Russian Dig find Tsar's Family

[saracat]

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6962606.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6962606.stm
Russia dig finds 'tsar's family'

13-year-old Prince Alexei would have been the heir to the throne
Russian archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of two children of Russia's last tsar, executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
DNA tests will be carried out on the bones, thought to be those of Prince Alexei and his elder sister Maria.

Archaeologists excavated ground close to the site in Yekaterinburg where the tsar, his wife and their three other daughters were found in 1991.

The prosecutor-general is reopening an investigation into the case.

Archaeologist Sergei Pogorelov says bullets found at the burial site indicate the children had been shot.

He told Russian television the newly unearthed bones belonged to two young people: a young male aged roughly 10-13 and a young woman about 18-23.

Ceramic vessels found nearby appear to have contained sulphuric acid, consistent with an account by one of the Bolshevik firing squad, who said that after shooting the family they doused the bodies in acid to destroy the flesh and prevent them becoming objects of veneration.

Haemophilia clue

The regional forensic bureau chief, Nikolai Nevolin, told Itar-Tass news agency that 44 bone fragments had been handed over, and would be subjected to detailed analysis.

"We know that Prince Alexei suffered from haemophilia, so we'll have to detect the genome of this disease," he said.

The bullets found at the burial site would also be tested, he said.

Nicholas abdicated in 1917, and he and his family were detained. The following year, they were sent to Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, where a Bolshevik firing squad executed them on July 17, 1918.

In 1998, experts exhumed and ceremonially reburied what were widely considered to be the remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, and the three daughters.






Read more: BBC

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I think this is facinating!

[Thickasabrick]

1. I read about this in the Guardian today. I love this stuff, but I'm always

really sad when I'm reminded of how that family met it's end. The cruelty of people will never cease to astound me.

[mikelgb]

2. Alexei, Alexei mustn't run and mustn't play

mustn't jump and mustn't climb

Must be careful all the time...

is this ingrained in anyone else's brain?

it is from one of the old Russian Revolution movies

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. I remember that rhyme from Nicholas and Alexandra...

Alexei says it as he's climbing on rocks, as I recall.

Their deaths were an atrocity. So were the results of his incompetence, unfortunately. It was not one of history's brighter moments. :(