Like everyone else with an interest in history, I’m following the story of ‘The King in the Car Park’ with fascination. Can it really be true that the remains of Richard III have been found in Leicester? Archaeologists from the University of Leicester have been conducting a dig in a car park, where they have discovered a church that seems to belong to the ruined Franciscan Friary known as Grey Friars.
It seems almost too good to be true, but the archaeology team have announced the discovery of a male skeleton wrapped in a shroud, with an arrowhead in his back and his skull sliced through, perhaps with a sword or battle-axe.
The really interesting feature, though, in an already fascinating story, is that while there’s no evidence of either a withered arm or a hunched back, this man suffered from scoliosis, a spinal curvature that would have made his right shoulder higher than his left.
Is it just me, or does Richard’s right shoulder look slightly higher than his left in this portrait?
Historians are Past Caring 