3,000 Human Skeletons Discovered Beneath London Streets

Excavators are digging up an estimated 3,000 human skeletons from beneath the streets of London. Archeologists are working on the Bedlam burial ground beneath Liverpool Street, which contains bodies dating from 1569 to at least 1738. Victims of the Black Death are among the deceased, and scientists hope that tests conducted on the bones will help further our understanding of the evolution of the plague's bacterial strain.

Archaeologists in London have begun digging up some 3,000 historic skeletons including those of plague victims from a burial ground that will become a new train station, the company in charge said.

Before construction can begin on the new Crossrail station, archaeologists must excavate the 16th-century cemetery that's beneath it. More than 3,300 skeletons, many of whom died from the plague, were exhumed from the old Bedlam cemetery. By taking DNA samples from a plague victim's tooth, scientists are able to study the plague pathogen that caused the death of more than 75,000 people in London and compare it with other samples to see how the disease has evolved over time.

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"3,000 Human Skeletons Discovered Beneath London Streets"