Richard III skull reveals king's death blow, pathologists say

Was it a sword, the spike of a medieval bill or perhaps the blade of a halberd?

Whatever the piece of weaponry, it inflicted serious trauma to the left base of King Richard III's skull more than five centuries ago, likely killing the British monarch at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, according to pathologists.

Forensic experts analyzing CT scans and new imaging techniques found that Richard's skeleton sustained 11 wounds "at or near the time of his death," University of Leicester Prof.Sarah Hainsworth told Sky News.

• Richard III remains confirmed, but DNA test raises other questions
• The long-lost bones of Richard III
• King Richard III gets burial near parking lot where his skeleton was found

Nine of those wounds, Hainsworth said, were to the skull, and "clearly inflicted in battle."

In a paper published in the medical journal The Lancet, Hainsworth's forensics team wrote the injuries were "highly consistent with the body having been in a prone position or on its knees with the head pointing downwards."

'Stuck in the mire'

The scientists say Richard was likely still wearing armour at his death, as there were no identifying defensive wounds on his arms and hands.

However, the severity of the wounds to his skull suggest Richard "had either lost his helmet or it had been removed, forcibly or otherwise."

The pathologists noted that "near-contemporary accounts of the battlesuggest that Richard abandoned his horse after it became stuck in a mire and was killed while fighting his enemies."

The shape of an injury to Richard's pelvis also seems consistent with accounts of the former ruler's body being "slung over the back of a horse and suffering insults," the report said.

A more dignifiedreinterment ceremony is expected to take place at Leicester Cathedral in March.

The skeletal remains of Richard, who was depicted by William Shakespeare as a murderous villain, were discovered during excavation work under a Leicester parking lot in 2012.