The Grave of Richard III

Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade January/February 2021

Leicester, England, 2012
(University of Leicester)
SHARE:

After Richard III—England’s most vilified monarch—was killed in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he was hastily buried in Leicester’s Greyfriars church. When the church was demolished 50 years later by Henry VIII, the grave of the last Plantagenet king was lost. Almost 500 years later, it was identified a few feet beneath a parking lot. “The odds were heavily stacked against us,” says Richard Buckley of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services. “What were the chances of the grave surviving for so many years in the middle of a great industrial city?”

Yet, radiocarbon dating and osteological analysis confirmed the bones as Richard’s. The skeleton displayed serious wounds, including blows to the head, consistent with reports of Richard’s battlefield injuries. His severely curved spine, caused by adolescent scoliosis, may have led to exaggerated portrayals of Richard’s physical deformities by his enemies. Subsequent DNA testing even identified at least one living relative, a descendant of his sister Anne.

MORE FROM Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade

  • Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade January/February 2021

    Child and Llama Sacrifice

    Huanchaquito–Las Llamas, Peru, 2012

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Angiolina Abugattas)
  • Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade January/February 2021

    The Wrecks of Erebus and Terror

    Arctic Circle, Canada, 2014

    Read Article
    (Courtesy © Thierry Boyer, Parks Canada)
  • Features January/February 2021

    Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade

    The best finds of the past 10 years

    Read Article
  • Features January/February 2021

    Return to the River

    Members of Virginia’s Rappahannock tribe are at work with archaeologists to document the landscape they call home

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Julia King)
  • Letter from Woodhenge January/February 2021

    Stonehenge's Continental Cousin

    A 4,000-year-old ringed sanctuary reveals a German village’s surprising connections with Britain

    Read Article
    (Photo Matthias Zirn)
  • Artifacts January/February 2021

    Inca Box with Votive Offerings

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Teddy Seguin/Université Libre de Bruxelles)