New Zealand Earthquake: Christchurch Cathedral Rubble Reveals 150-Year-Old Time Capsules

The discovery of two objects believed to be 150-year-old time capsules among the rubble of Christchurch Cathedral after New Zealand's devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake is being hailed as a miracle.

As the BBC is reporting, the pair of items -- a glass bottle containing rolled-up parchment and a metal cylinder -- were found in the base of a statue of Christchurch founder John Robert Godley, which had fallen in last Tuesday's quake. Two words were reportedly visible on the rolled-up parchment inside the glass bottle -- "by" and "erected" -- but it will only be opened and examined in detail by experts in a humidity-controlled environment.

The AFP reports that Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has called the discovery particularly "inspirational" after the quake, which is believed to have killed up to 240 people.

"I think of all the days we're looking for some hope and some vision it actually delivers to us a miracle, it's a miracle that these guys found this thing this morning under the statue of the man who was the founder of the city. I don't know what the words are because I don't want to try and unwrap them without proper conservation, but I'm imagining it will tell us of the hopes and aspirations of the people of this city when it was founded. Is there a better time to have that refreshed? I think it's miraculous."

As the New Zealand Herald is reporting, the capsule may have been placed there as early as 1867, when the statue was first erected. Parker has since passed the artifacts on to Canterbury Museum.

Reports of a third mystery item found in the cathedral's ruins remain confirmed.

Comments

[picaman]

04:35 PM on 03/11/2011

Dan Brown--your next novel is calling...

[CoastalNC]

10:28 AM on 03/02/2011

Yeah, it's a miracle.....it says "erected by......" LOL

[jokerdanny]

09:35 AM on 03/02/2011

that's a pretty crappy miracle

[Hot Boudain]

09:33 AM on 03/02/2011

Alo found were remains identified as Jimmy Hoffa and Obama's birth certificate.

[gmknobl]

08:30 AM on 03/02/2011

God bless the people of Christchurch and all NZ. There was a time I considered moving there to get a job in the computer industry. I probably would have ended up in Hamilton in the north island. What a God blessed beautiful place. And 99% of the people there knew they were blessed and acted to take care of their island nation.

[Sandmanj]

08:09 AM on 03/02/2011

I have a feeling these time capsules are a lot older than 150 years. I also have a feeling that when opened, read, and decoded, the parchments will spell out: "One ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."

[Sandmanj]

11:20 AM on 03/02/2011

Not many Lord of the Rings fans here? It was filmed in New Zealand. :0)

[RTIII]

01:06 PM on 03/02/2011

"It"?

There are _at_least_ three different LoTR sets of films - ONE of them was filmed in NZ...

[RTIII]

11:27 AM on 03/04/2011

You appear to be incapable of understanding that more than one movie maker has taken on the challenge of tellingTolkien's LOTR story. Doesn't seem that hard of a concept to me - LOTS of other subjects are made into movies multiple times - Cleopatra, Alice in Wonderland, the list is long...

[BellaStorm]

05:27 AM on 03/02/2011

Nice comments. My cousin's 3 year old son was injured when the earthquake destroyed his nursery school.

I grew up with 6 pointer earthquakes, always found them fun. Used to stand in the middle of the room, "Earth surfing." But no one died in them. We usually build our buildings strong and flexible enough to withstand them. The last one I was in was an 8 pointer. Nobody died.

This is different. And just because it didn't happen to you, you can take the p**s.

[Nikolas Oddfellow]

04:08 AM on 03/02/2011

And the words on the scroll will read....
"Together forever and never to part
Together forever we two
And don't you know
I would move heaven and earth
To be together forever with you"

[chasmoidial]

06:59 AM on 03/02/2011

I was thinking something more along the lines of:
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say good-bye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

[HotChocolateParty]

07:02 AM on 03/02/2011

Rick Astley is banned from New Zealand airwaves :p

[Nikolas Oddfellow]

05:22 PM on 03/02/2011

Rick rolling has gone from being in your face to a more subtle and refined reference. ;0) I was being subtle and refined. Tee hee.

[Kenneth Green]

03:59 AM on 03/02/2011

This is not a miracle. Finding someone alive is a miracle. At least recover all the bodies before getting excited by an old note in a bottle. You would think that they found the bottle washed up on a beach not in the rubble of a devastated city.

[HotChocolateParty]

06:59 AM on 03/02/2011

If you were here in Christchurch you would understand. This is far more important than a note washed up on a beach, at a time when we need to rebuild the city we could have found the founder's vision. This could be very poignant. Don't read too much into the word miracle, it doesn't necessarily mean the strict literal sense. It's not being placed above finding people alive. You have missed the meaning entirely.

[CoastalNC]

10:32 AM on 03/02/2011

Thanks HotChocolateParty for clarifying. When we hear the word miracle we do take it literally, at least I do.

Wishing everyone there the best and a speedy recovery for anyone injured as well as for your city.

[DANOSC]

11:17 PM on 03/02/2011

Miracle is the most overused word in the American English language.

[BlackYowe]

03:38 AM on 03/02/2011

Cool!

[Someone Said]

12:38 AM on 03/02/2011

I always put time capsules in every wall or building I remodel or construct. It's the right thing to do. It's a great way to document what went down in the past.

[European1919]

03:50 AM on 03/02/2011

Ditto. I was involved in the building trade in a professional way for many years.

[steph81]

12:30 AM on 03/02/2011

Who knows? They may find a hobbit next.

[jasev01]

12:26 AM on 03/02/2011

put it back, let them find it in 100 more years

[FearlessFreep]

12:05 AM on 03/02/2011

Did they find a singing frog too?

"Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime gal..."

[BBinMT]

02:29 AM on 03/02/2011

You dug that up from way down in the deeps. Funny as he!!.

[Southrnbelle]

03:09 AM on 03/02/2011

One of my favorites!

When my truly gorgeous baby girl turned into an adorable, precocious toddler I use to call her my "singing frog." She was so beautiful and did and said so many cute things just around me, I was always wanting to put her on display. Sure enough, most of the time, all she said in public was, "Ribbet."

[Marla Thurman]

12:04 AM on 03/02/2011

Can't wait to hear the rest of this story.

[Southrnbelle]

03:09 AM on 03/02/2011

Ditto.

[Golemaximus]

05:04 AM on 03/02/2011

X2

[HotChocolateParty]

07:01 AM on 03/02/2011

If you see me again ask how it is proceeding, I presume it will be on here, but you can check on these two websites

www.stuff.co.nz

www.tvnz.co.nz