A NEW report has detailed how scientists verified the authenticity of a fragment of the Stone of Destiny which was found in a cupboard in SNP HQ.
The fragment was given to former first minister Alex Salmond in 2008 by Professor Neil MacCormick, whose father helped finance the stone’s return to Scotland from Westminster Abbey in 1950.
In January, Salmond denied still having the fragment and suggested it could be in an “Aladdin’s cave” of gifts in either Bute House or the Scottish Government’s headquarters in St Andrew’s House.
An SNP activist then told The National that they had been shown the fragment inside the SNP’s HQ in Edinburgh.
The party then handed the fragment to the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia, who employed Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to confirm its provenance.
Last month, they said that scientific analysis had shown the fragment to be an authentic piece of the Stone of Destiny.
The report details the scientific process of verifying the fragment, which the SNP hope will be displayed alongside the Stone at its new home of Perth Museum.
Dr Aurélie Turmel, science manager at HES, said: “This has been an exciting piece of scientific detective work for our team to undertake.
“The new scientific analysis that we carried out on the Stone of Destiny ahead of the Coronation last year effectively enabled us to ‘fingerprint’ the Stone, and by performing the same techniques on this fragment we have been able to identify matches in terms of the chemical elements and minerals it comprises, the grain characteristics, and its colour.
“We’re pleased to have had the opportunity to demonstrate the importance and potential of the world-leading heritage science technology we have at our disposal here at HES, in particular how we are now able to combine these different techniques and datasets to strengthen certainty in our findings and how this can help enrich understanding of our past.”
Scientists used a series of non-destructive methods of analyses on the sandstone fragment.
X-ray fluorescence analysis – which is more commonly used in criminal forensics as well as on artworks and painting – examined the chemical element composition of the fragment.
While scanning electron microscopy was used to provide high-resolution analysis of the fragment’s minerology, with other forms of microscopic analysis used to provide close-ups of its structure, texture, shape, and compaction.
A colour analysis was also undertaken on both the fragment and the stone to see whether they matched.
Scientists concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that the fragment was derived from the Stone of Destiny.
