The cache is _not_ at the posted coordinates, but it's a great place to mail a letter! 📮
People have been sealing documents for thousands of years. In ancient Mesopotamia, scribes rolled carved cylinder seals across wet clay tablets and clay envelopes to mark them. Egypt also used early seals for administrative purposes. The idea stayed the same for centuries: press an engraved device into a soft material like clay or wax, and you leave a mark that’s hard to fake. A seal broken open also showed that someone had tampered with the contents. 💌
In medieval Europe, seals became a standard way to authenticate documents. The engraved device, called a matrix, carries a negative image, and pressing it into soft material leaves a positive impression. Early European seals were generally made of beeswax, and later versions added vegetable resin for durability. They were often colored red or green, with red usually coming from vermilion, a pigment made from the mineral cinnabar. In England, Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042 to 1066) is one of the first kings with an official seal on record. Under him, royal documents came to carry two-sided pendant seals that hung from a parchment tag or cord. 📿
The recipe changed in the 16th century, when trade with the Indies brought shellac to Europe. Sealing wax was now made from shellac, turpentine, resin, chalk or plaster, and coloring like vermilion, and it didn’t have to contain beeswax at all. It was poured into stick-shaped molds, and from about the same period wax was also used to close envelopes. Wax stayed in everyday use until gummed envelopes took over in the late 19th century, and the Penny Black, the first adhesive postage stamp, launched in 1840. Since then, seals have been more about ceremony than security. You’ll still find them on high-status ceremonial documents, wedding invitations, and handmade stationery for when you want to send fancy mail! 📬
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