[Ansteorra] 600 Year Old Papal Seals Found in Toilet Shaft

[Christine Huse]

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Sensational find in Germany: 600 year-old Papal seals
Greifswald, Germany	
15 July 2005 12:34

In one of the most sensational archaeological
discoveries in Germany, four papal seals dating back
600 years have been uncovered from a medieval toilet
shaft in the northeastern city of Greifswald,
officials said on Thursday.

The four round seals cast in lead date to the papacy
of Pope Bonifatius IX (1389-1404). The 3,5cm seals,
each weighing about 50g, bear the inscription
"BONIFATIUS VIIII" on one side and images of the
apostles Peter and Paul on the other.

Regional archaeology office director Hauke Joens said
the find -- in the shaft of a toilet on the campus of
Greifswald University -- was "sensational".

He noted that over the years, individual papal seals
would occasionally be found in various places. But the
Greifswald find was the first in which several papal
seals were discovered.

The seals were first discovered last week by
archaeologist Joerg Ansorge.

"When I turned up the first one, I was completely
calm," Ansorge said. "But then when there was a
second, a third and a fourth, my pulse rate shot up
very high," the 40-year-old added.

The discovery came amid excavation work for new water
pipelines on the university campus. The seals were
buried in a wooden toilet shaft about 3m deep.

At this point, the archaeologists could only surmise
that the four papal seals had perhaps been contained
in a bag which was then given up for lost when it
inadvertently fell into the toilet. But another theory
was that the seals were thieves' booty.

The excavation work is part of renovation going on to
help Greifswald University prepare for its 550th
anniversary celebrations in 2006. Officials doubt that
the papal seals were in any way connected to the
university's official founding in 1456. - Sapa-DPA