Archaeology & History

Historians stumped by contents of historic 1820s time capsule

By T.K. Randall
August 29, 2023

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Discovered at the base of the Thaddeus Kosciuszko monument during excavation works on the grounds of the West Point US military academy, the mysterious lead box was set to be opened at a prestigious live ceremony during which its contents were to be revealed to the public.

The event, which took place at the Robinson Auditorium at Thayer Hall and which was attended by several high-ranking military officials and academics, was live-streamed online with thousands tuning in to find out for themselves what was inside.

Once the lid was opened, however, there was a surprise in store.The box was empty.

"The box didn't quite meet expectations," said West Point archaeologist Paul Hudson.

"We don't want to think that they went to all that trouble to put this box in the monument and not put anything in it. What we're going to do is collect all the silt, and at a later point we will screen it to see if we can find any remains."

You can watch the entire event (and its riveting conclusion) in the video below.


Source: Forces.net

Tags: Time Capsule