time capsule

Definitions

1. A sealed container, buried at a specific location, that contains records of contemporary life, to be rediscovered in the distant future.
2. An object, place, or collection that encapsulates and preserves the characteristics, culture or essence of a particular time period, usually due to isolation or some specific external influence.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“Rail Minister Lord Hendy has placed a time capsule at Ravensthorpe, as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) project. Hendy was joined by Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, local schoolchildren and TRU apprentices at the burial of the time capsule, which will sit⟳ under foundations of a new viaduct.”

“As we've seen, Belarus is a Soviet time capsule that continues only because Russia is keeping it on life support⟳.”

CEFR level