Researchers led by Kevin Colls, the project manager at the Center of Archaeology at Staffordshire University, have uncovered evidence that they say indicates that Shakespeare’s skull was stolen from his grave by a local doctor in 1794.
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Alas, Poor William Shakespeare. Where Does His Skull Rest?
Researchers led by Kevin Colls, the project manager at the Center of Archaeology at Staffordshire University, have uncovered evidence that they say indicates that Shakespeare’s skull was stolen from his grave by a local doctor in 1794.
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So, as fascinating as this all is, not being able to find the head of one of the decidedly most important authors of all time, I am a tad confused as to many aspects of the article. Why would someone want to steal Shakespeare’s skull? Why do we NEED to know where his skull is? Why are we talking about giving Shakespeare a ‘quantum tickle’. I’m afraid that when I opened this article to take a read, I got quite a great deal more than I had bargained for. But anyhow, I think that it’s somewhat important historically that there remains some mystery surrounding Shakespeare. It’s a testament to how much society really suck at retaining information from generation to generation, and how difficult it is to know just where we came from in terms of our somewhat distant past. I imagine that with this modern age, these kinds of mysteries will become less and less frequent, as it is highly unlikely that anyone worth knowing about will most definitely have several digitized records regarding their life and death, but still, when we can’t find the head of the man who’s writings changed the way we look at literature forever, I can’t help but feel intrigued, in a really tentative way.
Everything about Shakespeare it seems is dipped in mystery and astonishment. From the size of his body of work, to his life, and now to his resting place, it seems that attempts to map out his life are growing increasingly harder. I am quite curious to see how this question ends up resolved, and I am also very curious to see what this documentary - which has been the subject of much speculation and hype - yields or reveals to the public. Part of me thinks it will not announce anything truly new, but part of me also hopes that this assumption is wildly wrong.
Several summers ago I visited Stratford, and the grave site. I was truly struck by how the church seemed so resolute in preserving the entombment, even if that meant obscuring knowledge or new facts about Shakespeare. I am glad some middle ground was reached, and I am sure those working on this new missing skull mystery will work relentlessly until answers are found.
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