rediscover

To rediscover is to find again something that had been forgotten. It was always there and nobody had looked.

It covers objects in an attic, composers left out of the repertoire and whole techniques lost between generations. Each generation is said to rediscover things the last one knew. There is a warm personal sense too, since rediscovering an old hobby or an old friendship is one of the pleasures of getting older. The noun is rediscovery, and it is used most in art and archaeology.