Laboratory to test relics

The University of OXFORD has opened a centre for the study of Christian relics. The initiative, launched at Keble College’s Advanced Studies Centre (ASC) in October, will, for the first time, bring together a team of experts in radiocarbon dating, genetics and theology. Previously, these disciplines have been studied separately.

The researchers aim to understand more about the origin, and movement around the world, of relics said to be of specific individuals.

 Their Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit was used to date the Shroud of Turin and remains that were attributed to St John the Baptist. More recent, currently unpublished, work has included an analysis of relics that were attributed to St Luke. In 2014, the team analysed remains of a small finger bone attributed to John the Baptist, dating the sample to 660-770 AD and so indicating the remains were not those of the saint.

“We want to find out the age and origin of the relics, whether they were from the same individuals, and where they were moved to,” said Tom Higham, deputy director of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit. Professor Higham added that it would not be possible to establish “with 100 per cent certainty” that relics belonged to a particular individual who is celebrated as a saint.

Georges Kazan of Oxford’s School of Archaeology said: “The Christian belief that relics were imbued with miraculous powers, granting benefits both in this world and the next, resulted in widespread demand and circulation. Scientific analysis has now shown that a number of relics attributed to specific saints are counterfeit or misidentified.”