US: Virginia workers open Civil War-era time capsule

In US, a conservation team in the state of Virginia has opened a box containing Confederate war memorabilia believed to be more than 130 years old. It contained newspapers, books and ammunition dated to the US Civil War. Workers discovered the container in the state capital of Richmond while finishing the removal of a statue of the Confederate general Robert E Lee. The memorial was removed after protests against it following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year. The lead conservator for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Kate Ridgway, said the contents and design of the box appeared to match the historical records. 

Records held by the Library of Virginia say that the capsule was buried in 1877 and that dozens of local residents contributed around 60 objects to the container. The capsule contained a host of civil war era artefacts, including a Confederate flag said to have been made from the tree that grew over the famed separatist General Stonewall Jackson's original grave, Miniè balls - a type of bullet used in the Civil War - and a map of the city of Richmond. Some historical records had led to some speculation that the capsule might contain a rare photo of the deceased President Abraham Lincoln.