Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones…

Oooh! It’s all getting Very Exciting round here. I was fascinated by yesterday’s live press conference from the Richard III dig site – check out what they said here. The key thing is that they have found the bones of someone who had scoliosis – i.e. he would have probably walked with one shoulder higher than the other, and been termed a ‘hunchback’ or ‘crookback’
The team are being cautious about what they are saying – and insist that DNA tests etc. must be carried out next before they can make any claims about whose bones they have dug up.
I queued [along with hundreds of others] on Saturday morning in order to see the dig. I was extremely impressed by the way the crowds were managed – we were taken round in groups of 30, each group having an archaeologist acting as guide, to point out what we needed to see and answer our questions.
Trench Two – showing what are assumed to be the foundations of cloister walls – and the pattern of diamond shaped floor tiles

Trench One – more walls – and behind is what was formerly part of Leicester Grammar School [and before that this building was the Alderman Newton School] The medieval church was believed to be somewhere around here – Trench Three is the other side of this wall


Here you can see some of the stonework which has been uncovered – believed to be part of the window tracery from the Greyfriars Abbey.
For many years this site was a garden, which has helped to preserve it from being built upon [which would have made the whole excavation process more complex]



More of the bits and pieces they have excavated. Well done to all of those involved in the project - and I do hope that they are Richard’s bones!
There is more information here. The team have employed Emma Viecili, a comics artist to illustrate the dig – here’s one of her pieces.

update - check out this link on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-19575558