Share
1 of 6
Archaeologists have started excavating about 3,000 skeletons from the Bedlam burial ground in London, used from 1569 to at least 1738. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham
Also known as Bethlem and the New Churchyard, more than 20,000 Londoners are believed to have been buried there. The ground was used by "a varied cross-section of society throughout the years since the burial ground was open," Nick Elsden, project manager from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) told CNN. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
And they include those who could not afford a church burial or chose to perish there for religious or political reasons. It also contained the overflow of bodies when other cemeteries became full. Bedlam, now a synonym for chaos, took its name from the Hospital of St Mary of Bethlehem in London which nursed the mentally ill. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
A team of 60 archaeologists will work six days a week on the project, expected to finish in September this year. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
The site was found at an entrance of the city's new Liverpool Street Crossrail station -- part of a £14.8 billion ($22 billion) project that will expand London's railway network. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
Elsden said the excavation tells us a great deal about how Londoners lived from the 16th to the 18th century. "A large sample of the population from that period will enable us to look at the lifestyle, looking at Roman London and what the Romans were doing in the suburb area, outside the city walls." AP Photo/Matt Dunham
