Archaeology & History

Mystery sarcophagus found in Notre-Dame will soon be opened

By T.K. Randall
April 16, 2022

Image: Notre-Dame de Paris
Credit: Gilbert Bochenek / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) When the news broke that the iconic Parisian cathedral had become shrouded in flames back in 2019, countries around the world united in expressing their sadness and dismay.

While the fearless efforts of firefighters ultimately managed to save the building from being totally destroyed, it will take years to fully restore the cathedral to its former glory.

There is at least one upside to the disaster, however - the discovery of previously unseen relics hidden deep within the structure.

One of these - a large stone sarcophagus thought to date back to the 14th Century - was found during preparatory work to rebuild Notre-Dame's spire.As things stand, nobody knows who is interred inside, however an exploration of its contents using an endoscopic camera has revealed that is does contain a skeleton as well as several artefacts.

Having been carefully extracted from the cathedral grounds last week, the sarcophagus could be opened in the very near future, revealing its secrets for the first time in several centuries.

With any luck, it will be possible to determine the age, gender, social status and perhaps even identity of the deceased individual interred within it.

To have been buried under Notre-Dame itself, whoever it is must have been quite important.

A mysterious leaden sarcophagus discovered in the bowels of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral after it was devastated by a fire will soon be opened and its secrets revealed, French archaeologists said https://t.co/n4eNAUHVVf pic.twitter.com/U7beEPpSmp

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 14, 2022

Source: Phys.org

Tags: Notre-Dame