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Knights Templar Tomb Discovered in France
Posted on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 (CDT) by Isis
 A hidden tomb in the mountains of the Languedoc region of southwest France has the archaeological community buzzing, and Lakehead University's Paleo DNA Laboratory has played a role in creating that buzz. Lakehead University will be part of the panel at a media conference today in New York City to talk about the discovery.
The remote site holds a mummified corpse under a shroud which bears the distinct red cross of the Knights Templar. It lies on a rose-colored plinth, surrounded by wooden chests, some open and revealing a cache of gold chalices and coins. This unprecedented discovery - what appears to be an intact Knight's Templar burial - will be revealed in the documentary film Bloodline, which premieres in U.S. theatres in May 2008.
Bloodline Director Bruce Burgess explains there were rumours dating back to the end of the 13th Century Crusades which indicated the Templars had excavated beneath the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, and on returning to France, had hidden some priceless relics in the area south of Carcassonne. "The relics - possibly documents, and even the embalmed remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene - have all been speculation until now," Burgess says, and adds that "Thanks to this discovery, all that may soon change."
The
discovery of the tomb has been officially reported to the French
Government, and plans for a full-scale excavation are under way. In
providing some historical background on the issue, Bloodline Producer
Rene Barnett states "When the French King ordered the arrest of the
Templars and the seizure of their assets in 1307, very little of their
gold, treasure, or relics were ever found. Many historians and scholars
believe these items were buried in various secret locations in the
Languedoc."
So far, access to the tomb
has been restricted to a small air shaft, down which the film team has
sent a remote camera. No relics have been removed from the tomb, but
hair follicles extracted from the skull of the mummy have been tested
for mitochondrial DNA by Lakehead University's DNA experts. "Like most
ancient or degraded samples, we knew our best chance for successful
results would be to focus our efforts on mitochondrial DNA," says Paleo
DNA Laboratory Operations Supervisor Renee Fratpietro. "Lakehead's
Paleo DNA Lab specializes in amplifying short overlapping segments of
DNA using our state-of-the-art contamination-controlled environment."
The facility is designed to ensure the integrity of results produced,
and is thus sought after for such cases where DNA quantities are low
and require amplification by a factor of a million times. "Once we
obtained genetic information from the DNA amplification," adds
Fratpietro, "we were able to determine the Middle Eastern maternal
origins of the individual based on haplotyping information. The whole
process took about three weeks. It wasn't until after we found out from
where this hair sample came that we realized the significance of this
work."
"This is certainly a very
intriguing discovery," says Commissioner of Archaeology for the DRAC,
the Ministry of Culture and Communication in the Languedoc-Roussillon
area Jean-Pierre Giraud. "However, it's just too early to tell how
important it is. We need to do a full survey of the site to determine
the age of the corpse and the other items in the tomb. The archaeology
department of the DRAC-LR will carry out an examination of the site as
soon as access is made possible."
Copyright: NetNewsledger.com
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