Solving a 500 Year Old Cold Case - with Turi King

When a 500 year old skeleton was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, geneticist Turi King and her team set out to determine whether it could belong to the lost monarch Richard III.

In this year's Genetics Society JBS Haldane Lecture, Turi King will discuss leading the international research team involved in the DNA identification work of the remains of Richard III and the current project to sequence his entire genome.

Turi King is a Reader in Genetics and Archaeology and Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Leicester. She is perhaps best known for leading the genetics analysis in the King Richard III case leading to the identification of his remains in 2014 which led to his reinterment in Leicester Cathedral in 2015.

This talk and Q&A was recorded in the Ri on 26 November 2018.

0:17 Introduction
2:22 How the excavation came to be
5:06 Who was Richard III?
8:01 Why Leicester?
14:35 What would his skeleton look like?
17:37 The dig
25:30 Identifying the skeleton
31:17 Richard III's scoliosis doppelgänger
32:48 Identifying the fatal blow
36:21 Finding a living relative
46:51 The DNA results that confirmed Richard III's identity
48:12 A question of paternity
54:12 Using genetics to give Richard III a makeover
56:32 Richard III's celebrity descendants

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A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially:
Dave Ostler, David Lindo, Greg Nagel, Ivan Korolev, John Pollock, Lester Su, Osian Gwyn Williams, Radu Tizu, Rebecca Pan, Robert Hillier, Roger Baker, Sergei Solovev, and Will Knott
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[frithbarbat]

Brilliant. Having this kind of material available to view for free is, in my opinion, the best and highest use of the internet.

[nycbearff]

Professor King is such an excellent lecturer! I've known a lot of people in the sciences, it's not that common to find someone who's both a good professional scientist and a good professional interpreter of science for lay people. The latter takes so much time and energy that most scientists don't want to do it, even if they have the skills, and even though it's so important.

[MSK-jdfi]

This was absolutely fascinating. Professor King is a wonderful presenter, natural and humorous while being incredibly knowledgeable. My favorite part was her worries about spilling the genetic beans when telling one of the possible descendants that their parentage wasn’t what they thought.

[LQOTW]

Well, I found the lecture a bit late in the game, although I have a feeling Richard won't mind a bit, seeing as he hung about for 500 yrs. Wonderful lecture by a brilliant scientist and speaker. Thank you very much for sharing this with the world.

[Hannahk]

I still find it crazy how they found and identified his remains, and everything they were able to learn from them.

[cornishmaid]

I live in Leicester and was blessed to stand in the city centre, close to the cathedral, and paid my respects as King Richard passed by on the carriage. I subsequently was able to walk right behind the carriage right up to the Cathedral. I feel forever humbled by the experience.

[Good.Morning.Petty.Potatoes]

When I had first heard about how they had the full armor reenactment, I actually wasn't surprised by the results. When I was in high school I had a friend who had some scoliosis. Likely from always wearing a heavy backpack on one shoulder. I have a steel boned corset that she liked borrowing and she said that when she wore it she had less back pain because of the support.

[monicacall]

Wow! What a journey the people who were part of the Richard III team went on! I remember watching the “funeral” service for Richard and thinking how amazing it was that the bones of a once living breathing king from over 500 years ago were found and definitely identified as being him. If the bones had somehow been found 20 or more years ago there wouldn’t have been the scientific breakthroughs that would’ve allowed team to definitely identify them as Richards’s. The excavation was lucky that it was the right time and right place to find him!

[refuge]

What a bang up job Dr. Turi King did on this lecture. I like it when someone has knitted together a good story, and delivers it in a compelling style which she did quite nicely. Then she dips into the genetic evidence just enough that I'm glad I didn't go to learn all that stuff and then somebody else did. The bits of strands from so many different directions and his being found in a car park was a knockdown 1-2 punch that really kept the story rolling. First rate job!

[llynhunter]

This is such a delightful lecture. Turi King is amazing! I was riveted to it and giggling with delight at the entire tale.

[sharonloomis]

She has such an amazing sense of humor. It's a joy to listen to her and one listens closely. Because one doesn't want to miss the humor.

[freddiehansen]

Thank you! I adored listening to Prof. Turi King she is so smart and so good at explaining complex things in a simple manner. I could listen to her all day, both her and Dame Susan Margaret Black.

[yolandacroes]

This must be every archeologist’s dream. To be involved in a once in a generation?, millenium? discovery. Congrats to all involved. And thank you dr. King for a clear and engaging presentation of a fascinating subject.

[hatarismom]

As an avid genealogist, and a former president of a local genealogical society, thank you for the work you do. We have a family history going back to the Greenwall Deeds, and my family came to Canada during the American Revolution, being Quakers. It’s all extremely fascinating!

[laurel]

This is one of the best lectures I’ve heard. I’m not a Ricardian but interestingly have an mtDNA match with Richard. Thank you for posting!

[dawnhewitt]

She's so witty and down to earth, I cracked up when she said Richard had been de-feet-ed! She made this fun and interesting, she did an excellent job!!

[virginiasoskin]

This is just awesome from an American's point of view. England's history goes back SO, SO far and ours oh, 400 years (of course, Native American history goes back thousands of years...). And we get excited by Plymouth Rock or Williamsburg, where I think every spot in England had something historic happen there at least once. Castle ruins, battlefields like Hastings, WW2 aerodrome landing strips still visible....so much to see and learn. Thanks -- this was amazing. Seeing those nearly matched DNA sequences was just breath-taking and proved beyond doubt it was Richard. the funeral procession and burial, and the fact that Michael Ibsen, his descendant, built Richard's casket is just wonderful. I wonder what Richard would have thought if he could reappear and know this casket was made from a descendant. Very fitting indeed.

[CasAshworth]

Oh this is excellent! The history, archeology, genealogy, genetics, all combined and very fascinating. Thank you for making this available on YouTube.

[YochevedDesigns]

Turi is such a fantastic story teller! I'd love to have her teach my history class.

[JamesBray-qmgr-qw]

This I think is one of the most FANTASTIC historical research I have EVER seen!! She is outstanding in this lecture, loved it !! She is absolutely