Overview
- The Waterloo-led team, which announced the results Wednesday, named William Orren, David Young and John Bridgens of HMS Erebus, and Harry Peglar of HMS Terror, bringing the team’s confirmed identifications to six.
- Three men were recovered at Erebus Bay on King William Island while Peglar’s remains were found about 130 kilometres away, a pattern that renews questions about whether the ships’ crews split after abandoning the vessels in 1848.
- Analysts compared mitochondrial and Y-chromosome profiles from bones and teeth to descendant DNA and recorded zero genetic distance in all four matches, a strong signal they share a recent common ancestor.
- Peglar’s identification settles a 166-year riddle tied to the “Peglar Papers,” personal documents found in 1859 with a body dressed in clothing that did not match his rank.
- The newly identified remains show no cut marks linked to cannibalism, and the peer-reviewed findings appear in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports and Polar Record.