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For 900 years , a corroded medieval chandelier discovered in a trash heap in Germany has been hide a spiritual treasure : tiny fragments of os , possibly from the eubstance of a saint , a new study has found . And further work might reveal which angel it was .
Such medieval " reliquary " — container or shrines for the bones or other relics of saints — often contain a strip of sheepskin or paper with the saint ’s name — screw as an " bona fide " or " cedula . "
More than 500 hours of restoration work at LEIZA to remove the corrosion revealed a pendant of gilded copper decorated with enamel portraits of Jesus, Mary and saints.
But the researchers have yet to find one , contemplate first authorMatthias Heinzel , a restorer at the Leibniz Center for Archaeology ( LEIZA ) in the German city of Mainz , told Live Science in an email .
That does n’t think it ’s not there , however . To peer inside , the squad used neutron tomography , which creates three - dimensional images when subatomic neutrons are plunge by materials — in this character , the pendant ’s case and anything it check . And although this technique did n’t reveal an reliable , further imaging could show such a cartoon strip and perhaps the letter write on it . " Maybe we will line up it out in the next years with other instrument and eminent firmness of purpose , " Heinzel read . " Who cognise ? We will stress it . "
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The pendant was heavily corroded when it was discovered in 2008 during excavations of a medieval rubbish pit in the German city of Mainz. Left is the corroded pendant in a four-leaf clover/cross shape. Right is an X-ray image of the pendant.
Thestudy describing the probe of the pendantwas present at theMetal 2022 conferenceof the International Council of Museums ' Committee for Conservation , which was curb in Helsinki in September ; it has yet to be published in a peer - reviewed daybook .
Medieval pendant
Archaeologists uncovered the palm - size pendant in 2008 , during the dig of a knightly rubbish pit in Mainz .
The pit was located in a court at a noble palace that dated from the High Baroque period in the early seventeenth century . Though it contain mostly clayware , the pendant was found in a layer of the pit that dated to the 14th century , before the belated palace was build over it , Heinzel said .
However , the classifiable esthetic style of the pendent suggests that it dates to the twelfth century , and that it was already old when it was thrown away , he said . Its mode also indicates that it was credibly crafted in the workshop near the city of Hanover , about 175 mile ( 285 kilometers ) due north of Mainz , that is known to have made similar objects .
X-rays were absorbed by the metal of the pendant and couldn’t show the organic materials inside; instead, neutron tomography was used to reveal it held five small cloth bags containing fragments of bone.
Heinzel and his workfellow at LEIZA pass about 500 hours removing a chummy stratum of erosion with baseball diamond - tipped grinding tools and other fine mechanical gadget to reveal a " quatrefoil"-shaped pendent of pig covered withgoldleaf and enamel images ofJesus , Mary and gothic saints .
A conundrum speedily emerge : The chandelier seemed hollow , but open it would put down it — so how would they look inside ? They settle to takeX - rays , which revealed a cavity within the pendant .
However , the metallic element and tooth enamel of the pendant absorbed most of the decade - ray , and nothing else was seeable , Heinzel said .
The researchers hope that further imaging with neutron tomography will reveal a strip of parchment or paper inside the pendant, with letters they can read that state which saint the bones are from.
" In X - ray images , constitutional and inorganic materials , such as textiles and bones , are optically outshone by the surrounding metal and enamel , " he read . But " neutrons show an almost contrary concentration behaviour to X - ray . "
Neutron tomography
Unlike the energizedelectronsused in Adam - ray technique , neutrons have no galvanic armorial bearing and can dawn deep into materials , such as metal .
Neutrons are also powerfully dissipate by hydrogenatoms , so neutron tomography makes high - line images of materials derived from live organism that check atomic number 1 , said study co - authorBurkhard Schillinger , an instrument scientist at the Technical University Munich ’s Heinz Maier - Leibnitz Center ( MLZ ) .
When the investigator examine the cavity of the pendant with neutron tomography , they could see clearly that it hold in five little bags — probably of linen or silk — that hold fragment of bone , Heinzel said .
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The discovery shows the pendant was a phylactery — a type of amulet — that housed saintly token and was suppose to give protection to those who wear it . That was a Book of Revelation to Heinzel , who was n’t expecting to find human bone , although he ’d already spent century of hours restoring it . " From the kickoff this was a really great object from the Middle Ages for me , " he said .
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The next stage will be to use neutron tomography to search for the parchment or report cartoon strip inside the pendant that could unveil the name of the saint whose osseous tissue it contains .
So far , the pendant has been exposed to imaging neutrons for a total of just over 7 hours .
Schillinger is hopeful that further observations with neutrons could reveal the slip and any letters on such a strip , which were probably written in iron gall ink — a commixture of iron table salt and superman from vegetable sources . " Maybe double the [ exposure ] metre , maybe triple " will divulge the saint ’s name , he said .
