The search for the bones of St. Peter

In 1951 the archeologists entrusted by Pius XII with the excavations
under the confession of St. Peter's published their official report,1
and the
way was opened to a flood of discussion. Had the tomb of St. Peter been
found? Among the earlier descriptions in English of the newly discovered
evidence was that of Jocelyn Toynbee and John Ward Perkins,2
based on
the report and supplemented by an extensive study of the site by the authors
themselves. A review-article on the subject, following the general lines
of the latter survey, appeared in these pages in September, 1956.3
It is assumed that the reader knows something of this older background.
A number of new and important finds, as well as opinions, have appeared in
more recent years. An attempt is made in the following pages to notice
salient points of these and to consider their value, reserving main emphasis
for the most important matter of all, Margherita Guarducci's report on the
bones found in or near the focal grave. We begin by recalling briefly the
generally accepted results of the original exploration.