Marine Micro-Remains on Holy Maria-Magdalena’s Hair, Studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Elemental Analysis

As a new contribution to the scientific knowledge of Holy Maria-Magdalena’s remains, we have studied by SEM-EDX some mineral particles and micro-organism debris adhering to her hair. We found on it mineral particles of gypsum, aragonite and salt, algae fragments, microorganism as diatoms, coccoliths and tintinnides, and micro-debris of Crustaceans. Such marine micro-remains indicate a past close contact of the hair with sea water.


Introduction
Holy Maria-Magdalena (3?-63?), named here Marie-Madeleine, is the most abundantly cited women of the four Gospels. There were some places (notably Palestine) where Marie-Madeleine could be buried. According to the French "tradition des Saints de Provence" (Trouillet, 2016), she (and her companions) landed to the present French Mediterranean shores (in a region corresponding to the current part of Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-mer) and attained further the towns of Marseilles and Aix-en-Provence (where they evangelized the Provence region).
Some relics (cranium, bones and hairs) of the presumed Marie-Madeleine were kept in the Saint-Maximin basilica, where a large lock of Marie-Madeleine's Archaeological Discovery Figure 1. Above: a SEM photograph (in LFD, 600×) of the marine island located on hair number 8. G: a gypsum particle; Si: a silice particle; D: a diatom (the red rectangle area is enlarged in a following figure); A: two parts of the thalle of an algae. The black dot in the algae superior part indicates the location where elemental analyses are realized. Below: the spectras. Upper spectrum that of the G particle; medium spectrum: that of the Si particle; lower spectrum: that of the A superior part. C: carbon; O: oxygen; Fe (three peaks): iron; Na: sodium; Si: silicium; S: sulphur; Ca (two peaks): calcium; Ti: titanium.

Mineral Particles
The SEM photograph of Figure 2 shows the appearance of the mineral powder covering some part of hair number 1 (the longest). This powder is constituted of two different sorts of micro-particles: that of well shaped forms (as for example the triangular particle number 2, located outside of the hair) and that of the most broadcasted forms (as exemplified in the zone 1 of the photograph) which correspond to the dissolved product.
Spectrum of 2 is characterized by relative high contents of sulphur and calcium. It corresponds, as the G particle of Figure 1, to some form of calcium  of a hair number 1 portion (1: some part of the surface of the hair, covered with very fine micro-particles; 2: a mineral particle located outside of the hair surface; Ag: a particle of silver). Below: lower spectrum (spectrum of 1). Upper spectrum (spectrum of 2). C: carbon; O: oxygen; Si: silicium; P: phosphorous; S (two peaks): sulphur; K: potassium; Ca (two peaks): calcium.
sulphate of the gypsum type (CaSO 4 •2H 2 O). Spectrum of 1 (with the same elemental composition of that of 2) corresponds to the anhydrite form (CaSO 4 ).
Most of the hairs contain at least some traces of gypsum deposits at their surfaces. Figure 3 shows the example of one gypsum deposit on some part of a   But another sort of particles (numbered 1 to 10 on the photograph) of the pile are of some different form (they are smaller, and generally lumped to each other) and aspect in RX (they are less bright to electrons). Their spectras, relatively rich in carbon, oxygene and calcium, are those of a calcium carbonate. It corresponds to some form of aragonite (CaCO 3 ), of the same chemical formulae to that of calcite, but that crystallizes in the orthorhombic system.
Only two particles of salt were found on the hair surfaces. The first one ( Figure 5) is a fine powder of salt (ClNa) found at the border of some part of hair number 10. The second, located on some part of hair number 2 surface, is a particle of more than 20 µm of maximal length and with some tormented outlines  portion (1 -10: little mineral particles). Below: spectrum at the black dot; upper spectrum: 1 -10 spectras.
( Figure 6); its spectrum is more complex than that of the first salt particle, including notably some part of potassium chloride (KCl) in its spectrum. By this way it looks like a conglomerate of marine salt.
Supplementary Figure 1 gives the aspect and composition of a commercial powder of marine salt, used here as the marine salt powder of reference. Examination of this powder shows that it is constituted of sodium chloride, potassium chloride and magnesium chloride particles.

Diatoms
Diatoms are monocellular algae shut away in a theque (the frustule) of silica  (Steckbach & Kocialek, 2011). The first complete diatom observed is that represented in photographs of Figure 7: it is a circular diatom (located at the vicinity of hair number 2), of a mean diameter of about 15 µm and with many pores at the periphery of the frustule. Its elemental composition is silicium-rich.   Diatoms observed are of the Centric category. They are probably (Ludes & Coste, 1996) of the species Thalassiosiraweissfloggii for the specimen shown on Figure 7, and of the species Paraliasulcata for that shown on Figure 9; both are marine species. In their determination (Charlier et al., 2017) suggest that the only species of diatoms they observed on the hair surfaces of Marie-Madeleine is Cyclotellameneghiniana.

Coccoliths
Coccolith are marine monocellular algae, characterized by their shield (the coccosphere, constituted of multiple micro-plaques) of calcium carbonate. In fact,  the photograph of Figure 10 shows two of them (numbered 1 and 2) near the diatom; they are of oblong forms (measuring 5.8 µm of maximal length) and of calcium carbonate composition.
The photographs of Figure 11 show detailed views (both in LFD and in CBS) of an example of one coccolith located near some portion of hair number 10.
The form is ovoid, and with a maximal length of about 8.5 µm. This sample is given here because it has a typical (non-altered) form, shape and aspect; micro-plaques constituting the coccosphere are clearly visible (they are jointive, and of approximate dimensions of about 1 -2 µm each). The corresponding spectrum is highly calcium-rich.   We found coccolith samples in almost all of the ten hairs studied; but, for unknown reasons, hair number 2 contains the greatest number (up to 46 samples were accounted on its) of coccoliths observed.  All the coccolith specimens observed here belong to the same species (Heimdal, 1993). According to shape, dimensions and peculiarities in micro-plaque morphology, this species is probably Sphaerocalyptraquadridentata (commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea).

Tintinnids
Tintinnids are all members of the suborder Tintinia; they are planktonic Ciliates, a group of microorganisms playing an important role in marine pelagic food webs. Characterized by the possession of a lorica, tintinnids have been catalogued in various plankton collections (Corliss, 1979).
The first specimen of tintinnid observed is shown on Figure 15. A second tintinnid specimen, located near hair number 9, is shown on the photograph of Figure 16, Somehow deformed, we can distinguish the superior point of the triangular form of the lorica (at the right corner of the photograph).
As for the previous specimen, lorica ornamentation is made up of small micro-plaques (of triangular, but with more acute forms) of calcium carbonate. A third tintinnid specimen, located on hair number 10, is shown on the photograph of Figure 17. Of more little size (of about 6 µm of maximal length), it emerges from a corresponding micro-cavity of the hair. The superior point of the lorica is well visible at the bottom of the photograph.
The more characteristic tintinnoid specimen is that shown on the photograph of Figure 18; it is braced to anotherpart of hair number 10. Its triangular outlines are clearly shown on the photograph, the superior point of the triangle being at the left inferior part. Lorica ornamentation is made of very little micro-plaques, also of triangular forms. The highly resolutive spectrum of the cytoplasm shows that it is mainly constituted of organic material (carbon and oxygen) plus some sulphur component.
All the five specimens observed belong to the same species (based on the form and dimensions of the lorica):Rhabdonella spiralis, which is a relatively commonly observed Tintinoid in the Gulf of Marseilles (Travers & Travers, 1971).

Algae Fragments
Photography of Figure 19 shows another thalle' fragment of an algae, which portion of them shows the same characteristics to those of the previous specimen: importance of the organic matter, relatively high content of potassium relatively to calcium, presence of ClNa; we can conclude that this specimen is also one of some marine thalle algae.
Supplementary Figure 2 gives the aspect and composition of a thalle fragment of Fucus of reference. Micro-structural aspect of the thalle and its spectrum are similar to those of the third thalle fragment studied. We deduced that this thalle fragment is of the fucussort. it is mainly constituted of organic matter, that of the chitine (C 8 H 13 NO 5 )n; it contains appreciable amount of calcium carbonate, but also some part of calcium phosphate; it has a high content of sulphur (these two last distinctive features being highly crustacean specifics of their exoskeleton). Photographs of Figure 22 show several samples of binamous appendage portions, located on hair number 4 and 5. The spectrum of that located on hair number 4 surface contains chitine mainly, with an elevated level of calcium carbonate, a relatively amount of sulphur, and some part of calcium phosphate. The

Discussion
Exploration of the surfaces of ten Marie-Madeleine's hairs permits us to detect numerous micro-remains of marine origin. These remains (Table 2) are minerals, diatoms, coccoliths, tintinnides, and micro-fragments of algaes and crustaceans. One deposit on hair 1 Figure 2 One deposit on hair 3 Figure 3 Another deposit (crystals in "fer de lance") on hair 3 Figure 4 One deposit on hair 8 Figure 1 Aragonite Ten characteristic crystals on hair 3 Figure 5 Salt (two specimens observed) A salt deposit on hair 10 Figure 5 A marine salt deposit on hair 2 Figure 6 Diatoms (four specimens observed) One on hair 1 Figure 8 One on hair 2 Figure 7 One on hair 8 Figure 9 One on hair 9 Figure 10 Coccoliths (located on almost all of the hairs) One on hair 2 Figure 12 Another on hair 2 Figure 13 Five others on hair 2 Figure 14 Two on hair 9 Figure 10 One on hair 10 Figure 11 Tintinnids (four specimens observed) One near hair 4 Figure 15 One near hair 9 Figure 16 One on hair 10 Figure 17 Another on hair 10 Figure 18 Thalle fragments of an algae Two fragments on hair 8 Figure 1 One fragment on hair 10 Figure 19 A relative big portion near hair 5 Figure 20 Fragment of a crustacean shell On hair 8 Figure 21 Fragments of crustacean appendages On hairs 4 and 5 Figure    That establishes that the hairs of the corresponding person were soaked with some sort of marine environment, that of the sea water. According to the "tradition des Saints de Provence" (Franzoni, 2015) Marie-Madeleine, at the last period of her life, retired for thirty years in a cave of the Mountains of the Sainte-Baume.
That we know is the present composition of this cave ceiling (Supplementary . This sort of cement was find during the 19 th Century, to replace the Portland cement in the stucrural concretes exposed to sulphatic attacks. This coating was used at that times on the walls and the ceiling of the cave to prevent the numerous taking of pilgrims (who used it as a relics).
Such a coating masks the original matter of the walls of the cave. We found no particles of this sort of coating in a systematically exploration of all of the hair surfaces (that establishes that hairs studied were taken from the cave before the period of this coating invention). The only particle of cement we found on hair surfaces is that represented on Figure 24; it is a small (of about 10µm of diameter) rounded particle, brighting to electrons, located on a surface portion of hair number 10. Its spectrum shows that it is another form of cement (Winter, 2012), constituted mainly of an artificial aluminosilicate that is iron-rich. This particle is certainly an artefact, deposited on the surface of the hair during the recent period.
Abundance and diversity of marine micro-remains deposited on hairs suggest that they were submerged in sea water. An explaining hypothesis of the presence of these micro-remains on hairs is to admit that Marie-Madeleine was transported by her companions as a dead body (like a mummy) during the marine transport from Palestine to Provence coasts. There are some bibliographic evidence that, during the Antiquity, ancient Jews travelled with the bodies of their dead relatives (Grossi, 2012).
Such a transport is documented (Figure 25) in an ornamentation part of the reliquary of the Sainte-Baume, containing a presumed osseous of Marie-Madeleine.
We can clearly distinguish on this illustration, lying down at the terminal part of a small boat, the corpse and the face profile of a mummy (with strips); the corresponding person represented must be of some importance, because he had a limb.
In this hypothesis, it was a cadaver that had been exposed at the top of the Sainte-Baume mountain and the "tradition des Saints de Provence" is legendary.
The photograph of Supplementary Figure 5 shows at increased magnification (3000×) mineral particles of the cement coating the ceiling sample: underlying smaller particles are seen between the cement particles; more than their small sizes (less than 5 µm of maximal length), they can be recognized by their    outlines, and by their differential aspect (they are darker than those of cement) in CBS. Their corresponding spectras are characterized by two main peak values of sulphur and barium (so it corresponds to some form of barium sulphate), but with an appreciable amount of strontium. This composition corresponds in fact to that of barytine (BaSO 4 , with strontium traces), a typical mineral particle of hydrothermal origin.
If the corpse (the dead body) was located under the ceiling of the cave for a long time, we must find on her hair some particles of barytine dating from the pre-coating procedure. Well it is effectively the case: photograph of Figure 26 shows a first example of one barytine particle deposited on some part of the surface of hair number 1. It is a small particle (of less than 4µm of maximal length) of elongated form and finely creneledoutlines; its spectrum is mainly constituted of sulphur and barium (barium sulphate), with some little peak of strontium.
The photograph of Figure 27 an other example of barytime sulphate particle deposited on another part of hair number 1 surface. Photographs of Figure 28 show two other examples of particles of barytine located near some part of the hair number 2 and on some part of the hair number surface, respectively. Barytine deposits must not be confused with micro-scales of barium sulphate, the most commonly used white pigments used by painters (often as a found) during the 19 th Century. On the photograph of Figure 3, we have seen such a particle (that shows some similarities in aspect and dimension with those of barytine), located on some portion of the hair number 3 surface and loaded here as an artefact. The photograph of Figure 29 shows an example of a micro-trail (of a length of about 3 µm) of such matter, located on some portion of the hair number 2 surface; the corresponding spectrum indicates that it is mainly  composed of barium sulphate, without strontium (that permits to distinguish it from barytine particles).
The photograph of Figure 30

Conclusion
We have found numerous micro-remains of marine minerals and micro-organisms at the vicinity or on the surface of Marie-Madeleine's hair studied. This indicates that these hairs are those of a dead body that was in close contact with sea-water. We deduced that Marie-Madeleine was transported by her companions as a dead person in the small boat, like a mummy, during the travel from Palestine to Provençal shores.
Consequently, Marie-Madeleine, contrary to her living companions (particularly Holy Maximin), has not evangelized the Provençal town of Marseilles.
We suspect just as well that it was actually the Marie-Madeleine's cadaver that was exposed facing the sun during thirty years on the top of the Sainte-Baume mountain, and not the living body of Marie-Madeleine ("fed by angels") according to what is said in the "tradition des Saints de Provence". We have detected many mineral particles of barytine on or near the surfaces of the hairs. These particles originated from the ceiling of the Sainte-Baume cave, where there are the main mineral constituents of the walls. Abundance of these particles on the hairs confirms a prolonged exposure of the body in the cave, during a precedent period to that of the cementing process intended to protect the walls of the cave.
Consequently, many assertions (notably the transport of Marie-Madeleine as a living person from Palestine to Provence coats, her evangelization of the town of Marseilles, and her living during thirty years on the top of the Sainte-Baume mountain) of the "tradition des Saints de Provence" are legendary.