ArchaeoBlog

Confirmed! Bones of King Richard III Found

The body of the lost and vilified English king Richard III has finally been found.

Archaeologists announced today (Feb. 4) that bones excavated from underneath a parking lot in Leicester, “beyond reasonable doubt,” belong to the medieval king. Archaeologists announced the discovery of the skeleton in September. They suspected then they might have Richard III on their hands because the skeleton showed signs of the spinal disorder scoliosis, which Richard III likely had, and because battle wounds on the bones matched accounts of Richard III’s death in the War of the Roses.

The announcement comes a day after the archaeologists had released an image of the king’s battle-scarred skull.

Pretty cool. In an earlier post on this I thought they had pretty good circumstantial evidence. I suppose it’s not entirely conclusive from the DNA, just that the two were related, but it’s probably good enough for most. Slide show here which is kind of scattershot, but shows the excavation area — large — and a few of the skeleton. Can’t tell much from the skull, but I think a couple of the wounds are visible. Can’t wait to see the full paleopathology report on it.

UPDATE: Well, here’s the photo they released:

Unfortunately, they don’t show the back where a large laceration supposedly is.