The 2019 fire at Notre - Dame de Paris has bring out yet another of the duomo ’s arcanum : the twelfth - one C mediaeval - style construction is the first such social organization known to be construct with an branding iron skeleton in the closet .
Theblaze devastatedthe iconic duomo , which is still undergoing fix almost four years later . Still , among the scorched ruin , a issue of incredible finds have emerged , includingtwo hint sarcophagithat have since been opened . Now , the fire has allowedarchaeologiststo access code and analyze the Fe staple used to constipate Isidor Feinstein Stone together during thebuilding ’s structure .
The proficiency has never before been document in architecture of this time period , make Notre - Dame , build in the 1160s , the first building of its type to be bolster up by iron raw material throughout its social organisation and something of a wonder of medieval introduction .
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Iron staples in Notre-Dame’s top walls (a), columns of the nave (b), and tribunes (c). Image credit: L’Héritier et al., PLOS ONE, 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
This , the authors of a new study on the finding say , could help explain the cathedral ’s extraordinary tiptop : with a nave reaching 35 meters ( 115 feet ) and two 69 - meter ( 226 - foundation ) towers , it was the tallest construction ever erect at the time of its construction .
" When we studied other Gothic churches of that time period , none used iron in their construction , " lead author Maxime L’Héritier toldLive Science . " We consider that the staples were what enable them to build this structure at such a terrifying height . "
L’Héritier and colleagues sampled 12 iron staples from different locations in the duomo , let in the tribunes , nave aisles , and upper wall , and were capable to date six of them using a type of radiocarbon dating . The staples , which measured up to 50 centimetre ( 20 inch ) in duration , were used in the earliest phases of construction , the team found , placing them in the mid-12th century .
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The checked cornice of the choir with its series of staples. Image credit: L’Héritier et al., PLOS ONE, 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
“ carbon 14 dating reveals that Notre - Dame de Paris is indisputably the first Gothic duomo where atomic number 26 was thought of as a genuine building material to create a new form of computer architecture , ” the writer said in astatement . “ The medieval builders used several thousand of iron staples throughout its construction . ”
As well as highlighting architectural innovation , the study sheds some light on the iron market in 12th and thirteenth century Paris , although further analysis of the samples is require before those secrets are to be full revealed .
The study is publish inPLOS ONE .
