Bones key to Alfred the Great
BRITAIN
SKELETAL remains believed to be those of King Alfred the Great will be tested by forensic scientists to see whether they really are those of the Saxon king.
A group of Winchester residents have long suspected that an unmarked grave in their church harboured the body of the greatest ruler of the House of Wessex. Now they have been granted permission by the diocese to investigate his bones.
The decision means that an 1100-year mystery could be put to rest, with carbon dating and isotope analysis used to help to determine whether the bones are really those of the king who saved Britain from the Danes.
Hyde900, the community group that pushed for the analysis, would also like to perform a DNA test similar to that which confirmed that remains found in a Leicester car park last summer were those of Richard III. In that instance, a DNA test was possible because a direct descendant of Richard was identified.
For Alfred, who ruled six centuries earlier, that might prove harder, even if a lot of people have come forward claiming to be related to him since the group announced their intentions.
Initially buried in a minster beside Winchester Cathedral in 899, Alfred’s remains were moved to the abbey, with those of his wife and son, in 1100.
After that was levelled in the Refor- mation, the grave was lost.
However, in 1866 an amateur archaeologist exhumed the bones he claimed were those of Alfred, and sold them to the vicar of St Bartholomew’s.
Amid a flurry of publicity, his claim was undermined when a monogrammed lead plaque that he claimed came from the grave was shown to be an obvious forgery.
For 150 years the grave was forgotten. Now, though, science can provide more certainty. Specifically, if the bones can be shown to be ninth century it would be significant evidence that they might be Alfred’s, as all the other bones on the site would be expected to be those of monks from at least two centuries later.
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