Notre-Dame de Paris: The lead sarcophagus discovered during the works will soon be open – 20 Minutes

A lead sarcophagus recently discovered in Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral will soon be opened at the Forensic Institute of Toulouse (south-west). He should thus reveal his secrets “in compliance” with the legislation on human remains, the officials of the archaeological excavations announced on Thursday. The anthropomorphic sarcophagus, probably dating from the 14th century, was unearthed in March during archaeological excavations prior to reconstruction work on the spire of the cathedral, partially destroyed by the fire of April 2019. meter underground, in the western part of the crossing of the transept, it was in a good state of preservation. An endoscopic camera allowed a first exploration of the interior of the sarcophagus, without opening it: the upper part of the skeleton of the deceased, the remains of plants under his head, perhaps hair, textiles as well as an object not yet identified. Extracted from the cathedral on Tuesday, the burial was placed in a secure place while waiting to be sent “very soon” to the Forensic Institute of Toulouse, said Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) during a ‘a press conference. The previous Louise Forensic pathologists and scientists will open the sarcophagus there to study the bones of the deceased and other objects, in order to identify his sex and his state of health, and “refine” by dating to carbon 14 a still uncertain chronology, indicated Christophe Besnier, scientific manager of the excavations. “The sarcophagus is located under embankments containing 14th century furniture… if it turns out that it is indeed a sarcophagus from the Middle Ages, we are on an extremely rare burial practice”, a he commented. The studies could also provide information on the rank of the deceased, belonging a priori to an ecclesiastical or secular elite. But “a human body is not an archaeological object”, noted Dominique Garcia, president of Inrap. “As a human remains, it is the Civil Code that applies and archaeologists will study it as such”. The team from the Toulouse Forensic Institute has already studied the burial of Louise de Quengo, a Breton noblewoman who died in 1656, and whose remarkably well-preserved remains had been found during excavations at the Couvent des Jacobins in Rennes, a- he recalled. Once the studies have been carried out, the sarcophagus will be returned “not as an archaeological object but as an anthropological asset”. What will be his final resting place? The track of a “re-burial” at Notre-Dame is under study, according to Inrap. Louise de Quengo was buried in 2015 in the cemetery of Tonquédec, commune of Côtes-d’Armor.