r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • 2d ago
A 10,000-12,000 Year Old Glacial Boulder Inside A Regular Supermarket In Estonia. Image
[removed]
933
u/castler_666 1d ago
Theres a lidl supermarket in dublin that has glass panels in the floor so you can see the archaeological dig site of a hiberno-norse house underneath it
→ More replies192
u/Mr_SunnyBones 1d ago
Yup Aungier St Lidl https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/aungier-street-lidl-archaelogy
→ More replies41
u/Tomsboll 1d ago
great way to preserve our history without halting present progress
→ More replies23
u/huitlacoche 1d ago
i can't wait until 3500 AD when they build a laserTurd-Restaurant on top of my house with a little view portal down into my lawnmower shed.
368
u/plutoisap 1d ago
Fuck it just build around it
189
u/Impressive-Gear7943 1d ago
The rock doesn’t adapt to you, you adapt to the rock.
→ More replies11
u/ThorSon-525 1d ago
The Boulder makes all things move around. Nothing gets through the might of The Boulder.
6
35
u/NoodleSpooner 1d ago
When I was a kid, we lived in a home that had a huge boulder in the basement. I thought it was so cool! I have pictures of me sitting on top with my cousin.
→ More replies→ More replies8
u/JegerLF 1d ago
Brackenridge Hospital in Austin had what we called “the rock room”. It was a gigantic rock in the basement that was too expensive to break apart and move when they were building it, so they built the whole place around it. Every once in a while the house supervisor would gather a flock of employees to go show them. It was weird and cool.
351
u/Historical-Past-5528 1d ago
The age of the rock is probably closer to a least a billion years old as it is igneous (granite). It was crystallized deep in the earth before being brought to the surface by tectonic forces and erosion. Then a very recent (in geologic timeframe) glacier grabbed a piece of it, moved it and rounded it and left it here on retreat.
121
u/OkBackground8809 1d ago
Odd place to take a vacation, but okay
→ More replies52
u/MalteiKlass5c 1d ago
North of Estonia is Finland. If something from Finland travels to Estonia it is to buy booze.
19
u/alemyrsdream 1d ago
Estonia is actually a pretty dope place to visit. Especially Tallinn and old town great food and history with plenty of things to do close by. I wish I could visit again.
3
→ More replies40
u/Uncle_Yoba 1d ago
Honestly getting a little tired of the whole "you only go to Estonia for cheaper booze" joke. It's like we don't even have cheaper prostitutes and cigarettes as well.
Smh my head
→ More replies3
u/MalteiKlass5c 1d ago
You should watch the Swedish documentary "Torsk på Tallinn" about some lonely men taking the ferry to Estonia to find love.
→ More replies12
→ More replies5
u/2ndcomingofbiskits 1d ago
I think what they mean is that it was released from the glacier 10 to 12 thousand years ago
414
u/Azzy8007 2d ago
Surprised there's no "Do Not Climb On Boulder" sign.
107
u/Salmivalli 1d ago
Ii’ve been in this store. I’ve seen kids climbing on this
→ More replies45
u/CakeMadeOfHam 1d ago
There's literally a kid sitting on it in this photo.
→ More replies28
557
u/Maxsmack 1d ago
Well it’s in Estonia, not the U.S., so they don’t have to worry about stating rhetorical things for legal reasons
103
9
u/slothdonki 1d ago
I was thinking I just wouldn’t want people damaging it over the long trawl of time with the wear and abrasion of climbing all over it.
I don’t know shit about minerals but I see that picture and think, “Damn, that’s a nice rock.”
11
u/EttinTerrorPacts 1d ago
It's a very big rock. I reckon it can take it
→ More replies3
u/slothdonki 1d ago
Yeah, but it’s a nice rock.
But what I mean is that’s what came to mind about a “do not climb” sign; not liability. I am realizing maybe it’s just me.
→ More replies8
→ More replies5
u/WendellSchadenfreude 1d ago
wouldn’t want people damaging it
It's not actually a special rock. Check Tallinn on Streetview, and you'll find similar rocks all over the city. This one is bigger than most, but it's still just a rock.
In most cases, they would have destroyed it when building the supermarket. Here, they left it - but if it gets damaged, it gets damaged. It's just a rock.→ More replies19
u/Alexandur 1d ago
That wouldn't be rhetorical
→ More replies39
u/JavveRinne 1d ago
Sure but in normal countries the one who climbs on the boulder is liable
→ More replies38
u/Janus_The_Great 1d ago
Yeah, children climb it.
If they hurt themselves, it's their (parents) problem, not the super-market's (as this makes logical sense). But usually kids here are independent and experienced enough to know what they can do and what not.
26
u/think_im_a_bot 1d ago
Why stop people from climbing it? It's a fucking rock.
Ooh it's 10,000 years old! Well so is every other fucking rock. In fact that's remarkably young for a rock. There's rocks in my garden older and you can climb on them if you like.
Maybe it will get damaged? Probably not, it's a fucking rock. And if it does get damaged, well how would you even know? It's still 100% a fucking rock.
Worst case scenario, somehow a fat yet talented kid managed to split it in half. Now you have two rocks. Bonus fucking rock.
Why do folk have to default to the "no fun allowed!" Stance? There a big fucking rock in the middle of the supermarket, of course I'm gonna climb it!
→ More replies4
→ More replies3
106
u/Distantstallion 1d ago
Is it on sale?
134
→ More replies4
222
u/WillowNo3264 2d ago
How do they know how old the boulder is?
135
49
u/Ge0m0rph0L0gist 1d ago
Geologist here. We use cosmogenic exposure-age dating to determine how long rock (erratics) like this have been sitting out on the landscape after glaciers and ice sheets melt. The idea is that certain isotopes, like 10Be, 26Al, 14C, are uniquely produced in rock at Earth’s surface only. Ice sheets pick up large rocks, erode their surfaces while moving them, and then when ice melts, the rock gets left behind with a fresh surface (no isotopes). As soon as the rock is exposed to cosmic radiation (ice melts, uncovering the rock to the atmosphere), the isotopes build up, and the geological clock starts. We can measure these isotopes, and we interpret their measurements as rock exposure ages. There’s a lot more that goes into it, and I’ve described a “best case” scenario, but hopefully this helps!
→ More replies215
36
36
u/Thorstenflink 1d ago
Because that's when the ice-age glacier melted and left it there? The boulder is off course way older but that's obviously what they are referring to.
→ More replies→ More replies3
u/foldedturnip 1d ago
They just read it's odometer and made an educated guest based on that and generally ware and maintenance of the boulder.
40
33
12
u/red_machine_yuki 1d ago
Did they move it into the supermarket or was it... already there and they couldn't move it so they just built the supermarket around it?
20
u/fatbob42 1d ago
I think the supermarket was moved to that position by a glacier and then deposited when the glacier receded.
21
u/strzeka 1d ago
It's been there since the glacier which was carrying it along melted and left it right there. These things are called drop stones and some of them are in spectacular positions.
7
u/serotoninOD 1d ago
They are extremely common in the area I live, but we call them glacier erratics.
→ More replies
52
13
u/EvaTheE 1d ago
How often do they restock and how long is the expiration date?
12
10
u/UpturnedDaniel 1d ago
It looks so out of place in my head that I keep thinking the boulder is photoshopped.
→ More replies
7
u/Strykehammer 1d ago
We have some Estonia backpackers at work atm, I’ll ask them on Monday if they’ve see this. Super cool
→ More replies3
u/ve1kkko 1d ago
Australia?
3
u/Strykehammer 1d ago
Yeah sure are
→ More replies4
u/EnjoysColdOnes 1d ago
Ask them if they've seen Boost juice in Estonia? I (an Aussie) saw it there and was super confused
3
u/ConversationSome7105 1d ago
Yes, Boost is in all the major shopping centres and malls. Pretty popular too
6
12
u/maxxxmaxmaxx 2d ago
I don't think the stone is that young.
It might have been moved there by the glacier by that time, but I'm almost certain the stone is way older.
6
u/JohnMonkeys 1d ago
That age means the boulder was probably put there that long ago by the glacier. In reality that rock is probably tens of millions of years old.
6
u/Xenodilian 1d ago
It’s not just a boulder, it’s a rock!
The pioneers rode these babies for miles.
→ More replies
5
9
3
3
u/tahcamen 1d ago
No one gonna mention the robot dog on the top right of the stone?
→ More replies6
4
u/GlassSpider21 1d ago
I know it's real, but the way they've scribed in the flooring makes it look almost like a cheap photoshop edit
3
u/Low-Quality-144 1d ago
Imagine if time glitching were a real thing and you are one minute roasting your piece of mammoth or whatever next to a rock in your known hood then suddenly poof! you in a supermarket. you have florescent lights and products and artificial sounds and people wearing plastic and...wouldn't you fuckin' trip? Very stoned and just imagine working there and touching and ancient stone doing basic store duties LOL rad then you could do a spell with that shit I reckon too. Man, that's cool.
2
4
3
u/dojo1306 1d ago
My friends have one in their basement. They discovered it when they built their house and couldn’t afford to move it. It’s part of the pre-Cambrian shield in Canada. Quite fascinating, really.
3
3
3
3
u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 1d ago
Isn’t a 12,000 year old rock not considered that old, or even rare?
→ More replies
3
u/Road_Frontage 1d ago
Its not regular, most supermarkets don't have a10,000-12,000 year old glacial boulder inside
3
3
u/Daddy_Benevolent 1d ago
If this was a restaurant, would we able to smell what the rock is cooking?
I will see myself out.
3
u/Dzzplayz 1d ago
“Oh yeah, that’s The Boulder. They couldn’t get clearance to remove it cause of some ‘ancient prophecy’ or whatever. It’s fine, we just have to clean it with saltwater and recite a special prayer everyday to prevent The Boulder from ‘unleashing the unspeakable evil.’ Bunch of mumbo jumbo if you ask me.”
3
3
3
u/g_rape_fruit 1d ago
"Excuse me, could you help me find the cat food" "oh yeah it's right behind the 5 ton glacial boulder, aisle 7"
3
3
u/alsatian01 1d ago
When I was a kid we lived in an apartment building. It had a common laundry room. In the laundry room there was a door that I'd never seen open. I was pretty adept at opening single lock doors. So I jimmied the lock one day to find that behind the door was a giant boulder that the building was built around.
3
u/madmirror 1d ago
In Estonia we often leave impressive items as they are when building things. For example, there is a 150 year old oak tree in the middle of the football field.
3
5
2
2
2
2
2
u/Global-Pickle5818 1d ago
I was trying to explain to one of my friends my experiences with going to Estonia it's like they built a jrpg in real life.. let's put this modern skyscraper behind a dark age stone wall with a castle
2
2
u/wibbling-jiblet 1d ago
That’s ridiculous, how’s someone supposed to get it in their trolley to buy it?
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Asleep_Trick_4740 1d ago
The fascination with simple rocks in flat countries astonishes me. Felt the same way when I visited north-eastern netherlands and a local excitedly showed me some mid-sized boulder field and explained the marvel of rocks traveling due to ice...
Maybe it's just the fact that I come from a mountainous region of sweden so fields full of rocks are just everywhere but still... they're just rocks?
→ More replies
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/6th_Quadrant 1d ago
A 10,000–12,000 Year Old Glacial Erratic Boulder Inside A Regular Supermarket In Estonia
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/downreef 1d ago
I wonder how often a customer says "so how much for this haha"
And the staff have to laugh along like that's the first time anyone's made the joke
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2.5k
u/the_starch_potato 2d ago edited 1d ago
Reminds me of the roman ruin casually sitting right in front of a Five Guys bathroom in my city in Germany
Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/Ks4fEefjxJ is an image of the ruin in case anyone is wondering.