A dissipation disposal company has key a plastered gold , glass , and leather casing containing a sherd of bone play along by a faded scrap of paper reading material “ Ex Oss . S. Clementis premier ” . This translates from Latin to " from the bones of S Clementis " – a pretty good index number that the object was trust to be a souvenir of Saint Clement of Rome , asomewhat mysterious figurein Christian history that conduct the church service as its second or third pope from approximately 88 AD to 99 AD .
The artifact was found by Enviro Waste employees as they sorted through a heap of rubble that was collected from several sites in central London .
Because the commercial and domestic garbage business firm are unable to pinpoint which pick-me-up site the grammatical case come from , they have establish an online public opinion poll wherein appendage of the populace can hint what organisation or entity should be intrust with it .
“ We know this is an important piece of history and are incisive to find the most appropriate place for its final resting place , ” the page says .
The saint , also known as Pope Clement I , is considered to have been the firstapostolic father , a set of Christian theologizer from the 1stand 2nd hundred who immediately proceeded – and perhaps personally knew – the 12 Apostles . Religious text imply Clement was a close disciple of St Peter , and that he was shun from Rome by Emperor Trajan . Soon after , around 100 to 110 advert , he was martyr when Roman soldiers tied him to an anchor and threw him into the sea as punishment for miraculously making a spring of water look while turn in a rock quarry prison camp .
According to fable , divine treatment caused his body to turn out from the sea , allowing followers to bury him on terra firma . Hundreds of years later , during the Middle Ages , most of his remains were then interred at theBasilica of San Clemente in Rome .
Devoted worshippers havebeen collecting relics – thought to alleviate miracle and bring chance – in the form of items that belonged to figures in life since the religious belief begin , yet most scholar hold that the practice of enshrine physical structure parts did not fall into fashion until several one C later .
By the Middle Ages , however , bodily relics were so valuable that a clearly un - holy industriousness of grave robbing , theft , and counterfeiting had sprung up to germ and deal them . And because most token have dubious origin stories to begin with , then transfer owners andreliquaries(the often - flowery containers that hive away them ) many time throughout their history , it is unremarkably impossible to constitute providence .
Thus , it is unlikely that investigator will be able-bodied to determine whether or not the osseous tissue fragment really amount from Clement , though experts are alreadyfairly certainthe wax - sealed glass container could not be 1,900 years former .
