Researchers say they have 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 centre of the solar system.
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,” Mr Gassowski said.
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 Mr Gassowski were located under floor tiles near one of the side altars.
Copernicus is believed to have come up with his main idea of the Sun at the centre of the solar system between 1508 and 1514, and during those years wrote a manuscript commonly known as Commentariolus (Little Commentary).
His final thesis was only published in the year of his death.
PA