Body Found in Search for Richard III Almost Destroyed in 1800s
Last month, a search for King Richard III's remains turned up a human skeleton beneath a parking lot in England. Researchers have a long way to go in the lab before they can determine whether it belongs to the monarch, but they say they were lucky to have found a body at all. Evidence suggests the grave was almost razed by 19th-century builders.
"It was incredibly lucky," archaeologist Mathew Morris, said in a statement. "If the Victorians had dug down 30 cm (12 inches) more they would have built on top of the remains and destroyed them."
Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby added that the head of the body was found "inches from the foundations of a Victorian building."