Crossrail dig unearths ancient burial site under Liverpool Street station

 
Dig: A worker excavates the burial site
8 August 2013

Thousands of bodies buried under the City of London centuries ago are being unearthed by Crossrail tunnelling work.

The remains of several hundred people have been found a few feet beneath Liverpool Street station.

Graveyard: archaeologists estimate more than 4,000 bodies could be revealed and appealed for public help in identifying them
Crossrail

The two-acre pit was dug in the mid-17th century by order of the mayor after parish graveyards became vastly overfilled.

Plague victims were buried over two centuries next to the rich, poor, young, old, mental health patients and citizens whose corpses were never claimed by their families.

Many of the skeletons are believed to have been prisoners, with evidence of starvation and beatings.

Many of the skeletons are believed to have been prisoners, with evidence of starvation and beatings
Crossrail
Well shod: Roman horseshoes found at the Liverpool Street dig
Crossrail

Crossrail archaeologist Jay Carver estimated more than 4,000 bodies could be revealed and appealed for public help in identifying them, as the names are scattered in parish records across London.

Mass grave: plague victims were buried over two centuries next to citizens whose corpses were never claimed by their families
Crossrail

He told The Guardian: “Because of its history, we know that this is one of the most diverse burial grounds in London, a real cross section of its people across two centuries.

The remains of a Roman road layered with brushwood and bone fragments
Crossrail

“Bone preservation is excellent in the finds we have already made, and we are expecting many important discoveries when we get into the main phase of excavation.”

The Crossrail project is linking Essex to Berkshire via Heathrow by boring underneath London, making it Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

There are 40 archaeological sites along Crossrail’s 26 miles of new tunnels.

Ancient history: archaeologist Mike Tunnicliffe with a flint axe head found at North Woolwich
Crossrail

Discoveries include a Roman road thought to have bridged a lost London river and a gold coin from Venice.

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