The question of whether his remains survived the Dissolution: answered. John Speed’s account of the bones being thrown into the Soar appears to have been false; the remains were undisturbed until 2012.

The question of his physical characteristics: substantially answered. He had idiopathic adolescent scoliosis causing visible shoulder asymmetry. He did not have a withered arm, club foot, or the extreme deformity of theatrical tradition.

The question of how he died: largely answered. Multiple blows to an exposed head were the cause. The injuries are consistent with the loss of his helmet in close combat.

The question of his DNA: answered, with the qualification that ancient DNA analysis has inherent limitations. His mitochondrial haplogroup was J. His Y-chromosome haplogroup can be specified. His nuclear genome has been partially sequenced.

The question of the break in the Plantagenet paternal line: established but not located. There was at least one false paternity event somewhere in the chain between Edward III and the Somerset-line comparators. Its location and significance remain unknown.

The questions that remain open are the ones that bones and DNA cannot address: what Richard III knew about his nephews’ fate, what role he played in their disappearance, what his governance of England would have been had he not faced the Tudor invasion, what kind of person he was to those who knew him. These questions belong to the domain of historical interpretation, where the evidence is textual, partisan, fragmentary, and ambiguous.

The bones in the car park offered a different kind of evidence — physical, biological, and in some ways more direct than the political chronicles. That directness has its own limits. A skeleton can tell you what a person’s body looked like, what they ate, how they died, and what DNA they carried. It cannot tell you what they intended.

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