Archaeologists who scanned the grave of William Shakespeare say they have made a head-scratching discovery, his skull appears to be missing.
Researchers used ground-penetrating radar to explore the playwright’s tomb in Stratford-upon-Avon’s Holy Trinity Church. Staffordshire University archaeologist Kevin Colls, who led the study, said they found “an odd disturbance at the head end,” with evidence of repairs some time after the original burial.
He said the finding supports a claim – first made in 1879 but long dismissed as myth – that the Bard’s skull was stolen by grave robbers in the 18th century.
It’s very, very convincing to me that his skull isn’t at Holy Trinity at allKevin Colls, Archaeologist, Stafford University
Church records say Shakespeare was buried in his home-town church, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London, on April 25, 1616, two days after his death at the age of 52. His wife, Anne Hathaway, daughter and son-in-law were later buried alongside him.
Colls said the findings, which feature in a documentary airing Saturday on Britain’s Channel 4 television, would “undoubtedly spark discussion, scholarly debate and controversial theories” – and some Shakespeare scholars remained skeptical.
Michael Dobson, director of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, said the grave-robbing claim was first made in an 1879 short story.
It’s striking the piece of fiction imagines Shakespeare being buried quite shallow, and it turns out he was buried quite shallow. But it is still a piece of fiction.Micahel Dobson, Director, Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham
A skull takes a starring role in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” in which the Danish prince addresses the bony cranium of a man he once knew: “Alas, poor Yorick!”
But Dobson said it would have been unusual for anyone to want a writer’s skull at the time of the alleged theft.