Cervantes find celebrated

The remains of Miguel de Cervantes, interred in 1616, are believed to have been rediscovered in a convent in Madrid.

Fragments of bones found in the floor of the convent’s crypt almost certainly belong to the literary giant, according to a team of Spanish archaeologists and anthropologists.

Wooden parts of a casket were also discovered at the Convento de las Monjas Trinitarias Dexcalzas (Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians).

The remains were in a coffin containing the remains of 14 other corpses, making it difficult to identify which bone fragments belonged to the creator of Spain’s signature piece of literature.

“We are convinced that among these fragments, we have something of Cervantes,” Francisco Etxeberria, a lead researcher, said. The main evidence, he said, were historical documents spelling out where Cervantes and his wife, Catalina de Salazar, had been buried as well as the age of the bones and clothing they had uncovered in the excavated tomb.

Infrared cameras, 3D scanners and ground-penetrating radar were all deployed in the search by the team in their high-profile search which began in April 2014.

Cervantes had been born near Madrid in 1547 and his influential book, “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha,” was published first in 1605. A founding work of modern Western literature, the novel frequently appears on lists of great works of fiction.

The author wanted to be buried in the convent after the religious order there helped ransom him from pirates. Records confirm this took place, but after the convent was refurbished sometime between 1698 and 1730, history was erased when the bodies were transferred to another crypt and the location lost.

Researchers went through 33 alcoves and eventually found part of a casket which bore the author’s initials.

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