The Last Week of England in the Time of King Richard III

I am on the last week of England in the Time of King Richard III.

This week is quite exciting. The subject of this week focusses upon the excavation of Grey Friars and the subsequent discovery of the body of King Richard III. When I first saw the lineup for the week, my heart fell... 21 sections to make my way through. But many of the sections are videos, so it's not nearly so time consuming as I had first anticipated. Here are my thoughts for the week. Most of these have been from posts I have made in the course comments sections today.

In locating the body, I don't think that any one thing was the deciding factor. A lot of good research got them into the right approximate area, but luck was what landed them almost on top of the skeleton. I imagine that the discovery of a skeleton was exciting, but I also imagine that nobody imagined at first that they actually had the right skeleton.

The sight of the scoliosis probably had the archaeologists shouting and dancing though. If circumstantial evidence is ever worth anything, it's when you're specifically looking for a hunchback who died in a fight and you find a male of the right age with scoliosis and heavy battle wounds.

All circumstantial evidence aside, having two modern-day descendants of the matrilineal line was astonishing. That DNA was able to be extracted from the remains was quite remarkable, and that they were able to determine a match between all three mitochondrial DNA sources really sealed the deal.

For those who are interested, here is a link to the post-excavation paper that was produced: http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/087/ant0870519.htm

In considering the publicity of the discovery at the time and in comparison with the above-mentioned paper, we are asked what we think about the purpose of each. Do they meet different but equally important needs? Would dissemination have been as effective or important without one or the other? Are there dangers or problems with either approach?

The majority of people will view this as no more than a curiosity. Media fills the role of informing those who may have a curiosity about the subject. However, the paper speaks to a different audience. The detail within the paper is inappropriate for media. People who get misty over a two minute segment on a king's skeleton getting re-interred into a more prestigious location may find themselves entirely disinterested in how long the trenches were, even though this is vital information for future archaeologists who may find themselves referring to the paper for the next century or more.

However, information within the media is often how social historians know what data is available to find, so media should never be ignored as an important tool.

Grey Friars went on to be excavated a second time in 2013, and a second body was located in a prime position. A previous building was also located, this one with intact walls and some beautiful floor tiles. I look forward to following up on the glimpse of information I was given on this excavation.

Having finished the course now, I'm quite happy to say that this was an excellent use of my time. For those of you who haven't caught the history bug yet, this is a good introductory into medieval life. For those of you who are social historians like myself, this gives just enough in-depth info to offer new avenues of thought and interest. I found a lot to love about this course, and I have no hesitation recommending it.