Part of the floor of Notre Dame was decided to be opened after a raging fire in the church.
Paris a lead sarcophagus and hundreds of other archaeological treasures have been unearthed under the floor of the world-famous Notre Dame Cathedral, according to the news agency AFP.
Notre Dame burned down three days ago on April 15, 2019. Among other things, the iconic tower of the church was badly destroyed. The President of France Emmanuel Macron has promised that the church will be reopened to the public in 2024.
Prior to repairing the tower, part of the church floor had to be opened to ensure that heavy scaffolding was safe to build on top of it.
Excavations have found medieval statues, sculptures, tombs and parts of the church’s original shell. In medieval churches, the beetle was separated from the parish of the priest and choir, and the notre Dame’s fence was thought to have mostly disappeared, according to a British newspaper The Guardian.
The team of archaeologists will have to work quickly, as the cathedral is to be opened to the public within five years.
French experts according to the discovery is “significant and emotional”.
“We found all of these riches just 10 to 15 inches deep under the floor tiles. It was completely unexpected, ”commented the chief archaeologist Christophe Besnier According to The Guardian.
“It was an emotional moment. Suddenly we had several hundred objects from small fragments to large pieces, carved hands, feet, faces, ornaments, and plants. Some objects still have colors. ”
Archaeologists estimate that hundreds of more objects would be found if the floor were opened over a wider area.
Beneath the floor were exposed statues that belonged to the cathedral’s original shell.
Men found a lead sarcophagus at a depth of 20 meters in the middle of a 19th-century heating pipeline. However, the sarcophagus is suspected to be older, from about the 14th century. The sarcophagus was found in a pile of land that also had 14th-century furniture.
Sarcophagus has been studied with a camera and is known to contain a skeleton, a canvas, and some objects. The head of the skeleton rests on a leaf pillow.
The sarcophagus was taken out of the church on Thursday and will be opened next, French archaeologists said. INRAP Institute at a press conference on Thursday.
Researchers are working to determine the sex, age, and health status of the skeleton, Besnier commented.
“If it turns out that the skeleton is from the Middle Ages, it’s a very special way of burial,” Besnier said at a news conference, according to AFP.
Based on the manner and place of burial, the deceased is a representative of the elite of his time.
An ornament depicting a Gothic building found under the floor.
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