Has human nature changed much in the last thousand years?

The Abbey Church of Saint Foy, in Conques, France, in which the somewhat unexpected mid-eleventh-century stone-carving detail above appears, was a popular stop for medieval pilgrims who were traveling along the “Way of St. James” en route to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela, which is located in what is now Spain.  But Conques had its own intrinsic appeal, as well — most notably, the alleged remains of St. Foy, a young woman who had been martyred for her Christian beliefs in the fourth century AD.