Enlarge / Scientists used neutron tomography to peer inside a medieval pendant, revealing five reliquary packages. Sabine Steidl, RGZM/Burkhard Schillinger, MLZ
In 2008, archaeologists excavating a medieval refuse pit in Mainz, Germany, discovered a heavily corroded pendant likely made in the late 12th century. But they were loath to open the pendant to find out what might be inside, lest they damage an already fragile artifact. Now technology has come to the rescue. Researchers from the Technical University of Munich scanned the pendant using neutron tomography, among other methods, and discovered it contained bone splinters—likely religious relics, i.e., the purported
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