Joan of Arc’s Reported Remains to Be Tested

A team of scientists hopes to crack one of the layers of mystery surrounding 15th century French heroine Joan of Arc: Could a rib and other fragments recovered after she was burned at the stake be hers?

Eighteen experts plan a battery of tests on the few remains reportedly recovered from the pyre where the 19-year-old was burned alive for heresy -- including a rib bone and some skin. The tests, which will take six months, will not be able to say for certain that the remains are Joan of Arc’s because there is no known DNA sample from her to compare them with. But they will be able to determine if the remains could not be hers.