A sarcophagus believed to be from the Middle Ages that was found buried under the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is to be opened and studied. People were shocked as they watched the 20th century Gothic landmark of Paris burn in 2019. France quickly began working to restore the national treasure, and the project has brought surprises that no one would have known without the fire. Archaeologists discovered the ancient sarcophagus while working on the reconstruction of the bell tower last month. The stone coffin was found 65 feet underground, under the red brick pipes of a 19th-century heating system. However, the sarcophagus is believed to be much older – probably from the 14th century. France’s national institute of archeological research, INRAP, said yesterday that it planned to open the sarcophagus and find out as many details as possible. The coffin was removed from the cathedral on Tuesday and is kept in a safe place until it is transferred to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the southwestern city of Toulouse. The sarcophagus is believed to be from the Middle Ages (Image: Getty) Archaeologists have promised to treat the body according to the French civil code (Image: Getty) To view this video, enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Chief archaeologist Christophe Besnier told a news conference that his team would work to determine the sex of the deceased, his state of health and even his social status. While carbon dating will determine all biological data, the team will study how the individual was buried to determine their order. It is already believed that the man was quite elite – given the place and style of his burial. If this is the case, the person’s name should appear in the diocese’s burial register. But the head of INRAP, Dominique Garcia, made sure to emphasize that the body would be treated with all the respect that any other human body would do. He said: “The human body is not an archeological object. “As human remains, the civil code applies and archaeologists will study it as such.” It is still being decided whether the sarcophagus will be returned to the Notre Dame Cathedral as soon as it is rebuilt. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
