Skin Debris on the Hairs of Holy Maria-Magdalena: A SEM-EDX Analysis

Author(s): Gerard Lucotte

We have found, by SEM observations and EDX-analyses, numerous skin debris kept on the surfaces of the hairs of Maria-Magdalena. Some of them are of very recent origin, but most are more ancient. A few of them, located near cut extremities of hairs, are those of the fingers that cut these hairs (that were initially longer). Some of these skin debris are dirty or/and salted. We observed also on some hairs quasi-intact dandruff piles. We have determined the soap (a “black soap”, potassium-rich) that washed the hairs. Finally we have found among hairs and studied in details two samples of epidermal micro-plaques, two pieces of skin shreds (one of them being conserved by salt), and one sample of scalp shred containing osseous material.

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