Without opening the coffin, using an endoscope camera, the experts already able to see the upper part of the corpse. They discovered traces of plants, hair, textiles, and an object that they have not yet been able to identify. It is now the turn of the Toulouse forensic doctors to examine the body, in an attempt to date as precisely as possible the period in which the deceased lived.
A scientific and historical approach
This is not the first time that doctors from the Toulouse University Hospital have been mobilized for this kind of analysis. In 2015, they had studied the body of Jeanne de Quengo, a Breton nobleman who died in 1656, whose sarcophagus had been exhumed in the former convent of the Jacobins in Rennes. For Dominique Garcia, President of Inrap (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research), the choice of Toulouse was therefore a natural choice: ” We need to have both _skills of forensic scientists, but also a historical approach_. And in Toulouse, there is an efficient team, which is used to answering questions from archaeologists. “
To examine the corpse, doctors use, among other things, radiology tools, to perform a “virtual autopsy.” This allows you to see the whole body, its tissues, and the possible pathologies that could have caused death. The studies should also make it possible to determine the sex, age and rank of the deceased. The quality of the burial process, the fact that he was buried at Notre Dame as well as his strategic place under the cathedral transeptsuggests that he belonged to the nobility or the clergy.
Examine with respect for human rights
The body is considered an anthropological asset, not an archaeological find. The examination is therefore carried out in respect for human rights, explains Dominique Garcia. : “They are not studied as objects, but as human remains. We therefore try to make the most of it, to have as many lessons as possible, without destroying or damaging the body..”
– Julien de Rosa
The burial was discovered near objects dating from the Middle Ages, during the excavations preceding the renovation works. For the moment, archaeologists therefore believe that it dates from this period. The person in charge of the excavations, Christophe Besnier speaks to him “of one extremely rare burial practice“, which could therefore hold many surprises. Other more classic coffins have been discovered, as well as part of the old rood screen of the cathedral, the portal which separated the nave and the choir from the 12th to the 17th century.
By June, the secret of the mysterious burial should be revealed. The sarcophagus will then no doubt be reinterred at Notre-Dame de Paris.