Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Identify Head of France's King Henry IV

Posted by samzenpus on from the losing-then-finding-your-head dept.

JThaddeus writes "The Associated Press reports that 'After nine months of tests, researchers in France have identified the head of France's King Henry IV.' Henry was assassinated in 1610, and his head has been missing. His body was dug up and decapitated during the French Revolution. Researchers found features similar to those in royal portraits, and radiocarbon dating confirms that the head dates to the 17th Century. Interestingly, 'Perfumers on the team used their professionally trained noses to identify specific embalming substances in the mouth used to hide nasty odors.' The results have been published an online medical journal."

9 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. Idle by Psychotria · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Look. Idle is supposed to be STUPID STUFF that's a waste of time. This isn't idle; it's interesting. I swear that slashdot is getting more and more idiotic every time I log in

    1. Re:Idle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Then for the love of god stop logging in!

  2. I hadn't known about Henry IV by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 4, Funny

    He sounds like a great monarch, truly ahead of his time.

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  3. Re:Does rest in peace mean anything to scientists by lordholm · · Score: 5, Informative

    No scientists dug him up. If you RTFA, you will see that he was dug up during the French revolution and posthumously decapitated. The head was then stolen and passed along in "private collections".

    The scientists found the head, confirmed that it was the dead kings missing head and, there will be a national burial of the head in a cathedral.

    So, essentially, the scientists did exactly the opposite of what you are complaining about.

    --
    "Civis Europaeus sum!"
  4. which part by rossdee · · Score: 2

    Henry IV part I or Henry IV part II

  5. Re:Does rest in peace mean anything to scientists by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2

    I don't want to be dug up by scientists writing papers that nobody reads.

    Anonymous cowards are dug up and put on public display quite often. Do something noteworthy enough that you get a fancy tomb and you might avoid this fate. Not that the rest of us will be holding our breaths for you to accomplish anything ... we'll just be standing over at the edge of the graveyard with shovels. "Specimen of early 21st-century Homo semi-sapiens trollicus patheticus. Name unknown."

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
  6. Re:No DNA? by Mushdot · · Score: 2

    A BBC article mentions that any DNA sample would be contaminated.

  7. Good job by grub · · Score: 2


    I'm sure this great news will bring closure to his family.
    Now they can close this dark chapter of their lives and move on.

    hm.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  8. Link to the BMJ paper by Syberz · · Score: 2

    Here's a link to the paper in the British Medical Journal, complete with pictures!

    --
    ~Syberz