Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Coffins hold answers Date: Sun, 15 Nov 92 16:56:27 EST Message-ID: \SE A;METROPOLITAN \HD Coffins hold answers \SH St. Mary's find thrills scientists \BY Darlene DePass \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES The opening of three 17th-century lead coffins in St. Mary's City may have failed to identify the bodies within, but scientists are still excited about the treasure chest of archaeological finds. "We have had an extraordinary find . . . an exceptional trove of historical and archaeological data," said Henry Miller, archaeologist and director of research for the project, said during a news conference yesterday. "We are extremely excited by the findings," Mr. Miller said. As research on the coffins continues, scientists say they will be able to answer a host of questions about diseases, diets and life in general more than 300 years ago. The coffins, the last and largest of which was opened Friday, were unearthed from the ruins of a 17th-century Roman Catholic church. Researchers were not able to identify the remains inside as belonging to Maryland's founding father, Philip Calvert, as was hoped. Calvert was Maryland's chancellor and governor from 1660 until his death in 1682. Friday's coffin revealed the body of a man about 5 feet 4 inches tall garbed in fragments of leather, linens and silk. A silk bow and large leather fastener rested beneath the chin and the skull had a full scalp of reddish-brown hair. Arthritic legs were still intact. The smallest coffin, opened Monday, contained the remains of a 5- or 6-month-old-baby. Pathologists said the child was anemic, but the cause of death was not clear. But the best-preserved remains were found in the coffin opened Wednesday. "The middle coffin is a female . . . older than 40," said Dr. Doug Owsley, a forensic anthropologist with the Smithsonian Institution. Experts have speculated the woman may have been Calvert's first wife, Anne Wolesey, and that the baby was the child of his second wife, Jane Sewall. A team of 43 archaeologists, geologists, pathologists, wood and pollen experts, and physicists worked on the project, which started two years ago with the discovery of the coffins. The foundation of the church was discovered eight years earlier. The techniques used in this investigation may be of use to scientists in coming decades, Mr. Miller said. Mark Moore, head of the Armed Forces Radio-Biology Institute, developed gamma-ray techniques that examined the remains before the coffins were opened. And high-powered microscopes paired with video equipment allowed scientists to magnify clothing fibers and bone fragments and watch their findings on TV. The equipment also helped detect a possible blood clot in the man's skull. "Blood, I never thought we'd find," Mr. Miller said. With hopes of learning about pre-industrial revolution air, samples were taken two weeks ago from the largest coffin, the only one that had been completely sealed. Tests indicate nitrogen, benzene, methane and another gas that has not yet been identified by NASA labs. The coffins lead walls were almost a half-inch thick and were lined with wood. Holes were found in the two smaller caskets, said Mr. Moore, who is head of the project's technical team. Later tests may tell more about the air in the biggest coffin, he said. Soil tests show the small coffin may have been moved to this burial site and that the grave was opened at least three times. Cranial casts and DNA tests will be used to reconstruct the faces of the bodies. The FBI will assist in this phase of the project in the hope that those interred can be indentified. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM