Take
away the heights, and
all we have left to do is determine where in the developmental process
does each skeleton fall? The following is based upon our own conclusions
we made on the two questionable sets of remains.
~Lishka~
The sacrum of No. 5 wasn't
fully developed at the time of her death, making her the youngest
of the found Grand Duchesses. Right away it's either Maria or Anastasia,
but we are inclined to believe the latter. Sacrums mature at the
age of 18, and Maria being 19 at the time of the murders indicates
that her sacrum and pelvic rim would have been mature. No. 5's
wisdom teeth were coming in when her development was rudely
halted, the tips of her roots had only just begun to grow. Her limb
bones told Dr. Maples that her growth had only just recently ended,
fitting the description of Anastasia Nicolaievna.
Dr. Maples also said that her
back showed evidence of immaturity, but thought that it was the
back of an 18 year old. Now Anastasia was a hyper child who lived
off of spontaneity. Generally, cartilage in your major joints (such
as the knees and wrists - those parts that are very active all throughout
life and go through a lot of "wear and tear") harden when
one is around 16 years of age. Climbing trees especially puts strain
on the back, and was a favourite activity of the youngest Grand
Duchess. It was not widely known that she also had a bad back and
was given massage therapy twice a week for it. This naturally produces
more strain on her back. Did any of the scientists consider that?
The
condition of No. 5's remains came as a shock. The scientists
did not have a complete skeleton to work off of, she had been too
badly abused by her murderers. In Anastasia Dead or Alive,
Dr. Maples showed us the skull that
belonged to No. 5.. or what little was left of it. His book
Dead Men Do Tell Tales shows a front view of the few remaining
pieces: the eye orbits, and the beginning of the bridge of the nose.
Half of the middle face was missing, a pattern of damage that was
seen in Olga's remains as well. The sorry condition of this skull
reminded us of one point in Yurovsky's note: when one of the Grand
Duchesses was being laid on a sheet she supposedly sat up and cried
out. The whole band of soldiers was said to turn on her with their
bayonets. The damage patterns fit this description, and it is possible
that Shvibz could have survived the round of bullets, but sadly
it seems that the youngest of the four girls was struck down that
night.