LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Originally met with universal skepticism, Oxford University archaeologists undertook the tests to determine their authenticity.

The team announced last week that they have provided scientific evidence to support the extraordinary claim. Researchers dated the right-handed knuckle bone to the first century AD, when John is believed to have lived until his beheading by King Herod.

Analyzing the DNA of the bones, Scientists from the University of Copenhagen discovered they came from a single individual, most likely a man, from a family in the modern-day Middle East, where John would have lived.

While not offering conclusive evidence, they also don't discount the theory first proffered by the Bulgarian archaeologists who found the remains while excavating under an ancient church on the island.

John the Baptist - and items associated with the New Testament figure, are reportedly spread over much of the world. The Grand Mosque in Damascus claims it has his head. Countries around the Mediterranean claiming to have Jon's remains include Turkey, Greece, Italy and Egypt.

The right hand, with which the prophet allegedly baptized Jesus in the River Jordan is also claimed to be held by several entities, including a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Montenegro.

"We were surprised when the radiocarbon dating produced this very early age," Study leader and Oxford Professor Tom Higham says.

"We had suspected that the bones may have been more recent than this, perhaps from the third or fourth centuries.

"The result from the metacarpal hand bone is clearly consistent with someone who lived in the early first century AD.

"Whether that person is John the Baptist is a question that we cannot yet definitely answer and probably never will," Higham says.

Bulgarian archaeologists had found a small box made of hardened volcanic ash close to the sarcophagus, which bore inscriptions in ancient Greek that referred to John the Baptist and the date that Christians celebrate his birth, June 24.

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