A 6th Century Queen Visits GSECARS.
The Merovingian Queen Arégonde, daughter-in-law of the Frankish king Clovis, died in ~580 AD and more than 1400 years after her death scientists at GSECARS, Sector 13 at APS are using powerful X-ray microscopes to analyze preserved tissue samples from this important historical figure. Entombed in what is now the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis near Paris, Queen Arégonde’s remains were discovered in 1959. Now a team of international scientists that includes University of Chicago researchers using the GSECARS beamlines are using sophisticated X-ray microanalysis techniques to provide a unique insight in to her life and the culture of France during the early Middle Ages.