Digging for Richard III : how archaeology found the king / Mike Pitts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pitts, Michael W., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Richard III, King of England, 1452-1485--Death and burial.

Richard.

Richard III, King of England, 1452-1485--Tomb.

Richard III, King of England, 1452-1485.

Excavations (Archaeology)--England--Leicester--Case studies.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Forensic archaeology--England--Leicester.

Forensic archaeology.

England--Leicester.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

207 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Thames & Hudson, 2014.

Summary:

The events of Richard IIIs reign and his death in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth are known worldwide through Shakespeares most performed, filmed and translated history play. Digging for Richard III is the page-turning story of how his grave was found, the people behind the discovery and what it tells us. It is the first complete narrative of a project that blended passion, science, luck and detection. Told by a noted archaeologist with access to all the parties involved, it follows the quest from an idea born in an Edinburgh bookshop to the day, fourteen years later, when two archaeologists carefully raised the bones from a car park in Leicester, and the scientific studies that resulted. The vivid tale of a king, his demise and now his rediscovery, this is also an insiders gripping account of how modern archaeology really works, of how clues meticulously assembled and forensically examined are pieced together to create a narrative worthy of the finest detective fiction.

Contents:

Act I England, 1452-85 9

Act II Looking for Richard III 31

Scene 1 Leicester. A Bridge 32

Scene 2 The same. A friary 52

Scene 3 The same. A university 71

Act III Excavation in 2012 91

Scene 1 Greyfriars. A car park 92

Scene 2 The same. A grave 112

Act IV An Autopsy 137

Act V An Inquest 159.

Notes:

With 41 illustrations.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 194-203) and index.

ISBN:

9780500252000

0500252009

OCLC:

872705173