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Probably to the age of the wood, but fortunately, pieces of material have been taken, and that exposes the actual wood, so thats a good place for us to take the sample from. >> the procedure should leave little perceptible trace of damage in theory, but its a nerve-racking business. >> im just gonna take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, as small as possible, a very, very small piece. >> we only need about 10 milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt, but this relic has been vene...

Bit from here. >> yes, tom, as small as possible, a very, very small piece. >> we only need about 10 milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt, but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> possibly. i mean, it looks -- it actually looks old, this wood. but its just, you know, it looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can hea...

Nerve-racking business. >> im just gonna take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, as small as possible, a very, very small piece. >> we only need about 10 milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt, but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> possibly. i mean, it looks -- it actually looks old, this wood. but its just, you know, it looks aged. so far, so good....

>> yes, the smallest possible, very, very small piece. >> we only need about 10 milligrams. >> thats equivalent this relic has been here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> it is really, really hard. >> it actually looks old. it just looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can head back to the lab to test for the first time this piece of the true cross. eight centuries before the

Take the sample from. >> the procedure should leave little perceptible trace of damage, in theory. but its nerveacking business. >> im just going to take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, the smallest possible one. very small piece. >> we only need about ten milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt. but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> i mean, it ac...

>> yes, tom, the smallest possible one. very small piece. >> we only need about ten milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt. but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> i mean, it actually looks old. it looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can head back to the lab to test for the first time this piece of the true cross.

Business. >> im just going to take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, the smallest possible one. very small piece. >> we only need about ten milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt. but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> i mean, it actually looks old. it looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can head back to the la...

Damage, in theory. but its a nerve-racking business. >> im just going to take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, the smallest possible one. very small piece. >> we only need about ten milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt. but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> i mean, it actually looks old. it looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with h...

Very small piece. >> we only need about ten milligrams. >> thats equivalent to a few grains of salt. but this relic has been venerated here for almost 1,000 years. every speck counts. >> its very, very hard, this wood. >> could that mean anything to do with its age? >> i mean, it actually looks old. it looks aged. so far, so good. >> tom is satisfied with his sample. now they can head back to the lab to test for the first time this piece of the true cross.

>> theres quite a lot of what looks like lacquer thats across the top of the wood. and lacquer will have a different radial carbon concentration, probably to the age of the wood. but unfortunately pieces of the material have been taken, and that exposes the actual wood. so thats a good place for us to take the sample from. >> the procedure should leave little perceptible trace of damage, in theory. but its a nerve-racking business. >> im just going to take a small bit from here. >> yes, tom, the...