It is an ideal piece of metal, discovered in 1912 in a mine in Wilburton, Oklahoma, its discoverer was Frank J. Kennard and in accordance with him it was present in a block of coal. But what makes this cup so mysterious? Well, as with many other objects found around the globe, the age of the artifact has sparked debate.
Such objects are called out-of-place artifacts (OOPart or oopart) because they were present in an archaeological layer where their existence is just unimaginable. In fact, there have been many such artifacts throughout history, but rarely have any of them survived to at the present time; most of them just disappeared somewhere.
This story began in 1912 in a coal-fired power plant within the town of Thomas, Oklahoma, USA. One of the employees split a bit of coal that was too large for the wheelbarrow, and inside was a small object that looked like a bowl or pot.
The bowl was further examined and located to be fabricated from forged iron (an alloy of iron and carbon). A solid impression of the bowl has been preserved contained in the pieces of coal, that’s, it seems that it didn’t fall into the coal recently, but was in it long enough for the coal to form around it.
It was then established that the age of the coal seam from which this batch of coal was delivered to the ability plant was roughly 300 million years old.
To confirm the authenticity of the find, there may be a small note written by the identical employee who found this bowl.
Kennard, who was an worker of the Benton Co in 1948, said: “While working at the municipal power plant in Thomas, Oklahoma, in 1912, I came across a solid piece of coal that was too large to use. I broke it with a hammer.
“This iron pot fell from the center, leaving an imprint of the pot in the piece of coal. Jim Stall (a company employee) witnessed the coal cracking and the pot falling out. I traced the source of the coal and discovered it came from the Wilburton Mine in Oklahoma.
The note added at the end that he was “sworn in at Salpur Springs, Arkansas, November 27, 1948.”
The coal deposits in the Wilburton mine have been examined several times and are still confirmed to be approximately 295-300 million years old.
Unfortunately, the only evidence comes from the individual's testimony, which lacks much scientific rigor. This facility disappeared, like many others that had a similar history and the same age.
If the item were found today, it would provide much greater insight into the discovery, the origins of the item, who made it and what its purpose was, but most importantly, it would shed light on its true age.
There is a theory about how such an object could end up inside the coal, when mines are filled with pools of saturated water, eventually the water hardens and the object could end up inside a piece of coal.
As Mark Isaac noted: “The chalice appears to be cast iron, and cast iron technology began in the 18th century. Its design resembles pots used to hold molten metals and may have been used by a tinsmith, tinkerer or shot thrower.”
There are typical problems with discovering this item. Anecdotal evidence is essentially all we now have, however it doesn't explain how the artifact ended up in coal that's about 300 million years old.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
