A 1,500-year-old box was found under the ruins of a church in Austria.
Archaeologists from Austria have discovered an ancient box in the ruins of an ancient church. About this writes Miami Herald.
Excavations of an abandoned hilltop settlement in the municipality of Irschen, near Innsbruck, began in 2016. People lived there from about 300 to 610, and then it was abandoned. Archaeologists have found there the remains of several dwellings, temples and many other artifacts. In 2022, researchers stumbled upon the ruins of an early Christian church. Under the altar they discovered a small marble sarcophagus, and in it were fragments of an ivory box and pieces of wood. Their age was estimated at about one and a half thousand years.
The unexpected find turned out to be a reliquary, which was usually used to store the relics of saints or other valuable religious artifacts. Usually, such artifacts are taken first if a church has to be abandoned for some reason. However, this reliquary, or as they are also called, a reliquary or monstrance, was not taken.
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According to experts, the reliquary was broken during the period of the settlement’s existence. On the ivory fragments, archaeologists discovered several familiar biblical scenes, as well as several “very unusual and previously unknown” images.
“Presumably, the ark was also considered sacred. We know of about 40 similar ivory boxes around the world, and as far as I know, the last time such a box was found during an excavation was about 100 years ago,” said lead archaeologist at the excavation, Gerald Grabherr.
After discovering the fragile artifact, archaeologists transported the ivory box to a laboratory for a two-year conservation process. It took so long because the ivory had lain for many years in conditions of high humidity, and could crumble if dried suddenly. However, scientists managed to keep the find intact.
Previously, archaeologists from Spain found the oldest liquid wine in an urn with human bones. Archaeologists estimate its age at approximately 2000 years.
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