Richard III's remains confirmed found

[Martok]

Link


Cool story.  I'm always fascinated when they find a piece of history like this. 

DNA tests have confirmed that human remains found buried beneath an English car park are those of the country's King Richard III.

British scientists announced Monday they are convinced "beyond reasonable doubt" that a skeleton found during an archaeological dig in Leicester, central England, last August is that of the former king, who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

Mitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones was matched to Michael Ibsen, a Canadian cabinetmaker and direct descendant of Richard III's sister, Anne of York.

Experts say other evidence -- including battle wounds and signs of scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, found during the search and the more than four months of tests since support the DNA findings.

The skeleton was discovered buried among the remains of what was once the city's Greyfriars friary, but is now a council car park.

Richard III's remains will be reburied in Leicester Cathedral, close to the site of his original grave, in a memorial service expected to be held early next year, once analysis of the bones is completed.

Read more: Richard III: The king and the car park?

Archaeologists say the man they found appears to have met a violent death: There is evidence of a severe blow to the skull, and an arrowhead was found among the skeleton's vertebrae.

Investigators from the University of Leicester had been examining the remains for months. Others got their first glimpse of the battle-scarred skull that may have once worn the English crown early Monday when the university released a photograph ahead of its announcement.

"The skull was in good condition, although fragile, and was able to give us detailed information," said Jo Appleby, a lecturer in human bioarchaeology at the university who led the exhumation of the remains last year.

Supporters of the infamous king, including members of the Richard III Society, hoped the discovery would force academics to rewrite history, which they say has been tainted by exaggerations and false claims.

Screenwriter Philippa Langley, who championed the search for several years, told CNN she wanted "the establishment to look again at his story," saying she wanted to uncover the truth about "the real Richard, before the Tudor writers got to him."

"The trouble is we judge Richard by a pseudo-Victorian values system, but we judge others in the context of their time," she said.

"He was a medieval man. If you put him back into the 15th century, he's exactly as the others are -- princes, dukes, nobles, they're all doing exactly the same things, and he's better than some."

[Centurion40]

Wild!  Thanks for the post.

[Greybriar]

Thanks for sharing, Martok.

I wonder if Richard III was the person responsible for the deaths of his nephews Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. Hopefully science will someday solve that mystery.

[TheCommandTent]

Cool story thanks for sharing.

[bayonetbrant]

http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/474365/Goodbye-Girl-The-Movie-Clip-Don-t-Give-Me-Bette-Midler.html

[Gusington]

That is interesting. I am curious as to how he investigation was brought to the parking lot in the first place.

[endfire79]

Somebody posted this on Fark back last year.  Fans of Blackadder will recognize the quote.

http://m.fark.com/comments/7323237/Blackadder-is-not-going-to-like-this-bones-of-Richard-III-have-apparently-been-found?startid=79336205&from_page=main


Somebody cut my head off at one point, but otherwise
everything went swimmingly. ...and how are you, Edna?

[Shelldrake]

Thanks for the link Martok

[Martok]

I wonder if Richard III was the person responsible for the deaths of his nephews Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York. Hopefully science will someday solve that mystery.

+1 

Unless & until such time as the mystery is solved, however, the subject appears to remain one of lively debate.  :) 

[steve58]

That is interesting. I am curious as to how he investigation was brought to the parking lot in the first place.

Apparently Richard III haunted this poor woman...

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-02-04/meet-philippa-langley-the-woman-who-discovered-richard-iii-in-a-car-park

[LongBlade]

That is interesting. I am curious as to how he investigation was brought to the parking lot in the first place.

Apparently Richard III haunted this poor woman...

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-02-04/meet-philippa-langley-the-woman-who-discovered-richard-iii-in-a-car-park

Funny in a strange sort of way.

[Longdan]

That is interesting. I am curious as to how he investigation was brought to the parking lot in the first place.

They have been doing a fair bit of digging round that area lately after some construction turned up various
battlefield remains.  This caused a rethink of the exact location of the battle and subsequent archaeological
diggings which have been turning up all kinds of interesting stuff over a period of some years.  They knew the battle
was fought around there in various fields and the area has been overlain by later developments.  When
the first of the latest bunch of finds turned up they were able to zero in on exactly where some of the
described events took place and find more stuff.  Pretty exciting and great scientific detective work.

[Steelgrave]

Anyone with an interest in Richard III....not to mention anyone who just enjoys a helluva good read...should pick up Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne In Splendour". She is an excellent writer with a real ability to write historical fiction that involves you with her subjects intimately. And if you like "Sunne", by all means read the rest of her novels. Her accounting of Llewelyn, Prince of Wales, is riveting and remains my favorite of her books.

[Gusington]

Amazoning that now. What a history England has...so much of it that some is buried under parking lots! And that haunting link above is just what the doctor odered.

[LongBlade]

Amazoning that now. What a history England has...so much of it that some is buried under parking lots! And that haunting link above is just what the doctor odered.

We're catching up. There are civil war battlefields under parking lots already and it's only been 150 years.