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This week's question: Where is Shakespeare's head?

In a twist worthy of one of his plays, Shakespeare's cranium may be missing in action.

Rumors of the wayward skull started in the 1800s, when an anonymous story was published in a British magazine, 

. The story claimed that a group of gravediggers had raided the Bard's final resting place in 1794 and made off with the head for a prize of 300 guineas. (Skull-thieving was not uncommon at the time.)

These thieves — if the story is true — were braving the risk of a curse from Shakespeare himself. The inscription on his tombstone reads:

It isn't exactly clear what happened to the head post-theft. (No word yet on if it's being used as a prop in "Hamlet.") This year, in time to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, a team of modern archaeologists set out to investigate this long-running tale. Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers scanned Shakespeare's gravesite at Holy Trinity in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

"What we found is that half of his grave is undisturbed," archaeologist Kevin Colls told 

. "And then the head end, so where his skull would have been, there is voids."

Colls interprets these "voids" as confirmation that the master playwright is in fact missing his head. Channel 4 produced 

Not everyone agrees with Colls' conclusion, though. The vicar of Holy Trinity told 

, "We are not convinced, however, that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that his skull has been taken."

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In a twist worthy of one of his plays, Shakespeare's cranium may be missing. No word yet on if it's being used as a prop in "Hamlet."

In a twist worthy of one of his plays, Shakespeare's cranium may be missing in action. Researchers recently scanned his grave site with ground-penetrating radar and found "voids" where the head should be.

Thread Question: Where is Shakespeare's head?

Ben Pruchnie | Getty Images

The inscription on William Shakespeare's grave

Did someone steal Shakespeare's head?

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