Scientists say Copernicus' Remains, Grave FoundNovember 25, 2008
Researchers have said that they identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the
16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and
astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.
Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull, missing the lower jaw, his team found in 2005
buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.
The reconstruction shows a broken nose and other features that resemble a self-portrait of Copernicus, and the skull bears a cut mark above the left eye that
corresponds with a scar shown in the painting. Moreover, the skull belonged to a man aged around 70 - Copernicus's age when he died in 1543.
"In our opinion, our work led us to the discovery of Copernicus's remains but a grain of doubt remained," Gassowski said.
So, in the next stage, Swedish genetics expert Marie Allen analyzed DNA from a vertebrae, a tooth and femur bone and matched and compared it to that taken
from two hairs retrieved from a book that the 16th-century Polish astronomer owned, which is kept at a library of Sweden's Uppsala University where Allen
works.
"We collected four hairs and two of them are from the same individual as the bones," Allen said.
Gassowski is head of the Archaeology and Anthropology Institute in Pultusk, in central Poland, and Allen works at the Rudbeck Laboratory of the Genetics and
Pathology Dept. of Uppsala Univ.
Copernicus was known to have been buried in the 14th-century Frombork Cathedral where he served as a canon, but his grave was not marked. The bones found by
Gassowski were located under floor tiles near one of the side altars.
Gassowski's team started his search in 2004, on request from regional Catholic bishop, Jacek Jezierski.
Source: Associated Press
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