Chinon, France (AHN) -- Fresh findings at a French museum that houses the remains of France heroine and saint Joan of Arc, has revealed her ashes may actually belong to a cat.

The ashes were discovered in 1867 and brought to a museum in Chinon, western France.

Anthopologist Philippe Charlier said the discovery is consistent with the mediaval practice of throwing a black cat on a witch's pyre so as "not to offend the devil".

The discovery as made after carbon-dating tests conducted on the ashes found it to be a cat's femur and rib bone.

Charlier said, "This femur is not burnt, just a bit charred, so maybe we are just dealing with a passing cat.

"The chances that we are dealing with the remains of the French heroine are diminishing."

But a spokesman for the French Catholic Church said, "Joan of Arc's remains could well be there amid other things."

Joan of Arc prevented a British invasion, before being burnt at the stake as a witch by the English in 1431 at the age of 19.

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