|COMPUTER SHOPPE
RICHARDIII
ISSUE395|COMPUTER SHOPPER|JANUARY2021 81
alongwithmodernobjectssuchas
pipesandcables,nottomention
horizontalfeaturessuchasrubble
fill, it’s clear that the initial results
will be farfromsimple.
Claire Grahamof SUMO
Stratascan carried out the GPR
surveyatthe Greyfriars site. We ask
her how she makes sense of such
apparently confusing data. The full
process involves some extremely
complicated maths, but to cut along
story short, Grahamdescribes six
stages of data processing that are
applied to the raw data.
The data doesn’t represent a
physical model at first; instead it
shows timeslices, which indicatethe
time the radar signal took to bounce
back. By processing multiple slices
together,you can forma3Dmodel
of the ground and identify potential
points of interest to investigate.
The next part of the story will be
familiar to thosewho followed media
coverage of the excavation. Archeologists dug atrench based on
the GPR results, and foundhuman remains almost immediately.
The skeleton was evidently that of ayoung male of slender build
–consistent with descriptions of Richard III –but more tellingly,it
showed amarked curvature of the spine and trauma to the skull
consistent with death in battle.The body appeared to have been
buried hurriedly,again conforming to historical reports. What’s
more,the discovery of the foundations of walls in other trenches
confirmed that the skeleton had been buried inside achurch,
specifically in the east end of the choir,near the altar.
Farfrombeing the end of the
quest, in many ways this was just
the beginning. Finding out forsure
whether these were the remains
of Richard III would be atest of
archaeology and technology alike.DNAPROFILING
Much of the hype and speculation
that preceded the University of
Leicester’s announcement that they
had positively identified Richard’s
remains concerned DNA profiling.
This was carried out by Dr Turi
King, lecturer in Genetics and
Archaeology at the University of
Leicester,using the dedicated
ancient DNA facilities at the
University of Yo rk. AccordingtoDr
King, the analysis didn’t involve the
nuclear DNA that’s used in criminal
investigations. Instead, the work
entailed an analysis of the
mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which
is more plentiful in acelland
therefore much easier to recover in ancient remains.
Unlike nuclear DNA, though, which is inherited fromboth
parents and is therefore unique to an individual, mtDNA is
inherited only fromthe mother.This means that unless a
mutation has occurred, aperson’s mtDNA will be identical to that
of their mother,grandmother,great grandmother and so on.
While this is of limited use in acriminal forensic investigation,
it’s perfect foridentifying ancient remains as long as an mtDNA
sample can be obtained fromsomeone who is known to be
directly related through the maternal line.Excavations only began once map
regression analysis and GPR had
pin-pointed the locations to digREMAKING THE BLUE BOAR INN
It maynot have received the same media attention as
the discovery of the king himself,but architects have
recreated the Blue Boar Inn where Richard III spent
his last night –reputedly in his own bed that he’d
taken with him. The Blue Boar on Leicester’s old High
Street was demolished in 1836, and the siteisnow
occupied by aTravelodge Inn, but achance discovery
by Leicester University’s Richard Buckleymade its
reconstruction possible.While looking through
watercolours belonging to the present-dayGoddard
family,Buckley found aset of drawings by Victorian
architect Henry Goddard of alarge timber-framed
building that he recognised immediately as the
long-lost coaching inn.
The drawings, completewith measurements and
construction details, were sufficiently detailed to
allow an accuratereconstruction of the Blue Boar.
Buckleyapproached Steffan Davies, an architect
experienced in drawings of historic buildings. Davies rose to
the challenge and engaged in considerable detective work to
figureout which drawings related to which parts of the
building. The result was a3Dmodel, created in CAD software,
that could be viewed and manipulated onscreen.There’s something about aphysical model that avirtual
one can’t match, and thanks to a3Dprinter in theUniversity’s
Department of Physics and Astronomy,archaeologists can
now pick up and admire a1:50scale model of the inn where
Richard III spent his last night before riding to Bosworth Field
and meeting his death at the hands of Henry of Tudor’s army.⬆3Dprintingmade light work of reconstructing the Blue Boar Inn, where Richard III
spent his last night before the Battle of Bosworth Field