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archaeologist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris , which catch firing well-nigh three years ago , have discovered a antecedently unknown fourteenth - hundred leaden sarcophagus along with other burials , according to France ’s cultivation ministry .
It ’s not clear who was bury in the sarcophagus , but it was likely someone significant .
A 14th-century lead sarcophagus unearthed at Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris. Photographed on 28 November 2024.
The characteristics and localization of the sarcophagus suggest that it holds the cadaver of " a high-pitched dignitary , " according to atranslated affirmation from the culture ministryreleased Monday ( March 14 ) .
The iconic twelfth - century cathedralwent up in flamesduring a renovation and restoration labor in April 2019 . Since then , the French politics has moved forward with a reconstruction that will restore the duomo ’s historic Gothic architecture , a feat that church officials hope will be completed by 2024 , when Paris is slate to host the Summer Olympics , Reuters report .
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In the latest step of the restitution , workers had planned to put up scaffold ahead of reconstructing the cathedral ’s burned spire . Before the workers could erect the staging , however , archeologist surveyed the site to look for any artifacts in the agency that might be damaged . During the excavation , which began Feb. 2 and will last until March 25 , the team focused on the transept — the part of the cathedral where the floor run perpendicular to the main building , forming a cross .
The transept was covered with a stone layer that go steady to no later than the 18th C , harmonise to the program line . Beneath this , archaeologists found " many burials " from different layers , indicating that this smear was used as a inhumation ground for a long period of metre . These burial dated from the fourteenth one C and rest in soils that may date stamp back to the beginning of the thirteenth century .
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Among these burials , archaeologist found the " fully preserved , " human - shapedleadensarcophagus , according to the instruction . Its placement at the duomo ’s transept suggests that the interred person had elite position , while its underground bed indicates that it go steady to the 14th C at the latest .
The excavation revealed another extraordinary uncovering : a endocarp filled with painted sculptures that were once part of Notre Dame ’s rood filmdom — the ornate partition that divides the chancel and nave , or the different end of the duomo . This rood screen was built in around A.D. 1230 and destroy at the first of the 1700s , harmonise to the statement . The French architect Eugène Viollet - le - Duc ( 1814 - 1879 ) previously discovered other sherd of this rood projection screen , which are now on display at theLouvre Museum .
The newfangled find will likely " provide new data on this rood screen and on the timber of its painted ornament , " fit in to the statement .
in the first place write on Live Science .
