Bodies dating back to the era of the Black Death have been unearthed during excavations for London’s Crossrail project. A black plague burial ground was long rumoured to be in the area, but the exact location was unknown.

Thus far 13 bodies have been found in a 5,5 metre wide shaft at the edge of Charterhouse Square. The bodies were found with pottery dating back to the 14th century.

At the time of the Black Death, Charterhouse Square was referred to as “No-man’s Land”, and was found outside the walls of London.

Once these bodies have been analyzed, researchers hope additional light will be shed on the development and spread of the plague.

The neat arrangement of the skeletons suggest that the bodies are from the earlier era of the bubonic plague, when mass graves were not yet necessary.

Jay Carver, project archaeologists for Crossrail said:

 We’ve found archaeology from pretty much all periods – from the very ancient prehistoric right up to a 20th-Century industrial site, but this site is probably the most important medieval site we’ve got.

Nick Elsden, project manager from the Museum of London Archaeology said:

We’ve got a snapshot of the population from the 14th Century – we’ll look for signs that they’d done a lot of heavy, hard work, which will show on the bones, and general things about their health and their physique.

[Source: BBC News, YouTube]