Excavations conducted in Cahors have led to the discovery of a sarcophagus of the seventh century containing the well-preserved skeleton of an elderly woman from the Merovingian period, said Thursday the Lot Department. Opened on Tuesday, the sarcophagus, "a simple limestone tank covered with a roof with four-sided gable roof" and "sealed by a mortar joint" was buried near the forecourt in the process of redevelopment of the Lot Department, according to the release of the Department.
Buried near a probable monastery
The skeleton belongs to "an elderly female individual, testifying to osteoarthritis problems" and "buried without personal effect". The Merovingian rested near the church of St. Bartholomew, "located in the probable location of a monastery founded by Didier Cahors in the seventh century." "The sarcophagus could be located within the confines of this monastery and it seems that it was exposed in a place of passage," suggesting a certain rank of the lying, according to the Department.
The preventive excavations of the site, since July 22, 2019, also allowed to "collect a lot of Merovingian remains (pottery ...)" and to find "what seems to be traces of an old kitchen". The sarcophagus must join the collections of the Henri-Martin museum in Cahors, after a battery of studies conducted by the INRAP (National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research), which should allow to know more about its occupant and the period.