DNA tests have confirmed that human remains found buried beneath an English car park are those of the country's King Richard III.
British scientists announced Monday
they are convinced "beyond reasonable doubt" that a skeleton found
during an archaeological dig in Leicester, central England, last August
is that of the former king, who was killed at the Battle of Bosworth
Field in 1485.
Mitochondrial DNA
extracted from the bones was matched to Michael Ibsen, a Canadian
cabinetmaker and direct descendant of Richard III's sister, Anne of
York, and a second distant relative, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Experts say other
evidence -- including battle wounds and signs of scoliosis, or curvature
of the spine -- found during the search and the more than four months
of tests since strongly support the DNA findings -- and suggest that
history's view of the king as a hunchbacked villain may have to be
rewritten.
Ibsen said he reacted
with "stunned silence" when told the closely-guarded results. "I never
thought I'd be a match, and certainly not that it would be so close, but
the results look like a carbon copy," he told reporters.
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