While traversing the internet I came across St. Leonard's Church, a parish church in Kent (England) that has something very peculiar underneath. Underneath the church is located an ossuary or a bone house. For centuries skulls and bones were neatly stacked, from medieval times. There is about 8,000 long bones (mainly thigh bones) of about 4,000 people (men, women, and children) and there is about 590 skulls. The reason the bones where here rather than normally buried has been disputed over time. Some say it is foreign soldiers from a great battle (which doesn't explain the women and children) others have said it was the black plague (but those infected were disposed very quickly). Many agree that it is the bones of those who have died over a long span of years only to be dug up in the 13th century so the church could expand. Because there was only 20 to 30 burials a year in medieval times it is believe to have taken 200 years to accumulate this many bones. Scientists and doctors like to look at the old bones to see some characteristics of the people of the time. The average height is determined to be 1.65 meters for men and 1.55 meters for women. Dentists have notices that although the teeth were worn down by tough food, the teeth lack decay because of the little to no amounts of sugar in their diets. Other research shows some things about race, and evidence of disease around the eye sockets. All of these projects on this mysterious crypt will provide a better understanding of the people of that time. If I ever end up in England I hope I could look at these bones.
This really reminds me of the catacombs below Paris. The catacombs, perhaps the largest ossuary in the world, hold the bones of over six million people, and have been a tourist attraction for the last few centuries. The bodies in the catacombs are those of individuals who died of natural causes and were simply buried there, so I would be inclined to think that the bones in this ossuary would have been those of individuals who died naturally over a period of time, as you suggested. This is really interesting; I didn't know that ossuaries existed at all outside of France.
Really cool!
ReplyDeleteThis really reminds me of the catacombs below Paris. The catacombs, perhaps the largest ossuary in the world, hold the bones of over six million people, and have been a tourist attraction for the last few centuries. The bodies in the catacombs are those of individuals who died of natural causes and were simply buried there, so I would be inclined to think that the bones in this ossuary would have been those of individuals who died naturally over a period of time, as you suggested. This is really interesting; I didn't know that ossuaries existed at all outside of France.
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