“An extraordinary find!”

These were the words of Dr. I.C. Digg from a local university referring to his team’s discovery of a cache of tools and implements dating to the past.

“It’s a virtual roadmap of historical significance. We found layer upon layer of apparatuses used by our ancestors for survival.”

The site discovered lies directly in front of a farm shop in southern Isle of Wight County. Dr. Digg and his team have been meticulously at work for over a month.

“If the deeper depths turn up anything close to our present discoveries, the value is incalculable,” he said.

The first few feet turned up an array of mechanical devices, including 13 adjustable wrenches, 52 screwdrivers, a broken crow bar, thousands of assorted nuts, bolts and washers, seven files, three claw hammers, a mule bit, a buggy axle, two electric drills, used welding rods, a grinder, an anvil, two 9/16 wrenches, three 15/16 wrenches, 38 broken drill bits, 12 hacksaw blades with the teeth worn down, six wood chisels used on metal, a broken come-a-long, a 14-foot chain, 33 ball bearings and a bent lug wrench.

“We expect to find more,” Dr. Digg said. “Most intriguing are the seemingly fabricated tools. It seems the user often took metal components and designed them for a particular use. For instance, we found a two-foot rod welded to a chisel. A wrench was cut off with some sort of saw. The mouth of another wrench was ground to make it larger. There was evidently some adaptive process taking place as the participants endeavored to improve their environment by using a more suitable process. It once again demonstrates the remarkable ability of homo sapiens to acclimate their particular environment to a forthcoming need.”

The team is expected to continue their dig until the storehouse of embedded tools ceases to exist.

“At the present rate, we could be at this location for a considerable amount of time,” he said.

The renowned archeologist was also enthused over future prospects.

“Having discovered this, we surmise there are similar finds in front of farm shops throughout the surrounding region.”

Area citizens seem intrigued by the operation, though for different reasons. A local farmer was overheard saying “I’m just glad to get a few of my tools back.”

REX ALPHIN of Walters is a farmer, businessman, author, county supervisor and contributing columnist for The Tidewater News. His email address is rexalphin@aol.com.