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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 09/19/2008 : 22:54:06
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.... it's pretty much along the same lines as that blessed rag. ‘Ancient' Christian amulet exposed as modern hoax
Simon de Bruxelles
A silver cross regarded as one of the most important early Christian artefacts found in Britain is a modern fake, scientists confirmed yesterday.
The Chi-Rho Amulet, which bears an early Christian symbol incorporating the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek, was found in a 4th-century Roman grave near the Somerset town of Shepton Mallet in 1990.
Tests carried out by Dr Matthew Ponting, from the University of Liver-pool, revealed that the silver used to make the cross is of 19th-century origin. The test, using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), examined impurities in the metal. It also established that silver used to make the cross and the pierced disc that bears the Chi-Rho inscription comes from two sources.
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Seems that some folks were trying to prevent the destruction of a Roman grave site, and planted the artifact in the finest of Piltdownian tradition. Me, I can dig it. 
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Well, it ain't the Shroud of Turin, but.....
