A major find: Queen Edith, Alfred the Great's grand daughter. In a German church.
Why did medaieval bones 'get moved around a lot'?
I dont know. Does anyone have a good explanation for why there was so much 'moving around of the bones' in mediaval times? The People Of Beccles require to know. .....
And these professors: They say things like this:
"By micro-sampling, using a laser, we can reconstruct the sequence of a person's whereabouts, month by month up to the age of 14."
How clever? Really very very clever. I will attempt to formulate a series of academic questions designed to test the theory of 'Laser Whereabouts And Edith':
1. Where was Edith on December 14th 929?
2. Where was Edith on January the 12th at two am in the year 920?
3. Where did Edith spend her 14th birthday?
The People Of Beccles are concerned that the fourth bone-shifting event might, for Edith, be one too many and want to ensure the highest of moral and academic standards.
Angel Scotter has become aware of the possibilities of Strontium/Rubidium 'Radiometric Dating' and would like to suggest possible uses of the technology for the betterment of mankind. For Example:
A database might now be created wherein we can analyse the geological trace elements by way of dental deposits. Should this method of tracking individuals become refined beyond the age of 14 to say, the age of 26 (which is the most common age for terrorists to be actively terrorizing) Angel Scotter feels that the 226 CCTV cameras which were recently installed in order to recognise number plates and spy on people in Birmingham could, with some work, be replaced.
The rationale for this proposed revolution for the counter-terrorism industry is that dentistry is currently suffering it's lowest ever rates of recruitment. This would be an opportunity to re-invigorate both Dentistry and to solve our need to know the whereabouts of potential anti-social terrorising Moslems in Birmingham - and then - potentially - anywhere.
All that would be necessarry would be a six monthly check-up. There is absolutely no doubt, from what we already know about terrorists that they have teeth. They are as prone to all of the vagaries that this can involve from gum disease to root canal infections. The terrorists ability to lie (and therefore interfere with the gathering of 'intelligence') would be conveniently diminished by the use of vices, anaesthetics and muffling blood soakers.... ('soaklets').
Angel Scotter expects that even a five minute check up could furnish the dentist with the precise whereabouts of their patient-terrorist for up to 26 years before their visit. the People Of Beccles feel very strongly that had they been listened to earlier and this technology had been developed earlier that it would have been possible to have discovered the location of Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden (Smethwick) on any given day since 1976.
At a time when High Sugar Diets and The Terrorist Threat (See Gig Guide) walk hand in hand on our streets, The People Of Beccles are determined to ensure that Dentistry is not over-looked.
A senior adviser to David Cameron has given assurances that the matter will be fully and properly put in front of Mr Cameron and congratulated the people of Beccles on their un-ending foresight and wisdom.
ends.
----------
Original Telegraph Article:
Scientists have revealed that they think bones found in a German cathedral are those of one of the earliest members of the English royal family.
The remains of Queen Eadgyth, who died in 946, were excavated in Magdeburg Cathedral in 2008.
The granddaughter of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, the Saxon princess married Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 929.
The findings are due to be presented at the University of Bristol later.
A spokesman from the university said the bones were the oldest surviving remains of an English royal burial.
As the half sister of Athelstan, who is considered to have been the first king of all of England, Eadgyth had at least two children with Otto and lived most of her married life in Magdeburg, Saxony. She died aged about 36.
She was buried in the monastery of St Maurice but her bones were moved at least three times.
She was finally interred in an elaborate tomb at Magdeburg Cathedral in 1510, wrapped in silk in a lead coffin.
Continue reading the main story Eadgyth seems to have spent the first eight years of her life in southern England
Professor Mark Horton
University of Bristol
A study of the bones at the University of Mainz confirmed that the remains were those of a woman who died aged between 30 and 40.
Professor Kurt Alt found evidence that she was a frequent horse rider and ate a high-protein diet, including a lot of fish, hinting at her high status.
Director of the project Professor Harald Meller, of Germany's State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology, said: "Medieval bones were moved frequently and often mixed up, so it required some exceptional science to prove that they are indeed those of Eadgyth.
"It is incredible that we have been able to do this using the most recent analytical techniques."
Banished to a monastery
Crucial evidence came from the study of teeth in Eadgyth's upper jaw.
Researchers at the University of Bristol's Department of Archaeology and the Institute of Anthropology at Mainz University studied strontium and oxygen isotopes that mineralise in the teeth when they form.
Dr Alistair Pike, from the University of Bristol, explained: "By micro-sampling, using a laser, we can reconstruct the sequence of a person's whereabouts, month by month up to the age of 14."
The queen was interred in an elaborate tomb They found the isotope results exactly matched records of Eadgyth's childhood and adolescence in Wessex.
Professor Mark Horton said: "Eadgyth seems to have spent the first eight years of her life in southern England, but changed her domicile frequently, matching quite variable strontium ratios in her teeth. Only from the age of nine, the isotope values remain constant.
"Eadgyth must have moved around the kingdom following her father, King Edward the Elder, during his reign.
"When her mother was divorced in 919 - Eadgyth was between nine and 10 at that point - both were banished to a monastery, maybe Winchester or Wilton in Salisbury."
Her bones will be reburied in Magdeburg Cathedral later this year, 500 years after they were interred there in 1510.
No comments:
Post a Comment