It IS King Richard III: Scientists reveal DNA results confirm regal identity of body...

Daily Mail (UK) ^ | 4th February 2013 | Damien Gayle

[naturalman1975]

The body of a man killed in battle found beneath a social services office car park in Leicester is that of Richard III, DNA analysis confirmed today.

Dr Turi King of the University of Leicester said that there was a DNA match between the maternal line of a descendant of the family of Richard III and the remains found beneath Grey Friars car park.

Lead researcher Dr Richard Buckley added: 'It is the academic conclusion of the University of Leicester that beyond reasonable doubt the remains found in Leicester are that of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England.'

The announcement follows months of analysis of the remains since they were unearthed last September and growing speculation that they were indeed those of the last Plantagenet king.

Researchers from the University of Leicester, which led the dig and investigation, yesterday released an image of dead man's skull, which seemed in remarkably good condition considering the time it has spent beneath the earth.

The skull was part of a skeleton – complete with a metal arrowhead embedded in its spine and signs of ‘battle trauma’ – unearthed by archaeologists in September, two weeks after they began excavating the city centre site of the former Greyfriars church.

In a lengthy press conference, researchers outlined the various tests and checks they carried out to determine the identity of the skeleton.

[rfreedom4u]

My thoughts too. Will the British hold a state funeral for him? Will it be resplendent with royal traditions etc that will cost lots of money?

[bgill]

These days loyal Ricardians battle to repair Richard's reputation but the traditional view is that Richard, while not as evil as Tudor historians said, was probably responsible for removing his nephews from the royal line.

Removing Murdering little kids is not particularly endearing.

[matginzac]

He WAS a king of the Realm so rates some pomp...
But your right, after the expense of the Jubilee, Olympics and the next big deal (I forget what it’s called...), I would think the public (those that pay taxes) would be fed up with the spectacles...
Like we are with Obozo’s extravagance.

[EternalVigilance]

God rules, without remorse

Bloody Richard
Whose black heart had of strife to pow’r been
Though he gained his empty triumph
O’er the bodies of kith and kin
‘Twas only for one scene
But, in the end
More hapless than his victims, he
The crown gone horseless
Providence was more remorseless
With no mean conveyance
To earthly glory
Or, we might surmise, perhaps
To heaven, e’en

— Tom Hoefling

[Carry_Okie]

But REALLY, in jolly OLD England how do you pave anything thing over without checking what’s underneath?

A parking lot is the perfect protection for an archaeological site. It is cover from moisture, even compaction, and no further excavation. Really, I've heard them actually recommend it to protect a site.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Removing Murdering little kids is not particularly endearing. ****

About forty five -fifty years ago there was found the bodies of two children, a boy and a girl. It was deduced these were two members of Royalty who were married as children back in the Middle ages. The marriage was done for political reasons, then they disappeared from history.

Their bodies were on display for a while till people began to demand they be reburied. This caused many American Indians to start demanding the same for their ancestors on displays in the US.

[Wordkraft]

I find it ironic that the guy quoted as saying, “a horse, a horse. My kingdom for a horse,” was buried under a parking lot - literally covered with horsepower.

[onedoug]

So interesting.

[HomeAtLast]

The article says that the grave was found 2,231 feet below ground level. That is awfully deep. That can’t be right, can it?

No, it sure can't!

[Oztrich Boy]

The article says that the grave was found 2,231 feet below ground level. That is awfully deep. That can’t be right, can it?

I suspect excessivly precise Euroish to British conversion

0.68 metres=2.231 feet

Which looks about right from the in situ photo

[AuH2ORepublican]

Right, the article said it was only 27 inches below ground level.

[matginzac]

Hey, never looked at it that way...
But as a way to treat a final resting place with honor and respect? There has to be a better way, don’t you think?

[Carry_Okie]

But as a way to treat a final resting place with honor and respect?

Different question. It is a perfect thing to do while they plan something, which can sometimes take decades. I was simply informing you of an uncommon tidbit of information re archaeology so that if you hear of some such in the future you will have no concern that the site is being in any way degraded.

[matginzac]

Well, thanks for that...

[Bubba_Leroy]

Right, the article said it was only 27 inches below ground level.

It does now.

Originally, the article said that the body was found "680m (2,231 feet) below ground level." They later corrected the article to say that the body was found "68cm (27in) below ground level."

I suspect that the author of the article copied from a report that said the body was found "680 millimeters" below ground, wrote down 680 meters instead and then plugged 680 meters into Google to calculate the number of feet.

Newspapers used to hire and pay people called "editors" to read articles before they are published and look for careless errors like that. Now they crowd-source editing by posting beta articles on their websites.

[ctdonath2]

Some cultures (including European) swap the numeric meanings of “.” and “,” from how we use them.

Ergo, “2,231” means just under two and one-quarter.

[neverdem]

Richard III body found under Leicester car park

That link has more about the testing done. Your post is great on the history.

[SunkenCiv]

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Thanks naturalman1975. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.