In archaeology, the term “Out-of-place artifacts” refers to seemingly man-made objects (pots, vases, chains, axes, etc.) that have been found in archaeological layers where their presence is physically inexplicable.
For instance, some of these items have been discovered in mines embedded in coal seams, which scientists estimate to be 350-250 million years old. However, humans as a species began to form only about 3 million years ago.
While some out-of-place artifacts have been studied fairly well, such as the Aiud “axe” or the London hammer, others inexplicably disappeared soon after being discovered, leaving only a few notes in local press history.
On April 25, 1886, a small article without photos appeared in the Pennsylvania newspaper “Lewistown Gazette” about a piece of shale with human faces carved on it, discovered by local miners in the Broad Top hills area.
It was described that the human faces were very well visible, as if they were carved with engraver’s tools, and depicted in detail “with clearly defined chin, mouth, cheeks, forehead, and eyes.”
The miners stumbled upon the shale with carved faces while mining coal and found this piece so unusual that they chipped it out of the rock to bring it to the surface.
Given the age of the coal formation, this piece of shale was many millions of years old, and of course, no one at that time could have carved human faces on it. The mine itself was dug only in the 19th century.
The newspaper editor suggested that perhaps an unusual imprint of ancient plants could create the illusion of human faces, but the miners insisted that they were clearly human faces, as if carved by a skilled sculptor.
The article mentioned that several photos of this piece of shale with faces were taken, but they never made it to the press and have not survived to this day.
The piece of rock with faces itself also disappeared. Where it went afterward is unknown, although the article noted that the miners showed it to both press representatives and mine management.
