Experts find similarity between skulls of Alexander III and that possibly belonging to Nicholas II

Moscow, September 13, 2017

Photo: Pravoslavie.ru

In the course of the examination of the “Ekaterinburg remains,” believed by many to belong to Tsar Nicholas II and his holy family, Russian researchers have identified similar features on the skulls of Tsar Alexander III and that presumably belonging to Tsar Nicholas II, Denis Pezhemskii, a member of the patriarchal commission for the study of the remains and biology kandidat and anthropology expert, stated in an interview with pravoslavie.ru.

The Russian Orthodox Church earlier announced that it had received permission from the Russian Investigative Committee to release the results of the examinations of the Ekaterinburg remains.

“We have implemented several new techniques. In particular, we have examined the skulls’ anatomic abnormalities, which can be inherited and have no impact on health,“ Pezhemskii said.

The researcher explained that some people may have “an extra opening in their bones or some kind of rare seam,” and that “these small deviations from the ‘usual’ skeletal structure are usually well-defined and help to outline relations between people.”

“We haven’t found anything outstanding yet—with one exception. On skull #4 (presumably belonging to Nicholas II—Ed.) we found a small piece of intercalated bone which sometimes develops at the convergence of the occipital and parietal bones. We found the same bone on the skull of Tsar Alexander III,” Pezhemkii stated.

He also confirmed that traces of a blow from a saber were found on the skull thought to belong to Tsar Nicholas II, who had been attacked with a saber while in Japan in 1891. “This skull does have a trace from one or two successive blows with a sharp chopping weapon. This bone callous was well-healed,” the expert said.

“We found traces of a blow from a sword on the head,” famous Russian criminologist Vyacheslav Popov earlier reported. As the expert noted, in 1991 they had meticulously searched for traces of blows on the supposed skull of Tsar Nicholas, but mistakenly looked on the wrong side, thinking the then-tsarevich was struck on the left side by a saber in the 1891 attempt on his life by one of the police escorting him while on visit to Japan. According to him, modern x-ray studies have revealed, however, two longitudinal grooves which are evidence of a healed injury.

“We… studied the structure of the bone tissue, which is different at the edges. It’s safe to say that this is a fracture made while the person was still alive, it’s an old fracture, and it corresponds to a blow from an elongated cutting instrument, for example a saber,” Popov reported.

Despite these findings, Perezhenskii has urged all to wait for the results of the genetic examinations, as, according to him, genetics have “a much stronger evidence based.” The genetic analysis is nearly complete according to him.