(CNN Español) – A team of Spanish researchers confirmed this Thursday that the remains of Christopher Columbus do indeed rest in Seville Cathedral.
In a press conference called for the documentary “Golan Atn. Their true appearance”, whose premiere is scheduled for this Saturday on Spanish state television, scientists from the University of Granada reported the results of an investigation over 20 years, which seeks to put an end to speculation about the fate of the remains of the navigator.
The head of the researchers, José Antonio Lorente, explained that since 2003 the compatibility of the remains in the Seville Cathedral had been talked about, but the DNA technology available at the time did not allow a definitive conclusion to be reached.
“Someone might say: ‘It’s already been said’ and in fact, at the beginning of our studies in 2003, 2004 and 2005, the preview of the results was already done and it could have been in bones. Seville they belong to Christopher Columbus. What’s going on? Probability, and here we’re talking about statistical probability. Let’s talk, there was less because there wasn’t enough DNA. Now it’s possible to verify it with new technologies, so the theory is firmly established,” said Lorente.
The investigation was based on DNA analysis of Colon’s remains, which had already been identified, and those of his son Hernando.
The event was attended by one of the navigator’s descendants, Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal y Corozabel, who noted remains attributed to Columbus in the Dominican Republic.
“The Dominicans are clinging to another possibility, because the skeleton in Seville Cathedral is an incomplete skeleton,” he pointed out.
Lorente added that it is possible that Columbus’ remains are in the Dominican Republic because the bones “are not all in Seville, nor are they all in the Dominican Republic.”
