Alfred hunt ‘not such a great idea’

An academic from the University of Sheffield has cast doubt on the BBC’s search for the remains of King Alfred the Great, saying that results are likely to prove inconclusive.

By The Newsroom

Published 15th Jan 2014, 00:01 BST

A BBC2 documentary is attempting to identify bones from an unmarked Winchester grave.

The search for the remains of the Anglo-Saxon king comes after a Channel 4 documentary featured the discovery of Richard III’s remains beneath a Leicester car park.

Historian Edward Fennell, who is involved in the project, told the Radio Times the documentary was not jumping on the bandwagon. “We commenced the search for Alfred a long time before the publicity about Richard III hit,” he said.

But academic Dr Charles West, lecturer in medieval history at Sheffield, was sceptical that DNA testing would provide a conclusive result.

“Alfred is buried with his son Edward and I don’t think they will be able to distinguish between their bones,” he told the magazine.

“Alfred died such a long time ago that even if they did prove descent, we’re all likely to be related in one way or another.”