The Mysterious Metal Vase
In June, 1851, ‘Scientific American’ reprinted a report that had first appeared in the Boston
Transcript about a metallic vase that had been discovered by miners (fig.7). The vase was found
in two parts among rubble that had been dynamited out of solid sedimentary rock in Dorchester,
Mass. The strange thing though, is that it came from about 15 feet below the surface and was
deeply embedded inside the rock. This indicates it had been there for an extremely long time.
The bell-shaped vase measures 4-1/2 inches high and 6-1/2 inches at its base and consists of a
zinc and silver alloy while the sides are decorated with designs of flowers and bouquet
arrangements, all inlaid with pure silver. The rock out of which the vase came from came is
estimated at about 100,000 years old.
How did this vase come to be solidly embedded within 15 feet of solid sedimentary rock?
Fig.7The Lost Necklace
It is a known fact that coal is formed over thousands of years from fallen timber that has been
charred and undergone immense pressure for many years beneath many tons of earth. A lump of
coal therefore, by the simple nature of its own creation, is very ancient stuff. There is quite
literally, no such thing as ‘new coal’. Yet one morning in June of 1891, a Mrs. S. W. Culp, of
Morrisonville, Illinois was fragmenting coal into smaller pieces for her kitchen stove when she
noticed that one of the lumps she had broken apart had a chain necklace stuck in it. The chain
measured about 10 inches long and was later found to be made of eight-carat gold. Unfortunately
no photograph exists of the necklace and its whereabouts is presently unknown, however, the
actual event is quite well documented.
As accounted by ‘the Morrisonville Times’ of June 11, 1891, investigators concluded that the
chain, which was described as being "of antique and quaint workmanship" had not simply been
accidentally dropped in with the coal by a worker, since an examination of the item clearly
displayed some hard fragments of the coal that still clung on to the links of the chain, while the
part of the coal that had broken apart also still bore the distinct impression of where the chain had
been encased in it. The reporter of the day described it in this way: