Remains found may be victims of plague
Source: Agencies |
March 16, 2013, Saturday
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Print Edition
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ARCHAEOLOGISTS yesterday said they had discovered a lost burial ground during excavations for a massive new rail project in London which might hold the bodies of some 50,000 people killed by the "Black Death" plague more than 650 years ago.
Thirteen skeletons, laid out in two careful rows, were found 2.5 meters below the road in the Farringdon area of central London by researchers working on the 16-billion-pound (US$24 billion) Crossrail project.
Historical records have indicated the area, described as a "no man's land," once housed a hastily established cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague.
The plague killed about the third of England's population after its outbreak in 1348.
"At this early stage, the depth of burials, the pottery found with the skeletons and the way the skeletons have been set out, all point towards this being part of the 14th century emergency burial ground," said Jay Carver, lead archaeologist for the Crossrail project.
Limited records suggest up to 50,000 victims were buried in less than three years in the Farringdon cemetery as the plague ravaged the capital.
The archaeologists hope that the skeletons, which have been taken away for scientific tests, will shed light on the DNA signature of the plague and confirm the burial dates.
The cemetery find could constitute the second significant medieval discovery in England recently, after archaeologists confirmed last month that they had discovered the remains of King Richard III, who died in battle in 1485, under a parking lot in central England.
Thirteen skeletons, laid out in two careful rows, were found 2.5 meters below the road in the Farringdon area of central London by researchers working on the 16-billion-pound (US$24 billion) Crossrail project.
Historical records have indicated the area, described as a "no man's land," once housed a hastily established cemetery for victims of the bubonic plague.
The plague killed about the third of England's population after its outbreak in 1348.
"At this early stage, the depth of burials, the pottery found with the skeletons and the way the skeletons have been set out, all point towards this being part of the 14th century emergency burial ground," said Jay Carver, lead archaeologist for the Crossrail project.
Limited records suggest up to 50,000 victims were buried in less than three years in the Farringdon cemetery as the plague ravaged the capital.
The archaeologists hope that the skeletons, which have been taken away for scientific tests, will shed light on the DNA signature of the plague and confirm the burial dates.
The cemetery find could constitute the second significant medieval discovery in England recently, after archaeologists confirmed last month that they had discovered the remains of King Richard III, who died in battle in 1485, under a parking lot in central England.
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