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Around 1500 years old: Archaeologists discovered a unique specimen during excavations in Carinthia. It is considered a find of the century.
Innsbruck – Archaeologists are Excavations always make impressive discoveriesRecently, researchers in Frankfurt came across a antique wooden cellar with some secretsNow the archaeologists have had a real stroke of luck: The University of Innsbruck reported an extraordinary discovery.
Last found “around 100 years ago”: Archaeologists with a unique stroke of luck in Carinthia
“We know of around 40 such ivory boxes worldwide,” explains Gerald Grabherr, who is leading the excavations, when presenting the find. The project, which started in 2016, finally brought a unique piece to light. According to Grabherr, one of these examples was last discovered “around 100 years ago”.
In the Carinthian municipality of Irschen, archaeologists from Innsbruck carried out excavations in a late Roman hilltop settlement that had been abandoned since around 610 AD. They discovered an early Christian church on the Burgbichl, which experts describe as the discovery of the century.
Archaeologists find the holiest thing in a church: marble shrine with decorated ivory box
The discovered find consists of a marble shrine measuring approximately 20 by 30 centimetres, which was excavated under the altar of the side chapel, as the Institute of Archaeology The contents of the shrine in particular caused amazement and great joy among the team.
Inside was a richly decorated ivory box, a so-called pyxis. Such reliquaries are considered the most sacred and are taken with one when leaving a church. This makes this find particularly remarkable. “The few pyxides that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or on display in museums,” explains Grabherr.
Ivory box to be scientifically examined
The approximately 1,500-year-old and extremely fragile reliquary was conserved in 2022 by a team of experts led by Ulrike Töchterle at the University of Innsbruck. Now, around two years later, the sensational find is ready for scientific examination. Most recently, researchers were able to find a 2,000-year-old wine – with unappetizing contents.
The pyxis depicts motifs from the Old and New Testaments. One motif is interpreted as the “handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man,” explains archaeologist Grabherr. It is also suspected to be a “representation of the ascension of Christ.”
The investigations into the discovery of the century are still in full swing. The mysteries of the archaeological find are to be solved soon. The focus is on determining the origin of both the marble and the ivory.
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