Seriously, though, that sarcophagus shows a high order of skill. I wonder who carved it?
The Carolingian chapel at Aachen Cathedral is an outstanding work of art in its own right. The Byzantine influence is quite evident.
Posted on 02/05/2014 7:54:21 PM PST by SunkenCiv
German scientists have announced after almost 26 years of research that the bones interred for centuries at Aachen Cathedral are likely to be those of Charlemagne.
Researchers confirmed on Wednesday evening - 1,200 years to the day since Charlemagne died - that the 94 bones and bone fragments taken from the supposed resting place of the King of the Franks and founder of what was to become the Holy Roman Empire came from a tall, thin, older man.
The team first opened the sarcophagus of the first emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in secret in 1988 and presented their results for the first time on Wednesday.
One of the scientists studying the remains, Professor Frank Rühli, said: "Thanks to the results from 1988 up until today, we can say with great likelihood that we are dealing with the skeleton of Charlemagne."
From studying the dimensions of the upper arm, thigh and shin bones, scientists have built up a picture of the man behind the skeleton, and it matches descriptions of Charlemagne.
At 1.84 metres (six feet), he was unusually tall for his time. The team also estimated his weight at around 78 kilograms, giving him a slim body mass index of around 23.
Previous estimates had placed his height at between 1.79 metres and 1.92 metres.
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
Careful there ... you’re going to provide DUmmies the proof they desperately crave that there are a lot of inbreds on FreeRepublic.
...came from a tall, thin, older man.
***
Your comment is justified considering how poorly written the piece is, but the source article tells us that nearly all of these bones were found in the emperor’s sarcophagus.
I read in a genealogy magazine that somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the population in western Europe are direct descendants of Charlemagne.
Which is probably true considering conditions in Europe at that time.
I thought I was going to read an interesting bit on forensic archeology for an informed layman and instead was treated to an outtake from My Weekly Reader.But to be honest, I didn’t find the article at the link to be all that much better.
Oh, I had the same experience. But I think “My Weekly Reader” would have been a few steps up from this monstrosity.
Seriously, I checked to see if I was reading a poor translation from some French news story when I read this gem:
The team first opened the sarcophagus of the first emperor in western Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire in secret in 1988 and presented their results for the first time on Wednesday.
Follow-up: Looks like our boy found this blurb and tried to rework it. Well, I guess we can be glad he wanted to avoid plagiarism.
http://www.archaeology.org/news/1782-140131-charlemagne-bones-sarcophagus
Seriously, though, that sarcophagus shows a high order of skill. I wonder who carved it?
The Carolingian chapel at Aachen Cathedral is an outstanding work of art in its own right. The Byzantine influence is quite evident.
Or maybe imaginary?
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