Oxford team to date `bones' of St David

Archaeologist Paul Pettit examining bone, believed to be that of St David

The University's Radiocarbon Accelerator Laboratory on Keble Road is to analyse bones thought to be the remains of three Celtic saints, including St David, the patron saint of Wales. St David's Cathedral has sent the bones to the laboratory in the hope that its renowned radio-carbon dating technique can unravel the legend that St David's body was buried on the site of the cathedral. According to cathedral records, following St David's death in ad 589, his remains were buried in a shrine which was then destroyed in the 16th century. When bones were discovered in 1866 behind the altar, the claim was made that they were those of the Welsh saint. Professor Robert Hedges, Fellow of St Cross and Director of the Laboratory, who is leading the project, said pathologists' research indicated that the remains contain femur bones, which appear to be from three different skeletons. The results of radiocarbon dating might lend validity to the story that St Justinian and St Caradog were also buried close to St David in the cathedral. The key is in the dates, as St David's and St Justinian's bones are believed to have been buried within a short space of time, with St Caradog's added later. The Dean of St David's Cathedral, the Very Revd John Wyn Evans (Jesus College, 1975), who studied archaeology himself, remains sceptical: `In the 12th century nobody knew where they were, and then they suspiciously re-emerged in 1866'. He believes that the legend was deliberately fostered in the 1920s, and points out that, in any case, it was the relics of saints not the bodies which were considered sacred. Radiocarbon dating is used to test the age of organic matter, but it does have an error-margin of 50 to 100 years. It cannot therefore unequivocally confirm the identity of the relics, but the research should provide some insight into the historical records and legend. According to Professor Hedges, the standard technique to be used involves drilling out 200mg of bone from each sample, followed by chemical work to extract and purify the protein, converting it to carbon dioxide, and then to graphite. The ratio of radiocarbon-14 to ordinary carbon indicates the age: the older the sample, the lower the carbon-14 content. The Laboratory expects to release its findings in March.