The RICL: Anthropology and forensic science

I have made a habit of watching the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures for over forty years. A single scientist, with guest contributors, covers a subject over three (to five) days and demonstrates some of the detail to a live audience of inquisitive children, who take part in the experiments. Last year’s lecturer was Professor Dame…

All bones tell a story – but not all a tale as amazing as Richard III’s….

Because of Richard III, and all that could be accurately gleaned from his remains, it is now very interesting to read of other cases where bones give up fascinating details. This article describes a grisly discovery on an Orkney beach. How old might it be? I quote: “….The world leading forensic bone scientist heads a…

The Mythology of the “Princes in the Tower”

This is less a book and more of an outdoor swimming pool, becoming deeper as the chapters progress. In the shallow end, the subjects go from the definition of a “prince” and the circumstances under which Edward IV’s elder sons came to live there, centuries before Buckingham Palace was built to the origin of the…

‘RECENT INVESTIGATIONS REGARDING THE FATE OF THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER’ by L E Tanner and William Wright 1933

UPDATED POST @ sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/05/14/recent-investigations-regarding-the-fate-of-the-princes-in-the-tower-by-l-e-tanner-and-william-wright-1933-2/ Interior view of the Henry Vll Chapel by Giovanni Canaletto.  Henry’s tomb can be seen in the distance with the chapel housing the urn to the left. Lawrence E Tanner Keeper of the Muniments (1926-66)  Librarian, Westminster Abbey Who could blame anyone, after reading Tanner and Wright’s…

A Scottish Consort is identified

Late last year, we showed how James VI/I’s grandfathers, James V and Matthew Earl of Lennox, shared the same Y-chromosome. Now there is some facial reconstruction news about his father, Henry Lord Darnley: A student at the University of Dundee, which reconstructed Richard’s face after his identification, has provided the same service for Darnley (above).…