Indagini sulle reliquie attribuite a "san Luca Evangelista", Basilica di Santa Giustina in Padova: studio micropaleontologico dei depositi alluvionali rinvenuti nella bara plumbea

The sarcophagus of the coffin containing remains attributed to St. Luke Evangelist has various encrustations of sedimentary (terrigenous) origin. The walls reveal three layers, probably the result of three successive submersions. Ten samples were taken from these encrustations, and their coarse and fine fractions were analysed. The coarse fraction contains many organic remains, including microscopic crustaceans (ostracods), probably from a freshwater environment, and transparent spherules (perhaps pollens or spores). The presence of ostracods and “pollens” indicates prolonged contact with fluvial and lacustrine/marshy waters. The fine fraction contains fossil limestone phytoplankton (calcareous nannofossils) belonging to three different epochs (Cretaceous, Paleocene-Lower Oligocene, Pliocene-Present), well represented in formations in the Veneto area. These last data indicate that the coffin was submerged and remained under water several times in the Paduan area.