Jo Appleby, a lecturer in human bioarchaeology at the University of Leicester, led the exhumation of the remains. Picture: AP Photo/Rui Vieira, PA Source: AP
A SKELETON that lay undisturbed for 500 years and was found last year buried under a council car park in north England is that of reviled king Richard III, the last English king to die in battle.
In what is being hailed as the biggest British archaeological find of the century, scientists yesterday confirmed DNA analyses showed the remains found in Leicester Council social services car park were that of the king who died in battle in 1485.
The DNA was matched to Canadian-born carpenter Michael Ibsen, who six months ago was unaware he was a direct descendent of the king's eldest sister. Researchers had spent months tracing the bloodlines to find Mr Ibsen who had since moved to north London. It was a mouth swab he provided, and that of another anonymous relative, that was then matched to DNA extraction from the skeleton found almost all intact except for his missing feet.
The skeletal remains as they were found by archaeologists. Picture: Getty/University of leicester
But the scientific confirmation was made at the University of Leicester before more than 100 journalists from around the world who had assembled to hear the expert evidence and images of the battle-scarred skull and body of the 15th century ruler.
Richard III was a real king whose story has been twisted by legend, but he is generally thought to have been a harsh and merciless ruler. Picture: Universiry of Leicester
University of Leicester deputy registrar Richard Taylor said the finding and five-month scientific investigation and confirmation was "truly astonishing" and a thrilling find for the world.
They confirmed the body had no coffin or shroud and there were eight wounds on the skull and two on the body, most occurring at time of death in battle. Death was determined to have been with a blow to the base of the skull, consistent with a blow from a Halberd consisting of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on a long shaft. Injuries also to jaw and cheek after death were determined to have been "humiliation injuries" inflicted after death. Other wounds showed he had been stabbed in the back and the buttock, again after death possibly as his body was being paraded.
Canadian-born furniture-maker Michael Ibsen, a direct descendant of the eldest sister of Richard III, in his workshop in London. His DNA was used to determine that the skeleton was indeed the monarch's. Picture: AFP PHOTO/JUSTIN TALLIS
Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley said science had shown "beyond reasonable doubt" the body was that of the king.
King Richard died in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth Field, a defining moment in the civil War of the Roses between the House of York and House of Lancaster. The battle was chronicled by Shakespeare, including the famous line Richard was supposed to have yelled after he fell from his mount in the middle of the battleground: "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" before he was killed.
The king was returned to Leicester tied to the pommel of his horse but then secretly buried in a small friary, to keep away from those who wanted to possibly destroy the body many suspected had murdered his brother and his two prince nephews to seize the throne. The friary was later leveled by the Tudor kings and lost in time.
A feud in England has now developed as to where King Richard should be buried. Possibilities include burying him at Westminster Abbey or Windsor Castle with the other kings; taking him back to York for burial; burying him at Leicester Cathedral, where he has been in its shadow for centuries; or a burial and grand ceremony at the Catholic Westminster Cathedral in London, because he was a Catholic.
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