A time capsule from 1795 was found on Thursday inside the granite cornerstone of the Massachusetts Statehouse, and historians surmise that it was placed there by Samuel Adams and Paul Revere during the Revolutionary War, Fox News reported on Friday.
The capsule has now become the oldest unearthed one in the United States.
Inside the capsule is believed to be old coins and newspapers, but not all of the contents have been identified. Secretary of State William Galvin said that some of items might have broken down and deteriorated after all this time.
An X-ray to determine the capsule's contents will happen on Sunday at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. The capsule won't be opened before that determination.
Historians believe the time capsule was embedded in the cornerstone when the Capitol building was erected in 1795. Adams was governing the state at the time.
During the mid-19th century, the capsule was unearthed and its contents were put into a copper box instead. The capsule was found and removed because of an ongoing water filtration project at the building.
Recovering the box took several hours to complete, and it will likely be returned to the site where it came from next year.
Workers found a time capsule from 1901 earlier this year underneath statues of a lion and a unicorn. Letters, photographs and newspaper articles in readable condition were inside, ABC News reported.
