While excavating an ancient Gaulish village near the town of Eu in northern France, a team of student archaeologists uncovered a 200-year-old message sealed in a glass bottle, hidden inside a clay pot alongside two coins. The note was written by P.J. Féret, a 19th-century archaeologist, who had worked at the same site nearly two centuries ago.
The bottle, resembling a vial that once contained smelling salts, was rolled and tied with string. The message, written in January 1825, reads: “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 Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp.”
The dig, led by Guillaume Blondel, who heads the archaeological service for the town of Eu, was initially focused on the remains of an ancient Gaulish settlement. Perched atop cliffs near Dieppe, the site is threatened by erosion, prompting emergency excavations. The team has already uncovered numerous 2,000-year-old artifacts, including pottery shards from the Gaulish period.
Blondel expressed the team’s surprise at finding the message. “It was an absolutely magic moment,” he told BBC News. “We knew there had been excavations here in the past, but to find this message from 200 years ago—it was a total surprise.” Féret’s message not only documents the history of archaeological work at the site but also serves as a rare and tangible link between past and present researchers.
Municipal records confirm that Féret had conducted a dig at the Cité de Limes, also known as Caesar’s Camp, in 1825. His note was likely left as a form of personal mark, similar to a time capsule. Blondel noted how unusual it is to find such relics in archaeology, saying, “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!”
If authenticated, Féret’s 200-year-old message could become the oldest known message in a bottle ever found. The current record is held by a message discovered on Wedge Island, Australia, in 2018. That note, written by a German ship captain in 1886, was 131 years old when it was found, according to Guinness World Records.
This unique discovery has breathed new life into the site, with the team racing against time to uncover more before erosion claims further portions of the cliffside village. “We knew it was a Gaulish village,” Blondel explained to BBC News, “but what we don’t know is what went on inside the village. Was it a place of importance?”
