In 2020, an archaeologist stumbled upon a treasure trove of Tudor artifacts (some even found in rats' nests) while working alone on an old manor during the COVID-19 pandemic. The centuries-old relics found underneath Oxburgh Hall's floorboards were an invaluable discovery from an otherwise mundane project. According to the UK National Trust, “The value of underfloor archaeology to our understanding of Oxburgh’s social history is enormous.”
Archaeologists are history's treasure hunters, charged with searching and analyzing clues from the past with the hopes of solving some of history's greatest mysteries, and these finds do just that. They paint a vivid picture of a what life in the house was like hundreds of years ago.
In 2020, Archaeologists Worked On Renovations Of Oxburgh Hall, A Tudor House Built In 1476
The Archaeologist In Charge Of Searching The Floorboards Wasn't Expecting To Find Much
Many of the floorboards had previously been lifted, for earlier repairs, or just the running of electrical cables. And the earliest finds suggested that most of the finds would be modern. Fag packets dropped by previous builders. That kind of thing. pic.twitter.com/Vn3ImRsmJZ
But An Area Where The Floorboards Had Never Been Lifted Hid A Hoard Of Artifacts
The nests were full of artefacts. From one I recovered over 200 pieces of textile - fragments of clothing dating all the way back to the C16th - as well as fragments of early music, bits of early printed pages, and handwritten documents. pic.twitter.com/XmgbFyvNYG
