"Modern Forensics Reveal Gruesome Details Of King Richard III's Death"
As we wait for economists to rouse themselves and react to the FOMC we will divert ourselves with io9:
Richard
III was the last king of England to die in battle. But as a new
forensic analysis of his remains shows, he didn't just die in battle —
he had the living tar beat out of him. Here's how this king met his
maker on that fateful day in 1485.
According
to historical accounts, Richard abandoned his horse during the battle
after it became stuck in a mire. He was then brutally attacked and
killed while fighting his enemies. But the exact details of his death
are largely unknown, at least until now.
A
forensic imaging team, working with the Forensic Pathology Unit and the
Department of Engineering at the University of Leicester, used whole
body CT scans and micro-CT imaging of Richard's preserved bones to
analyse trauma to the skeleton, and to figure out which of his wounds
were fatal. In addition, the team analysed tool marks on bone to
identify the types of medieval weapons used during the attack.
11 Distinct Wounds
It
appears that the King sustained no less than 11 distinct wounds at or
near the time of his death. Nine of them were to the skull, likely
inflicted during the battle. This suggests he had either removed or lost
his helmet. The other two wounds were to the postcranial skeleton (i.e., anything below the cranium).
"Richard's
injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several
assailants with weapons from the later medieval period," noted study
author Sarah Hainsworth in a press release. "The wounds to the skull
suggest that he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive
wounds on his arms and hands indicate that he was otherwise still
armoured at the time of his death."...MORE
