Last September, British archaeologists made a pretty startling discovery. They found, they believed, the bones of Richard III (1452-1485) in a makeshift grave under a parking lot in the city of Leicester. It sounded like a pretty ignominious but karmically justified resting place for the tyrannical medieval king portrayed so famously by William Shakespeare.
From the beginning, the archaeologists were convinced that the skeletal remains belonged to Richard (check out the photo gallery of the bones), but they still needed irrefutable proof. So they took DNA samples and matched them to DNA belonging to Richard’s living descendants. They awaited the results, and today Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist, told reporters, “Beyond reasonable doubt, the individual exhumed … is indeed Richard III, the last Plantagenet king of England.” You can get more on the story over at The Guardian and The New York Times.
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Would love to work on a dig…
I am a descendant .. It is truly amazing!!
I have been collaborating on extensive Ancestry research, with other (new and old found) Relatives, through Ancestry.com, Facebook etc.
And the first thing that struck me, is…. that they got dna from Ibsen surprised me a bit, as Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist, is most likely also, directly related to the Plantagenet Kings, as I am. Buckley is also in those lines. He should check that out! ;-)
Dear OpenCulture,
Thank you for putting the very interesing picture online for us to enjoy. I work for an Oxford College called Corpus Christi College. I would very much like to use your above image of Richard III on our closed Facebook page to show our 300 members. Please may I formally request permission to use the above image, which we will not use in any other way apart from in this manner.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Yours,
John Gardiner
Development Officer
Corpus Christi College, Oxford