work on a site.”  The urgent excavation was initiated due to cliff erosion in the area just north of Dieppe, where a significant portion of the oppidum—or fortified village—has already been lost. Mr. Blondel noted, “We knew this was a Gaulish village, but we still don’t know what activities took place there. Was it a significant location?” Since the dig started a week ago, several artifacts from the Gaulish period, primarily pieces of pottery dating back about 2,000 years, have been found.

By Naila Huseynova