page_title: Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England
section_title: Analysis of the discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England / Analysis of the discovery
caption_attribution_description: Archaeological excavations in car park of the old Alderman Newton School, just off St Martins around the corner from Greyfriars. The archaeologist in the trench is at the site where the bones of a female were discovered. This was not a burial, but a charnel collection.
context_page_description: The exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England began with the discovery of the king's remains within the site of the former Greyfriars Friary Church in Leicester, England, in September 2012. Following extensive anthropological and genetic testing, the remains of Richard III, the last English king killed in battle, were ultimately reinterred at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015.
  Richard III, the final ruler of the Plantagenet dynasty, was killed on 22 August 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses. His body was taken to Greyfriars Friary in Leicester, where it was buried in a crude grave in the friary church. Following the friary's dissolution in 1538 and subsequent demolition, Richard's tomb was lost. An erroneous account arose that Richard's bones had been thrown into the River Soar at the nearby Bow Bridge.
  A search for Richard's body began in August 2012, initiated by the Looking for Richard project with the support of the Richard III Society. The archaeological excavation was led by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services, working in partnership with Leicester City Council.
context_section_description: On 12 September, the University of Leicester team announced that the human remains were a possible candidate for Richard's body, but emphasised the need for caution. The positive indicators were that the body was of an adult male; it was buried beneath the choir of the church; it had severe scoliosis of the spine possibly making one shoulder higher than the other. An object that appeared to be an arrowhead was found under the spine and the skull had severe injuries.
caption: Archaeologists working in a trench in the playground of the former Alderman Newton's School, on the site of the Greyfriars Church, in September 2012
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