"The Search for Richard III Has Entered a New Phase" Is the Skeleton Found in Leicester the King?

Exciting news yesterday from the archaeological dig in search of the remains of Richard III of England.

To see the entire press conference click HERE.

Renewed interest in Richard III is bound to be a very positive development on the road to Richard Armitage's plans for a series or film based on the historical facts of the king's life. 

From The Telegraph

San Francisco Chronicle

"Richard Buckley, co-director of the university's Archaeological Services, said the bones are a "prime candidate" to be Richard's. The remains are now being examined and the team hopes that DNA can be recovered to aid identification.

Taylor said the skeleton displayed spinal abnormalities consistent with contemporary accounts of Richard's appearance.

"We believe that the individual would have had severe scoliosis, which is a form of spinal curvature," Taylor said.

He said the skeleton was apparently of an adult male and in good condition. There were signs of trauma to the skull shortly before death, perhaps from a bladed instrument, and a barbed metal arrowhead was found between vertebrae of the upper back.

Buckley and his team identified a possible location of the grave through map regression analysis, starting with a current map and analyzing earlier maps to discover what had changed and not changed. Ground penetrating radar was employed." San Francisco Chronicle

More background on the Search for Richard III in the 

King Richard Armitage website:

http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com/history/search-king-richard/

Vote for "Where to bury King Richard III" Poll:

http://kingrichardarmitage.rgcwp.com/2012/09/19/to-bury-a-king/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KingRichardArmitage+%28King+Richard+Armitage%29

Richard Armitage One of "The Most Influential People in Leicestershire"
Leicester Mercury
http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/news.html#sep12

Interesting comments  from Professor Norman Housley and Dr Andrew Hopper the University of Leicester's School of Historical Studies:

"Little reliable contemporary evidence has survived for the nature of his kingship because his reign proved so short and because his Tudor successors legitimised themselves by encouraging literary works (of which Shakespeare was not the first) that depicted him as a caricature tyrant. So, if it proves possible to nail the Tudor slander of the ‘hunchback king’ with medical evidence of severe scoliosis rather than kyphosis, it will be gilt on the gingerbread because efforts during the last three centuries to restore his reputation have never fully succeeded in undermining this enduring popular image.

"Secondly, irrespective of the Richard myth, the discovery of the body will be significant because of what is already being indicated about the cause of death. The evidence of an injury to the back of the skull and the discovery of the arrowhead between vertebrae of the upper back will stimulate debate about exactly how Richard was killed at Bosworth, and beyond that, about close combat in medieval battles. This is fitting because Richard polarised opinion during his life and from beyond the grave; his reliance on a northern regional powerbase to maintain his rule fostered a north-south divide in allegiance partially reflected in the historiography since."