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Tests of skull fail to support link to Swedish 14th century saint
Feb 16, 2010, 17:16 GMT
Stockholm - Tests of two skulls believed to be of a 14th century Swedish saint and her daughter do not support theories that they were related or even from that period, researchers said Tuesday.
Uppsala University researchers used DNA tests and radiocarbon dating, so-called C-14 technology, to study two skulls from a shrine in Vadstena Abbey in central Sweden.
Their findings do not support beliefs that one the skulls was of Saint Bridget, also known as Birgitta, who lived 1303-1373. She was canonized in 1391 and is a patron saint of Sweden.
After her death in Rome, Bridget's remains were taken to Vadstena and placed in the shrine in 1381. The shrine contained two skulls and 23 other bones.
The late Pope John Paul II in 1999 named her one of Europe's patron saints.
The other skull was believed to be of Bridget's daughter Catherine (Katarina), who lived 1331-1381.
'Our DNA analyses show that we can exclude a mother and daughter relationship,' said Associate Professor Marie Allen, whose team at Uppsala University's Department of Genetics and Pathology conducted the DNA study.
Citing the C-14 study, Professor Goran Possnert of the university's Tandem Laboratory concluded that one of the the skulls was from 'the period 1470-1670' - at least 100 years after Bridget's death.
The study was commissioned by the parish of Vadstena.
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