Discovering Richard IIISection 2

Archaeologists at Work

• In summer 2012 archaeologists from Leicester University excavated the site of Greyfriars church.

• They looked at the choir area where important burials took place.

Finding a Skeleton• They found a

skeleton with a curved spine.

Finding a Skeleton• The curve of the spine would have made this

man look as if one shoulder was higher than

the other.

Finding a Skeleton• The skeleton had

suffered a number of wounds including a heavy blow to the back of the skull from a sharp blade …..

Finding a Skeleton• … like the poll-axe

or halberd this knight is holding.

Testing DNA

DNA tests were carried out using

•teeth and a leg bone from the skeleton

•and DNA from a descendant of Richard

III’s sister

It is Richard III

The DNA Tests Reveal …

His body has been identified after being lost for nearly 500

years.

but …

Which questions

does Richard III’s skeleton

answer?