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The first excavation at the famed Tower of London in a generation uncovered more than 20 skeletal remains.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Excavations revealed everything from a 14th-century Black Death group burial to three skeletons from the late 12th or early 13th centuries buried in coffins.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The on-site chapel is serving as a tell-all of London\u2019s medieval history.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A rare dig into the soil of the famed Tower of London\u2014the first excavation at the site in a generation\u2014yielded two skeletons from around 1500. As archaeologists dug deeper into the ground, they found roughly 20 more burials<\/a>, including one group grave likely tied to the 1348 \u201cBlack Death\u201d plague<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cUndertaking these two excavations has provided us with a generational opportunity to enhance our understanding of the evolution off the Chapel of Saint Peter ad Vincula, and the buildings which stood before it,\u201d Alfred Hawkins, curator of historic buildings at Historic Royal Palaces, the organization that oversees the Tower, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n The dig began as a trial excavation in 2019 to prepare the on-site Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula for a new elevator. The archaeologists helming the excavation discovered the remains of two skeletons. Subsequent excavations outside the chapel as deep as 10 feet below the surface revealed everything from a 14th-century Black Death group burial to three skeletons from the late 12th or early 13th centuries buried in coffins<\/a>\u2014an unusually expensive burial for that time.<\/p>\n Jane Sidell, principal inspector of ancient monuments at Historic England, said the team is already gaining insight into the residents of the Tower in a way they never have before. \u201cThis is just the tip of the iceberg<\/a>,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cThere is so much more to learn through further analysis about the people as well as the buildings of one of England\u2019s most evocative historic monuments.\u201d<\/p>\n The Tower of London<\/a> was built alongside the River Thames<\/a> in the 1070s as a royal palace. It also served as a prison for high-status individuals (including King Henry VI), and housed the country\u2019s Royal Mint. But it has seemingly almost always had a chapel on its grounds.<\/p>\n The current parish church for the residents of the Tower of London was built in 1520, after a 1512 fire devoured the one King Edward I built in 1287. A compacted layer of stone found in the recent excavation could be a 1240 project at the site led by Henry III, showing there was a chapel before 1287.<\/p>\n And since the current chapel sits atop the same land as the Tower\u2019s previous chapel foundations, burials aplenty are to be expected. Of the recent finds, the older burials could have even been buried inside one of the long-destroyed chapels<\/a>. \u201cTypically, if you\u2019re buried closer to the church, you\u2019re more important, and if you\u2019re buried inside the church, you\u2019re much, much more important, and if you\u2019re buried under the altar, you are the most important person,\u201d Hawkins said, according <\/a>to National Geographic.<\/p>\n Known burials at the site include three queens and two Catholic saints, but finding out more about the unknown skeletons could help piece together the medieval story of the site.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new excavations provide the opportunity to transform our understanding of the Tower\u2019s community,\u201d Katie Faillace from Cardiff University\u2019s School of History, Archaeology, and Religion, said in a statement. \u201cOur work uses a biomolecular technique known as isotope analysis<\/a>, which tells us about health, diet, and mobility in the past, all from a tiny fragment of a tooth. This cutting-edge method was unparalleled potential for reconstructing the experiences of the people who lived and died at the Tower, allowing us to build a rich picture of individuals\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n