Posted on 12/19/2008 1:22:56 AM PST by Bon mots
Archeologists in China are baffled after finding a tiny Swiss watch in a 400-year-old tomb.
The watch ring was discovered as archeologists were making a documentary with two journalists from Shangsi town.
"When we tried to remove the soil wrapped around the coffin, a piece of rock suddenly dropped off and hit the ground with a metallic sound,? said Jiang Yanyu, former curator of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Museum.
"We picked up the object, and found it was a ring. After removing the covering soil and examining it further, we were shocked to see it was a watch."
The time was stopped at 10:06am, and on the back was engraved the word "Swiss", reports the People's Daily.
Local experts say they are confused as they believe the tomb had been undisturbed since it was created during the Ming dynasty 400 years ago.
They have suspended the dig and are waiting for experts to arrive from Beijing and help them unravel the mystery.
>>ping<<
Those darned, careless time travelers........when will they ever learn??
Somewhere, a wood sprite is late for his appointments...
I was thinking a packrat... but they are North American creatures... could be a related little collector in China
A pack rat, also called a trade rat or wood rat, generally refers to the North American Woodrat (Neotoma cinema), but other species of Neotoma also fall into the category. They are prevalent in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Pack rats are a bit smaller than a typical rat and have long, bushy tails. Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats.A peculiar characteristic is that if they find something they want, they will drop what they are currently carrying, for example a piece of cactus, and "trade" it for the new item. They are particularly fond of shiny objects, leading to tales of rats swapping jewelry for a stone. Jewellery (spelled jewelry in American English) consists of ornamental devices worn by persons, typically made with gems and precious metals. ...
I think this should say "believed".
Not as strange as that iPhone found in the Great Pyramid.
Crows, blackbirds, ravens, starlings, jays and probably more collect shiny stuff for their nests......
LOL! I thought the same just reading the headline.
Does it have the quartz movement?
I don't know. I've looked at the story on some other sites and there are some wild claims... such as that such a small and thin watch is not even made today... and/or that this watch is 100 years old...
How do they know it’s “AM” and not “PM”?
Insert Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone theme music....< click link below >
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tifmqKz34V4
Probably spot on, sir.
However I need to maintain the integrity of our resident conspiracy theorists...
>>How do they know its AM and not PM?
Good point. And that is no “watch”. Its a freakin ring designed to look like a watch. The Chi-Coms are just playing this up for publicity. There is no reason to suspect that a Chinese smitten with the European dress wanted one of his own and made this little replica. Now we know they’ve had it in their blood to make forgeries for centuries. Amazing.
"Chang tossed his watch-ring aside when he realized it was not worth a dang after the BC-AD changeover....."
“The watch stopped at 10:06am” How do they know it’s “AM” and not “PM”?
“I’d bet more like 10:06 PM. Seriously, who robs graves in the middle of the morning?”
stole that...thought it was funny
They also found a safe in the grave. Jeraldo Rivera’s negotiating at this very moment. Developing......
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