A 2.3-ton tombstone was lowered overnight into place, sealing the king beneath and marking Richard’s place of honor in Leicester cathedral.
Coming from a quarry in North Yorkshire which Richard would have owned as the Duke of York, the Swaledale fossil stone sits on a slab of dark Kilkenny marble, inscribed with the king’s name, dates, motto and coat of arms. The latter is made in a variety of marble and semi-precious stones.
The Swaledale tombstone, which polishes to a fine finish, contains fossil remains of invertebrate marine creatures. The stone was formed at the bottom of a shallow sea that covered much of today’s United Kingdom during the early Carboniferous period, some 350 million years ago. ”The fossils within it are long dead creatures immortalized,” the cathedral said.
Basically the shape and size of a sarcophagus, the tombstone features a deeply incised cross.
“The deep cut in the stone will allow light to flood through it, symbolizing that death is not the end, but that we all receive new life in Christ,” the cathedral said in a statement.
The stone tomb’s creation marks one of the biggest events in the history of Leicester. The design is slightly higher at the head, “as if rising to meet the risen Jesus,” the cathedral said.
The reinterment is considered to be a final act and there are no plans to reopen the tomb in the future.
Read more at Discovery News
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