Famous Forensic Cases

New forensic tests have shown that bones believed to be the remains of French icon and heroine Joan of Arc are in fact Egyptian in origin. Forensic scientist Dr Philippe Charlier says the remains include a charred human rib from an Egyptian mummy and the thigh bone of a cat.

Dr Charlier, from the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, near Paris, obtained permission to study the relics from the France's Catholic Church last year.

He used a range of scientific tests such as spectrometry, electron microscopy, and pollen analysis.

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Joan of Arc remains 'are fakes'

The bones came from a mummy, Philippe Charlier says
Bones thought to be the holy remains of 15th Century French heroine Joan of Arc were in fact made from an Egyptian mummy and a cat, research has revealed.

In 1867, a jar was found in a Paris pharmacy attic, along with a label claiming it held relics of Joan's body.

But new forensic tests suggest that the remains date from between the third and sixth centuries BC - hundreds of years before Joan was even born.

The study has been reported in the news pages of the Nature journal.

Forensic scientist Dr Philippe Charlier, who led the investigation, told Nature: "I'd never have thought that it could be from a mummy." 


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