Bodies of Evidence

Case studies

The Romanovs

In 1991, nine skeletons were found in a shallow grave in Ekaterinburg, Russia. They were believed to be the remains of the Romanov family – Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their children – who were executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries on 17 July 1918, after the Russian Revolution overthrew the autocracy in the previous year. Since then, there have been rumours that one or more of the Romanovs had survived the massacre.

The British Forensic Science Service worked with the Russian authorities to investigate. Using samples of the bones, they performed DNA analysis and this established that the bodies were a family group. The forensic team also analysed the mitochondrial DNA, which is easier to extract from bones and survives for longer than chromosomal DNA. This can be used to test relationships between individuals who are several generations apart.

By comparing the DNA of the bodies with the DNA of near relatives of the Romanovs alive today, scientists concluded that the bodies were indeed those of the last Tsar and his family.

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The Romanovs

Vladimir Lenin

Taung Child

St Clare

The Inuit Women

Witch burial

Barber surgeon

Slave grave

Turin shroud

The disappeared

Medieval coffins