Exhumation of the mummified body found in the ruins of the former abbey of Soissons, in the Aisne. – Drac Hauts-de-France / Regional Archeology Service
An unexpected and exceptional discovery. The mummified body of a 13th-century abbot, wearing a crosier and a mantle and in an excellent state of preservation, was unearthed at the end of October, during
excavations of the former Saint-Médard Abbey of Soissons, in l’Aisne .
The archaeologists found the remains under a tombstone located in the crypt of the ruins of the abbey church. The body was placed on a sheet of lead. A mystery for archaeologists: the head surrounded by a lead envelope, cut on purpose in front of the face.
Continuation of the laboratory excavation
Apart from the body, covered with a ceremonial mantle embroidered with gold and shod, the burial contained a wooden butt. The garment “must have been sumptuous, if we manage to save it it will be extraordinary”, enthuses Denis Defente, archaeologist in charge of the excavation site.
The entire burial was entrusted to the ARC-Nuccléart laboratory at the Grenoble Atomic Energy Center. It will be irradiated there to “stop the degradation of organic elements”, before the continuation of the “laboratory excavation” and DNA analyzes, specifies Denis Defente.
A very prestigious site at the beginning of the Middle Ages
According to the tombstone under which the burial was discovered, the body would be that of Abbé Alberic de Braine, who died on May 3 800.
The Saint-Médard Abbey, of Merovingian origin was “very prestigious at the beginning of the Middle Ages”, recalls Jean-Luc Collart, regional curator of archeology at the Drac of Hauts-de-France. It was in Soissons that Pepin the Brief, King of the Franks, was crowned. An exhibition related to this discovery is considered in 2021.