believe, that scholars from many different disciplines have collaborated in the ongoing study of ancient religious relics. We want to find out the age and origin of the relics, whether they were from the same individuals, and where they were moved to. We will not be able to say with 100 % certainty that they belong to a particular individual who is celebrated as a saint. However, through gathering a body of evidence we will be able to say whether or not the remains originate from the same time and place as the attributed saint.’
Dr Georges Kazan of the School of Archaeology in Oxford said: ‘By analysing remains attributed to specific individuals, we hope to build up a picture of when and how relics appear in the historic record and whether any are related to each other in time and space. The Christian belief that relics were imbued with miraculous powers, granting benefits both in this world and the next, resulted in widespread demand and circulation, particularly in The Middle Ages. Scientific analysis has now shown that a number of relics attributed to specific saints are counterfeit or misidentified, while revealing that others may in fact be of the time and place where a particular ‘holy’ person lived.. Whereas in the past larger samples were needed for dating, we now have the latest scientific processes that allow us to establish the true date of samples from tiny samples - the size of a pinch of salt. Even if they have been handled over the centuries, we have processes that allow us to obtain the real dates by purifying the relics of more ‘modern’ contaminant particles.’
Reliquary containing the finger of John the Baptist, now at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City - Photo by WAJWAJ . Wikimedia Commons