>A few days ago, I posted an article announcing that archaeologists had discovered a nail that some believed to have originated in the first century, at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. For this reason, some people believed that the nail was similar to nails used by the Romans on Christ’s Cross.

However, Archaeologist Élvio Sousa of the Center for the Study of Modern and Contemporary Archeology (CEAM) on the Portuguese island of Madeira has denied that the nail came from the first century. In a statement released by CEAM, Souza called the alleged discovery of three Templar skeletons and a ‘crucifixion nail’ dating from the Roman era “a fantasy.” Élvio Duarte Martins Sousa is an archaeologist and researcher at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Below is the statement released by from CEAM:

Subject: Roman Relics (Board) found in Madeira (Forte São José).

The news published yesterday in England, on the assumed Roman relics found in archaeological excavations carried out at Fort São José,erected in the eighteenth century, at Funchal Port, Madeira, requiresthe following statement from the Scientific Council of CEAM:

1. Considering the scientific archaeological work done by CEAM at Fort São José (2004-2006), is manifestly false the news of the discovery of Roman objects, especially in an area (dig) that corresponds with the excavated area.

2. This dig identified, to the bedrock, objects dating from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although there are some traces that can date back to the seventeenth century.

3. The news of the findings of Romans relics is a “fantasy,” even more ridiculous by the sensationalist news of a wooden box (incredibly preserved, near the sea, over two thousand years), with three skeletons and three swords.

4. The nail that illustrates the news, if discovered inside the fort, it is just an object used in residential constructions during the early Moderns times (seventeenth and eighteenth centuries). Many nails like this were found in the excavations (2004-2006). Equally, the references to skeletons are also a creation, to give emphasis to the mythical theory.

5. This view is supported by the British archaeologist and expert at Roman archeology Brian Philp (Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit) who has been following the present study of archaeological materials in partnership with the Scientific Council of CEAM.

6. In conclusion: this is a pure imagination, without accuracy and scientific crediblity. We are not familiarized with Mr Christopher Macklin and Bryn Walters and we do not recognize in them, any authority in the findings within this Military construction.

Élvio Sousa

HT: Chris Cunnyngham

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Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Christ, Crucifixion, Cross, Nail

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