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A real stroke of luck: During excavations, the archaeology department of the University of Innsbruck came across a unique find that is around 1500 years old.
Innsbruck – All the sweat and hard work pays off: Archaeologists keep coming across spectacular finds at excavation sites. Most recently, when archaeologists discovered a spooky find during the Suedlink expansion. Now the University of Innsbruck a unique stroke of luck.
Century discovery in an early Christian church: Research team finds unique ivory box
“We know of about 40 such ivory boxes worldwide,” said Gerald Grabherr, who is in charge of the excavations. at the presentation of the findThe project began in 2016 and ultimately produced a unique piece. According to Grabherr, one of these specimens was last found “around 100 years ago”.
The Innsbruck archaeologists carried out excavations in the Carinthian municipality of Irschen in a late Roman hilltop settlement that had been abandoned since around the year 610. The early Christian church discovered there on the Burgbichl revealed what experts have dubbed the discovery of the century.
Marble shrine with special content: richly decorated pyxis made of ivory
This is a marble shrine measuring approximately 20 by 30 centimetres, which was excavated under the altar of the side chapel, as the Institute of Archaeology announced. But it was the content in particular that caused amazement and great joy in the team.
The shrine contained a richly decorated box (pyxis) made of ivory. A reliquary that is taken as the most sacred thing when a church is abandoned. This makes the discovery all the more astonishing. “The few pyxides that exist are either preserved in cathedral treasures or on display in museums,” explains Grabherr.
Around 1500 years old: Complex conservation process completed – find is being examined
In 2022, the approximately 1,500-year-old and very fragile reliquary was conserved by experts, led by Ulrike Töchterle, at the University of Innsbruck. Around two years later, the sensational discovery is ready for scientific examination. Most recently, researchers on the Baltic Sea came across a spectacular find that is said to be around 1,400 years old.
On the pyxis itself, motifs from the Old and New Testaments can be recognized. One motif is attributed to the “handing over of the laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, the beginning of the covenant between God and man,” as the archaeologist Grabherr explains. And “a depiction of the ascension of Christ” is also suspected.
Meanwhile, the investigations into the discovery of the century are still in full swing. The mystery of the archaeological find should soon be solved. This involves determining the origin of both the marble and the ivory. (mg)
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