Three men working at a Taupo property were shocked to discover an old box unearthed during excavation work containing sticks of gelignite explosive.
Police were notified about 2.45pm Monday. They cordoned off Tamamutu St and evacuated houses on either side of the property as a precaution while the bomb squad was called in.
Shane Shine, who has been a tenant at the address for the last eight years, said the box - which was about 1.2m under a grassed area - had an explosives label saying 'danger explosives - gelignite'.
But he and the two labourers who were helping him on the job thought it was more likely to be a time capsule or a coffin for a pet.
"Our initial reaction was that it couldn't be explosives so we lifted the box gingerly into the carport, prised off the top and then saw the sticks of gelignite."