Christopher Columbus’ remains discovered after more than 500 years

After 20 years of DNA analysis, the team was able to “absolutely confirm” that the human bones discovered buried in the Cathedral of Seville, Spain, belonged to the adventurer who died in 1506. They have been comparing the samples’ DNA with those of kin and descendants for the last 20 years. A search was launched to find the navigator’s remains after Columbus’ body was transferred multiple times after his death. According to some experts, he was buried in the Dominican Republic.

“Today it has been possible to verify it with new technologies, so that the previous partial theory that the remains of Seville belong to Christopher Columbus has been definitively confirmed,” Miguel Lorente, a forensic scientist who led the investigation, said on Thursday.

Although many experts have long assumed that Columbus’ remains has been in the tomb inside the cathedral, it wasn’t until 2003 that Lorente and historian Marcial Castro were given permission to open it and discover the previously unidentified bones within. DNA technology at the time was unable to accurately provide results by “reading” a small bit of genetic material.

The remains of the explorer’s brother Diego and son Hernando, who are also interred at Seville Cathedral, were used by researchers. Additionally, the relative’s bones were far larger than the pieces discovered in Columbus’s grave. The scientific world has also argued about whether the explorer was Italian, and advances in DNA research may help determine this.

While some have proposed Poland or Spain as his birthplace, others are certain he was born in Genoa. The navigator may have been Scottish, Catalan, or Jewish, according to several theories.

The “Columbus DNA: The genuine origin'” program, which will air on Spain’s national broadcaster TVE on Saturday, will reveal the researchers’ findings regarding Columbus’ lineage. While not disclosing the findings, Lorente told reporters that the research had validated earlier theories that the remains in Seville were those of Christopher Columbus.

Numerous issues, especially the volume of data, have hindered nationality research. However, Lorente stated that “the outcome is almost absolutely reliable.”

In search of a path to the legendary riches of Asia, Columbus sailed from the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492. Columbus and about 100 men set out on a journey that would take them to the opposite side of the planet, far from their initial target, along with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.

The ships landed in the present Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Later that month, Columbus discovered Cuba and mistakenly believed it to be mainland China.

Columbus was an Italian explorer who set out to find a direct ocean route from Europe to Asia.

The young navigator convinced Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile to support his journey of discovery, and in 1492 he and his crew set sail with three ships.

He is best known for kicking off the European exploration in the Americas, which led to an increase in the trade of food and other resources around the world.

Although he’s remembered as a ground-breaking explorer, critics say his actions led to the transatlantic slave trade and the mass killing and exploitation of indigenous people.

THE navigator stumbled across America in 1492 after setting sail from Spain with a crew of three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María.

He set out to find a direct route from Europe to Asia.

Although he’s best known for “discovering” North America, it’s a common misconception – Columbus actually set foot in South America when he arrived in the New World.

He landed at the Paria Peninsula in what is modern-day Venezuela, according to HISTORY.

On Oct. 12, 1492, his expedition more than likely found Watling Island in the Bahamas and claimed the land for Spain.

Columbus found Cuba later that month, and in December his crew landed on Hispanola, where he established a colony with 39 of his men before returning to

Spain with Native captives he called “Indians.”

He also explored the Central and South American coasts, according to the Washington Post.

Columbus’ legacy of exploration has been marred by his brutal and violent treatment of Native people.

The viceroy decimated the Taino population on Hispanola – of the roughly 250,000 Tainos living on the island upon his arrival, only a few hundred remained within 60 years of his landing, HISTORY says.

The colonizer shipped and sold enslaved Tainos to Spain and saw indigenous people in the areas he visited as “obstacles.”

Activists and Indigenous people around the country argue that Columbus represents genocide and slavery.

As America reckons with its long history of racism, statues of the explorer have been taken down as part of a national movement to remove racist symbols such as the Confederate Flag.