Lost no more?!
More than 500 years since King Richard III was killed in battle, archaeologists believe they have finally found his skeleton buried beneath a council car park.
Experts said a fully intact skeleton matched much about what they knew of the medieval king, including his reputation as a “hunchback”, and are hoping that DNA tests will put their beliefs beyond doubt. The remains were found three weeks into an archaeological dig by a team from Leicester University, unearthing, to the team’s astonishment, a result “beyond our wildest dreams”, and underlining their belief that they have ended a decade-long search for his remains.
The skeleton was of an adult male, who appeared fit and strong, but with spinal abnormalities that pointed to the fact that he had severe scoliosis, a form of spinal curvature. This would have made his right shoulder appear higher than his left, and in less enlightened times would almost certainly have been cause for him being nicknamed the “hunchback king”. He had suffered “significant trauma to the head where a blade had cut away part of the back of his skull, an injury consistent with battle, and a barbed arrow head was found lodged between vertebrae in his upper back”.
According to Fairfax media, DNA tests are expected to take 12 weeks. The team will compare samples from the skeletal remains with the DNA of a direct descendant of the king’s sister, Michael Ibsen, 55, a Canadian furniture maker who lives in London.
It’s amazing who you can meet in a car park!