The festive season has finally make it , so stock up on eggnog , roll up your present , and let ’s play around with the bone of Santa Claus !
archaeologist at the University of Oxford have recently been studying a fragment of pearl which , agree to legend , belonged to Saint Nicholas , the saint who inspired the image of Santa Claus .
Due to his association with Christmas , legion churches around the existence claim to have bone belong to Saint Nicholas , fetch into doubt whether these bones are all from the same person . This particular bone fragment was get in Lyon , France , by Father Dennis O’Neill , yet most of the stiff of Saint Nicholas are widely weigh to dwell in the Basilica di San Nicola in southern Italy , with another batch at a church in Venice .
This new project is the first of its variety to affirm the bone shard ’s legitimacy . Radiocarbon date of the off-white find it dates to around 4th century CE . Since Saint Nicholas go in 343 CE , the researchers have strong reason to conceive that the relic is authentic . Yep , Santa is real , after all .
" Many relics that we meditate turn out to appointment to a full point somewhat afterward than the historic attestation would evoke , ” Professor Tom Higham , Director of the Oxford Relics Cluster at Keble College ’s Advanced Studies Centre , said in astatement . “This osseous tissue fragment , in contrast , suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains from St Nicholas himself . "
Even more interestingly , this solicitation of bones in Italy does not include a pelvis . However , depth psychology of the Father O’Neill os fragment show up that it was part of the left pubis , acting as further evidence that both bones could be from the same someone – perhaps the one and only Santa Claus .
Saint Nicholas , or should we say , Santa Claus , wasa 4th century CE saintwho lived in Myra , present - day Turkey . The story goes that Saint Nick was a wealthy white - haired do - gooder who was highly generous to the community ( you could see where the fable occur from).Like many Christian nonsuch , Saint Nicholas was also oppress , in this sheath by the Roman Emperor Diocletian . After he died in advanced - day Turkey , his castanets were sold off by a mathematical group of Italian merchants , with most of them ending up in Italy ’s Basilica di San Nicola .
Dr Georges Kazan , one of the lead archeologist on the project , tote up : " These solution encourage us to now sprain to the Bari and Venice souvenir to attempt to show that the osseous tissue stay are from the same individual . We can do this using ancient palaeogenomics , or desoxyribonucleic acid testing . It is exciting to consider that these keepsake , which date from such an ancient metre , could , in fact , be true . "
