Archaeologists Surprised to Find an Unopened Victorian ‘Soft Drink’ Bottle During Renovation of a Car Park
Artifacts from the past oftentimes become a link with which experts find out more about history. One of the most unique aspects of material evidence, is that they can pop out of anywhere. This is what happened in Cambridge, when a renovation project led to a startling discovery, stated BBC.
Archaeologists recently found a Victorian-era soft drink bottle in the car parking area of the Grafton shopping centre. Excavation has been going on at the site, as part of a multi-million pound project which aims to convert the place into a series of labs and offices.
Experts were surprised to discover that the bottle, possibly dating back to the 1890s, was unopened and intact. It is rare to find such old bottles in one piece because children mostly break them to get the small marble out of the glass. Researchers noted that the bottle exhibited a squeeze neck, which still contained a marble. Experts believe that such marbles stopped the drink's fizz from getting out of the bottle.
Les Capon, project manager with AOC Archaeology believes that the bottles escaped the wrath of children, because it was possibly never taken out of the facility's basement or shelf before demolition, according to the Jerusalem Post. Researchers further determined that the artifact was a Codd-neck bottle. This kind was first made in 1870s and were extremely popular during the Victorian period.
English Victorian Period is determined to last from June 20, 1837, to January 22, 1901. England was ruled by Queen Victoria at that time, and witnessed many industrial and technological advancements. Evidence like this soft drink bottle sheds light on the lives of people during that time. "A lot of the broken things you see in museums come from the rubbish pits of the past... they tell us what life was like, the status of the people living there, how rich they were and what they were consuming or throwing away," Capon explained.
Along with the bottle, archaeologists also spotted evidence of a forge and an anvil at the site. Researchers found an area on a floor section, that was surrounded by fragments of broken metal. This made the team speculate, that the portion once held an anvil. They further noted that the site's surface looked hard and worn out, as well as had a segment which seemed to have been impacted by continous work. The features made the team conclude, that the segment contained a forge in the past.
Researchers believe that the place was a blacksmith's workshop. Based on the features, the team further speculates that there was a lot of industrial activity at the site during the Victorian period. The excavations have provided several new insights to archaeologists. Before the excavation, the team did not have much idea about the past purpose of many buildings in the Grafton Shopping Centre. The digging opened their eyes to many unnoticed features and gave them meaningful information.
The redevelopment project will continue, and so will the excavations. Archaeologists have promised to protect any preserved artifact that comes out of the site. Capon believes that historical insights from the site will give experts more of an idea about the area's past.