The ancient spark plug and other "out-of-place artifacts"

Yesterday, Boing Boing revisited a classic archaeological mystery: the Coso artifact. Back in nineteen sixty-one, someone unearthed what looked like an impossibly ancient technological device buried in a California hillside. Turns out it was just a nineteen twenties spark plug that had gotten stuck inside a rock formation over decades. The artifact belongs to a curious category of finds called 'out-of-place artifacts'—objects that seem to contradict the historical timeline simply by existing where they're found. It's a reminder that sometimes the most puzzling discoveries have surprisingly mundane explanations.

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