Archaeologists have found a coffin-within-a-coffin at the site where they unearthed the remains of Richard III underneath a parking garage in Leicester, England.
The same team that found Richard last year returned to the site for a second dig earlier this month to continue their investigation. Their work included opening a medieval stone coffin they found during their first dig.
Upon opening the lid last week they found a second, lead coffin inside.
This is the first fully intact stone coffin to be found at the site, which was once the Grey Friars Church and is now home to the Leicester social services department.
The coffin is believed to contain 鈥渁 prestigious figure,鈥� the remains of one of the founders of Grey Friars Church, or a medieval monk. The archaeologists say they can see feet through a small hole in the coffin that may belong to:
- Peter Swynsfeld, who died in 1272 and was a leader of the English Grey Friars order.
- William of Nottingham, who died in 1330 and was also a leader of the order.
- Sir William de Moton of Peckleton, a knight who died sometime between 1356 and 1362.
- A former mayor of Leicester, identified in records only as 鈥渁 knight called Mutton.鈥�
It is also possible that, because many others were buried in the church whose names are now lost to history, the identity of the body in the newly discovered coffin will never be known.
The coffin has been moved to the university鈥檚 archaeology school, where it will undergo tests as experts determine how to safely open it without damaging its contents. It took eight people just to remove the lid of the outer stone coffin.
The university鈥檚 Mathew Morris, site director at Grey Friars, said none of the archaeologists at the site had seen a lead coffin within a stone coffin.
鈥淭he stone coffin was always the big thing we wanted to investigate during this dig. For me, it was as exciting as finding Richard III,鈥� Morris said. 鈥淲e still don鈥檛 know who is inside -- so there is still a question mark over it.鈥�
The team鈥檚 work made international headlines earlier this year when they confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt that the battle-scarred skeleton discovered at the site was indeed Richard, who died at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 after a brief two-year reign. The results were confirmed with DNA testing against a sample provided by Michael Ibsen, a Canadian-born descendant of King Richard III.
Records indicated that Richard was buried by Franciscan monks, but the location of his burial site remained unknown.
When archaeologists discovered a possible gravesite last year, they found human remains that showed signs of battle scars consistent with Richard鈥檚 violent death. The skeleton also showed signs of scoliosis, a form of spinal curvature, consistent with accounts of Richard鈥檚 appearance.
The latest dig is expected to last about four weeks. As that work continues, work is ongoing to build a King Richard III visitor centre so tourists can see some of the artefacts unearthed by the team.
Richard鈥檚 remains, meanwhile, will be reinterred in a raised tomb at Leicester Cathedral. Final approval for the tomb鈥檚 design, including a new floor, lighting and stained glass windows, is expected to take place in November.
