A druid, who had changed his name to King Arthur Pendragon, has lost his High Court battle to have the remains of what he refers to as 'ancient royalty' re-buried at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, England.
     The cremated remains in question are of 40 bodies, dating back to approximately 3,000 BCE, and were excavated at Stonehenge in 2008 by a team from Sheffield University. The University had obtained a license from the Ministry of Justice to analyse the remains until 2015. The team is using very modern scientific techniques to examine the remains and have started to make interesting advances. Unfortunately, during the 1920s, the archaeological teechniques were pretty crude and a lot of the remains became mixed together and their secrets can only now be unlocked.
     A spokeswoman for the University is quoted as saying "Archaeologists will now be able to apply new scientific techniques, developed only in the last few years, to find out more about who these people were. Human remains are an important part of the record of our shared past. They should be treated with respect and the benefit of the research is balanced with any ethical concerns that may be caused by excavations." King Arthur Pendragon calls himself the 'battle chieftain' of the Council of British Druid Order and also 'titular head' of the Loyal Arthurian Warband Druid Order. Despite the setback he remained defiant and confident that he could win in the future.

Edited from BBC News, Solicitors Journal (24 August 2011)