The Deputy Culture Secretary of the Dominican Republic turned down requests by scientists to perform DNA tests to determine the authenticity of remains found in a lead box of bones, discovered in 1877 in the Dominican Republic bearing the inscription, "Illustrious and distinguished male, Don Cristóbal Colón." Permission to give the tests was denied, at least temporarily, on the basis of the fact that the tests that are to be subjected will not give clear results. The two most likely sites for the resting place of Columbus is at a Cathedral in Seville, of which tests of which have so far been inconclusive, and the site in the Dominican Republic. Scientists speculate the Dominican Republic site may be the more authentic, as they show signs of arthritis, a condition that Columbus suffered in the last years of his life, while the Seville remains do not.