Contract archaeologist, Katie Smuts, said on Friday that she estimated the foundations were constructed between 1830 and 1850, and that archaeologists were trying to determine their significance. Smuts jokingly compared that the styles revealed on the porcelain artefacts they found helped determine their age because it was similar to comparing the styles that hipsters wore on their clothes in the year 2012.

Construction on a building site in the Cape Town CBD was halted so that archaeologists could determine the find’s significance after builders uncovered the early 19th century foundations.

Small artefacts including animal bones, pottery, porcelain and clay pipes were found amongst the four trenches that had been dug for investigation.

Archaeologists working on the site said that according to records, the artefacts might have belonged to taverns, inns or workshops that had previously been built on the site.

[Source: EWN]