Anglo-Saxon royalty found?
Jan. 20th, 2010 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ossamentaI have had some plans to write a post on isotope analysis and all the cool things you can do with that in archaeology, seeing as I had mentioned isotopes before, and perhaps not all readers were familiar with that. Today is not that day. Today is the day when I get forcefully reminded of my intentions, as Bristol University hope to, via isotopes, identify the remains of Queen Eadgyth (Edith), an Anglo-Saxon princess who married Otto I, the Holy Roman emperor in the early 10th century.
Her skeleton was found in a large early 16th century monument in Magdeburg Cathedral, wrapped in silk within a lead coffin inscribed: “The rescued remains of Queen Eadgyth are in this sarcophagus, after the second renovation of this monument in 1510." However, since there was a large trade in relics during the Middle Ages, and since bodies of nobles and royality could be skeletised if they had died inconveniently far from their intended burial place, it's not 100% certain that the skeleton actually is Eadgyth. Hopefully the tests will be able to tell whether this woman came from England or from elsewhere.
I will keep you posted.
- Press release
- A more detailed report from The Independent
Her skeleton was found in a large early 16th century monument in Magdeburg Cathedral, wrapped in silk within a lead coffin inscribed: “The rescued remains of Queen Eadgyth are in this sarcophagus, after the second renovation of this monument in 1510." However, since there was a large trade in relics during the Middle Ages, and since bodies of nobles and royality could be skeletised if they had died inconveniently far from their intended burial place, it's not 100% certain that the skeleton actually is Eadgyth. Hopefully the tests will be able to tell whether this woman came from England or from elsewhere.
I will keep you posted.
- Press release
- A more detailed report from The Independent