Bloodline News: Oxford University dates priest's papers to 19TH century

Oxford University’s Radio Carbon Lab have carried out a ‘carbon 14’ dating analysis on a sample of one of the ‘clue’ papers, signed by Berenger Sauniere and discovered in a series of glass bottles by Ben Hammott, and confirmed that the paper and ink dated from before 1919. They said the mostly likely date was somewhere between 1867 and 1919, almost exactly the same dates that the priest was at Rennes-le-Chateau. This further rules out the possibility of them being a modern forgery or hoax.

Bruce said: “This is great news for all of us who believe in Ben and his discoveries. There has been a lot of speculation about the provenance of the messages left in the bottles, but now even the staunchest critics will have to eat their hats!”

Rene added: “I think we’re slowly peeling back more and more layers of the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery, and getting closer and closer to what made the priest break with his faith and with Rome. The results of this carbon 14 analysis means it very likely that Sauniere did write those clues and confessions, which in turn adds weight to the fact that the priest did bury the relics Ben found, and that they both discovered the same tomb in the mountain.”

Ben Hammott said: “I’m thrilled with these results. I always believed that they may have been written by Berenger Sauniere and now, in addition to the handwriting and signature analysis, we have proof that they were written during the same period that he was at Rennes-le-Chateau.”