Bones in Bulgaria May Be of John the Baptist

THE GIST

• The relics found in a small marble sarcophagus two years ago on a Bulgarian island called Sveti Ivan.
• Bulgarian archaeologists had found a small box made of hardened volcanic ash close to the sarcophagus.
• A research team from Oxford University dated the right-handed knuckle bone to the first century AD. 

Discovery News - Scientists have found new evidence they say supports the theory that a knuckle bone and other human remains found under a church floor in Bulgaria may be of John the Baptist.

The relics found in a small marble sarcophagus two years ago on a Bulgarian island called Sveti Ivan, which translates as Saint John, also included a human tooth, part of a skull and three animal bones.

A research team from Oxford University dated the right-handed knuckle bone to the first century AD, when John is believed to have lived until his beheading ordered by king Herod, the university said in a statement.

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