A time capsule is a stash of goods, photos or information that has been hidden away for future people to find. In some cases, it may be that physical remains or personal effects have been preserved for veneration purposes, and in other cases, it might be that someone had to abandon their treasures. Whatever led us to go looking for valuables, relics or remains, the future is better educated for it, as it provides us with important snippets and insights into our past.
What lies beneath your home and its land?
Humans have been living on this earth for over six million years and in this time the land has evolved, the environment has adapted, and there’s still so much we’re yet to uncover. This brings us to some of the weird and wonderful back garden discoveries that have led us to believe that the idea of a treasure hunt isn’t so juvenile after all.
Read on to find out about some of the most amazing and strange backyard discoveries.
A tunnel leading to pyramid Khufu
In 2014, Nagy was digging in his back garden in El Haraneya village, he reached 33 feet below his house and found a corridor which was made up of stone blocks. This soon became a hotspot for archaeologists who identified that this corridor was in fact a tunnel to the Pyramid of Khufu! This pyramid has very little space inside it but was home to Khufu’s sarcophagus.
The Ackworth Hoard
In 2012, Owen Johnson was looking inside a hole his builders had created in his back garden whilst having some work done, only to notice what looked like a ceramic pot wedged in the dirt. In an attempt to pry the pot loose from the dirt, it cracked and out spilled almost 600 gold and silver coins, dating back from the mid-17th century. Amongst this huge amount of cash was a ring with the words ‘When this you see remember me’ engraved on it.
This cache is likely to have been buried during the English Civil War, 1642-1651. As Mr Johnson resided in Pontefract – a historic town in the Wakefield District of West Yorkshire – this finding pairs well. Pontefract was a Royalist fortress back in the 1600s, which means that Johnson’s discovery could have been hidden by a Royalist to keep it safe from thievery. The value of this loot had a face value of £85 and 12 shillings – during its time – this would have bought royalists 5-years of employment of a Civil War soldier.
Dinosaur remains
One day John Lambert was digging a trench in his back garden, preparing the ground so that he could build a boundary wall and made a rather peculiar discovery when a foot-long bone stopped the shovel in its tracks. Lambert carried this heavy fossil into his barn whilst he carried on with the job at hand. Forgetting about his discovery for 16 years, Lambert remembered in 2013 and called Ipswich Museum to see if they’d examine this rare and monstrously heavy bone. It was identified as part of a Pliosaurus – a giant 65ft aquatic reptile that lived on the earth 60-250 million years ago.
Should you find yourself curious about your garden, you might want to give gold panning a go! This article is brought to you by CMS Cepcor, specialist providers of after market replacement cone crushers parts, crusher spares, and crusher liners. As the leading aftermarket manufacturer and supplier, providing mining, aggregate productive and crushing industries globally with quality products and impeccable services they definitely know a thing or two about digging up land.
