Oxford University
Bones claimed to be of John the Baptist that
were analysed by the research team. Clockwise from top left, the
knucklebone, ulna, part of cranial bone and molar (together) and rib.
By Stephanie Pappas
Senior Writer
A small handful of bones found in an ancient church in Bulgaria
may belong to John the Baptist, the biblical figure said to have
baptized Jesus.
There's no way to be sure, of course, as there are no confirmed
pieces of John the Baptist to compare to the fragments of bone. But the
sarcophagus
holding the bones was found near a second box bearing the name of St.
John and his feast date (also called a holy day) of June 24. Now, new
radiocarbon dating of the collagen in one of the bones pegs its age to
the early first century, consistent with the New Testament and Jewish
histories of John the Baptist's life.
"We got some dates that are very interesting indeed," study
researcher Thomas Higham of the University of Oxford told LiveScience.
"They suggest that the human bone is all from the same person, it's from
a male, and it has a very high likelihood of an origin in the Near
East," or Middle East where
John the Baptist would have lived.
Mysterious bone box
The bones were found in 2010 by Romanian archaeologists Kazimir Popkonstantinov and Rossina Kostova while excavating an old
church site
on the island of Sveti Ivan, which translates to St. John. The church
was constructed in two periods in the fifth and sixth centuries.
Beneath the altar, the archaeologists found a small marble
sarcophagus, about 6 inches long. Inside were six human bones and three
animal bones. The next day, the researchers found a second box just 20
inches away. This one was made of volcanic rock called tuff. On it, an
inscription read, "Dear Lord, please help your servant Thomas" along
with St. John the Baptist's name and official church feast day.
A grotesque gift
The findings paint a story of a man named Thomas charged with
bringing relics,
or body parts, of St. John to the island to consecrate a new church
there. It was common in the fourth and fifth centuries for wealthy
patrons to pay for new churches and to give saintly relics to the monks
who staffed them, Higham told LiveScience. [
8 Alleged Relics of Jesus]
"We can imagine that the construction of this church was predicated
on the basis of this very important gift, perhaps from the patron to the
monastery," Higham said.
The human bones in the box included a knucklebone, a tooth, part of a
cranium, a rib and an ulna, or arm bone. The researchers could only
date the knucklebone, because radiocarbon dating relies on organic
material, and only that bone had enough collagen for a good analysis.
The researchers were able to reconstruct DNA sequences from three of the
bones, however, showing them to be from the same person, likely a
Middle Eastern man.
"Our worry was that the remains might have been contaminated with
modern DNA," study researcher Hannes Schroeder, formerly of Oxford, said
in a statement. "However, the DNA we found in the samples showed damage
patterns that are characteristic of ancient DNA, which gave us
confidence in the results. Further, it seems somewhat unlikely that all
three samples would yield the same sequence considering that they had
probably been handled by different people."
Schroeder added that "both of these facts suggest that the DNA we sequenced was actually authentic."
Strangely, the three animal bones (one from a sheep, one from a cow,
and one from a horse), were all about 400 years older than the human
bones in the reliquary. Those three bones all seem to come from the same
time and location, Higham said. They may have been placed there as a
way to desecrate the human bones, he said. Or someone may have just been
trying to make the
bone box look a little more impressive.
"It is very curious," Higham said. [
8 Grisly Archaeological Discoveries]
Elusive identification
Historical research by Oxford professor Georges Kazan
suggests that relics supposedly from John the Baptist were on the move
out of Jerusalem by the fourth century. Many of these artifacts were
shuttled through the
ancient city of Constantinople and may well have been given to the Sveti Ivan monastery from there.
None of this proves that the bones belonged to a historical figure
named John the Baptist, but researchers haven't been able to rule out
the possibility, Higham said. Their study has not yet been published in a
peer-reviewed journal, but a program detailing the research will be
aired on the United Kingdom National Geographic Channel on Sunday.
National Geographic funded the research.
Even if the monks of Sveti Ivan believed the bones to be St. John's,
they may not have been. Fake relics were and still are common. For
example, at least 30 nails have been venerated as the ones used to keep
Jesus Christ on the cross
(biblical scholars debate whether three or four nails would have been
used). Likewise, French theologian John Calvin once noted that if all of
the supposed fragments of Jesus' cross were gathered together, they'd
fill a shipload. Even
Joan of Arc
has been the subject of forgery. A 2007 study found that alleged pieces
of her body kept in a French church actually belonged to an Egyptian
mummy. [
9 Famous Art Forgers]
The Sveti Ivan box is not the only reliquary said to hold the remains
of John the Baptist, Higham said. If the researchers are able to test
other bones said to be the saint's, they could build a circumstantial
case for their authenticity. Nevertheless, a positive identification
will likely remain out of reach.
"Definitely proving it, I think, is going to remain ever-elusive," Higham said.
