Film footage offers unique insight into Richard III burial site dig
The University has released a unique insight into the archaeological dig that has captured the imagination of the world, with new film footage of a second excavation at the site where the remains of King Richard III were discovered in 2012.
The sequence – an 11 minute time-lapse video – documents the month-long dig undertaken by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) in July 2013. This is the first time such a behind-the-scenes insight has been revealed into the archaeological process.
Mathew Morris, the Grey Friars Site Director from ULAS narrates the video to describe the archaeological process of excavating the car park.
The footage was taken from a camera positioned looking down onto the dig from the old school building which is now the Richard III Visitor Centre. Over the 28 day period, the camera took more than 50,000 individual still images which were then rendered into the final clip, a process that took over 40 hours.
The University is also releasing 26 video sequences to illustrate the key events in the discovery, science and reburial of the last Plantagenet King.
A free day of family-friendly activities celebrating the University's research, discovery and identification of Richard III will be held on Saturday 21 March. Free interactive and hands-on workshops and talks take place from 10am – 4pm at the University of Leicester campus and the experts involved in the discovery and identification of the remains will be available to speak to media about their work. For more information, see the list of events here.
The time-lapse video can be seen below: