The third-most-popular question ever posed on this subreddit asked what would happen if a dead body was found with evidence of foul play in the year of your specialty. While this is no longer suitable fare for a question - it breaks our rule against "in your time" questions - it is a perfect subject for our "Monday Mystery" feature.
Today, then we will be focused on the subject of "solving the mystery." How did famous detectives and investigators throughout history "crack the case?" What technological advances made their work possible?
Lorenzo Valla exposed the Donation of Constantine as a forgery in 1440 by comparing the text of the Donation to other Latin texts from the 4th century (when the Donation was supposedly authored) and noting discrepancies in the language. Valla did not "crack the case" due to advances in technology, but rather to the desire of some to recapture or rediscover classical Latin. This intense interest in the language and the literature of Rome was a part of the broader cultural movement known as the Renaissance.