I’ll admit to being fascinated by all the activity around
the search for Richard III and the archaeological project at Greyfriars in
Leicester. My apologies to any
regular readers of this blog who aren’t as captivated by the subject as I am. If it’s occupying a lot of my posts -
it’s because it’s occupying much of my headspace just now. Perhaps it’s because it feels like a
significant drama is unfolding in real time in my own back yard.
Anyway, this post is a rapid response, (well, as soon as I got home from work), to the latest breaking news. As reported on the National media early this morning and in an official press conference at 11.00 am, remains of one male and one female human have been found on the site. The full details can be gleaned from the Greyfriars Project website news updates but it seems that investigations have begun into an adult male skeleton with possible battlefield injuries and evidence of a spinal deformity. A prolonged period of DNA tests is required before any conclusions will be reached but this is pretty exciting.
Anyway, this post is a rapid response, (well, as soon as I got home from work), to the latest breaking news. As reported on the National media early this morning and in an official press conference at 11.00 am, remains of one male and one female human have been found on the site. The full details can be gleaned from the Greyfriars Project website news updates but it seems that investigations have begun into an adult male skeleton with possible battlefield injuries and evidence of a spinal deformity. A prolonged period of DNA tests is required before any conclusions will be reached but this is pretty exciting.
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| Archaeologist Matthew Morris At The Site Of The Burial With...Er, Security. The Yellow Dot Marks The Skeleton's Position. (Photo: Reuters/Darren Staples) |
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| Site Plan. The Burial Is Shown In Trench 1 Adjacent To The Walking Place |
I notice that the team applied for official permission to exhume human remains on Friday August 3Ist. According to their updates, that’s only at the point that the Friary architecture was starting to emerge. Perhaps it was simply a case of being prepared ‘just in case’ but I do wonder if the down-playing by team members of any likelihood of finding Richard at the public open day on Saturday, September 8th might have been a little disingenuous. They could hardly be blamed for not wanting their project obscured by media frenzy but it does suggest they maybe knew more than they were letting on. I guess one must also bear in mind the discretion and decorum necessary when any human remains are being exhumed. Either way, it seems that information about Richard is probably still being as carefully managed as it was five centuries ago.
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| Today's Press Conference Held At Leicester Guildhall |
Gripping stuff!
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