I am quite interested in the science behind how very old bones can be identified and all the confounders along the way.

That said, I wonder if it really matters that these particular bones were found.

Apart from a few fanatics, does it matter to anyone?

fourm member

Someone in our family is an archaeologist who used to work behind the scenes on the Time Team TV programme. She knows quite a bit about how old bones and teeth can be used to provide all kinds of information, and has lent me several books on the subject - large parts of which are unintelligible as far as I'm concerned.

If you know what to look for you can find out what a person's diet consisted off, what work he or she probably did, and what illnesses and injuries people had, as well as where they spent their lives. It's all very fascinating, and the science is advancing as new technologies become available.

Let me explain.

I agree that we we can learn a lot from studying what remains of the past. If we find ancient bones it is obviously worth studying them.

I'm just not convinced that there is any special significance in finding the remains of a long dead king.

I used the word fanatic in the sense 'A person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, esp. for an extreme religious or political cause'.

Someone who has devoted a huge part of their adult life to the study of one individual is, obviously, something more than a fan.

And I should add that as an anti monarchist, the re-interment ceremony should be on the grandest scale, with full medieval pageantry and a national holiday declared.

Why? Because it will link the young with the past, which is never a bad thing.

The only question would be which faith should officiate at the re-interment. A modern C of E Archbishop, or a Catholic Cardinal for an authentic Medieval Latin Mass...?

Quickbeam

"The only question would be which faith should officiate at the re-interment. A modern C of E Archbishop, or a Catholic Cardinal for an authentic Medieval Latin Mass...?"

A very interesting point. He was around before the king two reigns later fell out with the Pope, so he was, presumably a Catholic at the time of his death, so should be buried in that faith. Other kings are buried in what are now C of E Cathedrals, so maybe a good old argument will take place between the old religious "enemies". Can a RC priest take a service in a C of E Cathedral (York or Leicester)? Should he be excommunicated? Great stuff for those that worry about such things.