It is in this vault in the basement of the Aquitaine museum, that a coffin with a plaque bearing the name of Montaigne, was discovered.
-
M.Bosredon / 20Minutes
A second campaign of excavations on the presumed burial of Michel de Montaigne is underway in the basements of the Aquitaine museum.
The specialists opened the lead container in which rested the remains which will be carefully analyzed.
They may be able to say that this is the remains of the philosopher during the year 2021, especially after possible DNA comparisons.
"It is an adult individual, male but at this stage we do not yet know if it is Michel de Montaigne, we hope for a response in 2021", said Friday the archaeologist-anthropologist in charge. of Operation Hélène Réveillas, somewhat disappointing her audience.
The suspense surrounding the remains of the philosopher, who died in 1592, still remains intact.
It must be said that scientifically proving that the remains are those of the author of the
Essays
is not an easy task.
If he was buried in the Feuillants convent, now the Aquitaine museum, in Bordeaux, the movements of his remains for renovations and after a fire muddy the waters a little.
"We know that on April 11, 1886, he was reburied in the Palais des Facultés, now the Aquitaine museum", underlines Laurent Védrine, the director of the museum.
It is after this date that we lose track of the coffin.
Leftovers combed through
In 2018, the Aquitaine museum carried out investigations in its basement, during an operation to restore the cenotaph, a tomb without a body, and discovered a wooden coffin.
A first excavation campaign has already taken place in 2019 and had begun to study the tomb and the coffin, without opening the lead container that it housed.
It is a team dressed in overalls, charlottes, masks and gloves to avoid any contamination of the premises who carefully unsealed the lead container, holding their breath.
We guessed the delighted look of the specialists under the masks in front of the very good state of conservation of the remains.
About twenty experts are now working to analyze the bones, tissues, various organic materials and even insects that have been found there.
"Each square with a size of 0.25 mm will be sifted, in particular to try to find kidney stones (from which the writer suffered), points out the archaeologist-anthropologist.
We also know that his heart was removed, which remained in Dordogne, and it is an operation that can leave marks on the bones ”.
DNA tests to come
At this stage, scientists can attest that what they discovered corresponds to the funeral rites of the time of Michel de Montaigne and there is no evidence against the hypothesis that the Musée d'Aquitaine houses the last home of the philosopher.
But, we will have to wait for the next analyzes and among them, a carbon 14 dating and a facial reconstruction that will be compared to the many portraits of the scholar to establish certainties.
The skeleton, almost entire, has been well preserved but the quality of the bones does not prejudge the possibility of DNA sampling, warns the archaeo-anthropologist.
The historian Laurent Coste is also looking for a descendant of the philosopher so that a DNA comparison can be possible.
In a small cylinder, also in lead, found in the same crypt as the coffin, the translation report of Michel de Montaigne's remains has been updated.
"It's a parchment slipped into a pharmacy flask that bears witness to what was here, it's like a bottle in the sea", marvels Laurent Védrine, director of the Aquitaine museum.
But beware, for the scientific team it does not have the value of proof since an administrative error is always possible.
The demonstration that this burial is that of the philosopher still remains to be done.
Bordeaux
VIDEO.
Bordeaux: "exceptional" discovery of Merovingian sarcophagi
Bordeaux
Bordeaux: The discovery of an ancient necropolis will not delay the real estate project on the site
Archeology
Aquitaine
History
Culture
writer
Philosophy