The bottle, which had been hidden for nearly 200 years, carried a note from a prior archaeologist who had worked at the same location. Guillaume Blondel, the chief of Eu’s Regional Archaeology Service, was sent in to investigate the findings. Blondel opened the bottle and read the note and described details.

Volunteers have discovered a 200-year-old message in a bottle at an excavation site in Normandy, France. The letter, left by archaeologist P.J Féret in 1825, provides details about the ancient Gaulish clifftop village near Eu. The discovery was unexpected and offers new insights into
A group of volunteers recently found a 200-year-old message in a bottle at an excavation site in Normandy, France.

The bottle contained a letter from January 1825, written by archaeologist P.J. Féret. In the letter, Féret detailed his work at the ancient Gaulish clifftop village known as the Cité de Limes or Caesar’s Camp. Féret was a notable figure in the local community and conducted his first excavation at the site 200 years ago, confirmed by municipal records.

Guillaume Blondel, the leader of the excavation team, described the moment they found the bottle as “absolutely magical.” He explained, “It was the kind of vial that women used to wear round their necks containing smelling-salts… We knew there had been excavations here in the past, but to find this message from 200 years ago… it was a total surprise.