Joan of Arc "relics" fake

Not such a surprise that they weren't the real thing, but what they turned out to be was unexpected:

In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy attic, along with a label claiming it held relics of Joan's body.

But new forensic tests suggest that the remains date from between the third and sixth centuries BC - hundreds of years before Joan was even born. . .

The remains consisted of a charred-looking human rib, chunks of what appeared to be blackened wood, a 15-centimetre fragment of linen, and a cat thigh bone.

In medieval Europe it was common practice to throw black cats into the pyres of supposed witches.

Though you don't have to go nearly that far back to find bizarre practices:

In medieval times and later, powdered mummy remains were used for medicinal purposes, "to treat stomach ailments, long or painful periods, all blood problems," Philippe Charlier told the Associated Press.

The researchers' assumption is that a 19th Century apothecary was behind the fake, and transformed the remains of an Egyptian mummy into a fake relic, Dr Charlier said.

From the BBC. A citation on "mummy medicine" here:

The medicinal use of mummy continued right up until the 19th century but, according to the 1905 edition of a German pharmaceutical text, by this time it consisted of 'resinous red-brown or brown-black pieces, mixed with some browned bone remnants and little pieces of linen'.

Posted by David on April 5, 2007 9:50 AM