The first excavations in Soria do not find the tomb of James IV

PalmaThe archaeological excavations searching in Soria for the remains of James IV of Majorca are entering the final stretch without having located, for the moment, the monarch's tomb, the lid, or any element that allows a direct connection to be established.

The campaign began last September 14th at the old convent of San Francisco in Soria, specifically in the area of the old chapel of the Conception, and still has five days of work left on the ground. The works are part of the line of research initiated in 2008 to try to locate and identify the possible remains of James IV, the last monarch of the private dynasty of the Kingdom of Majorca.

Although the sought-after tomb has not been found so far, archaeologists have indeed located several bone fragments. These materials will soon be subjected to a carbon-14 test, which will allow their chronology to be determined.

The research leaders, however, maintain caution and consider it premature to link these fragments to the Mallorcan monarch. The dating will make it possible to know which period the bones belong to, but for now, there is no element that allows confirming that they correspond to James IV.

Five more days of excavations

The campaign will continue for five more days before being considered finished. The professional archaeology team is led by Helena Inglada, while the scientific coordination corresponds to Professor Gabriel Ensenyat.

The objective of the work is to delve into the location of the possible tomb of James IV and obtain evidence that allows for the identification of the remains. The intervention focuses on the space of the former chapel of the Conception of the old convent of Saint Francis.

For the moment, however, the tomb remains unfound. The coming days will serve to complete this phase of the investigation. Once the campaign is finished, the team will have to analyze the recovered materials and, in the case of bone fragments, the results of the carbon-14 tests.