Hundreds of skeletons found under Paris supermarket

Workers digging underneath a Paris supermarket have made an unsettling discovery: as many as 200 skeletons.

The grocery store, Monoprix, was doing some renovations in January and workers removing an underground wall discovered the bones. The area was apparently part of a cemetery for the Hospital of the Trinity, according to CNN affiliate, France's BFM-TV. The cemetery operated from the 12th century to around the 17th century.

Researchers and archeologists are conducting carbon dating and DNA testing to try to figure out when and why the people died, the affiliate said. It's clear they all died around the same time, lead archeologist Isabelle Abadie told BFM-TV, because of the way the bodies were neatly arranged.

"What's surprising is th

Hundreds of skeletons found under Paris supermarket

I just saw this before heading off to work, and decided to get this up asap.

There are millions of skeletons buried under the Paris streets. I believe there are tours you can take of the catacombs. Cool find, OP!

a reply to: IndependentOpinion

wow holy S%^& you know there is a movie about that. A horror movie about that called As Above So Below.

wow that's funny

I didn't realize they had so much chemicals added to their food in France that they had to hide the bodies under the supermarket. Must have a Deli there.

Was all the meat picked off the bones? Well aged meat.

Interesting find. In hopes for them to be able to finally rest. If their demise is plague related maybe there can be more insight into the spread, etc. of the Black Plague. As of late there has been more info and speculation with it.

originally posted by: American-philosopher
a reply to: IndependentOpinion

wow holy S%^& you know there is a movie about that. A horror movie about that called As Above So Below.

wow that's funny

Wow.The movie"Poltergeist"popped into my mind.Where unscrupulous Realtors just built new homes over a cemetery instead of moving the graves.If things start flying around the supermarket or people start"Going into the Light" I'd shop somewhere else!

You're correct, theres loads of skulls and bones in the catacombs under paris, sadly much of it is closed off now, some say its due to the tunnels are crumbling and unsafe, even colapsed in places, others say theres colapsed tunnels and they shut them due to people taking gifts home!!. I was lucky to go on a private tour around the catacombs around ten years ago, its pretty creepy, but i was in awe of the place. Very cool ( i was respectfull and didnt take any sovanaires home!!). When im on my pc and have worked out how to upload photos, il post some pics i took down there.
All the best.
B. V. H
a reply to: Metallicus

a reply to: billyvonhelvete

I would love to see that. I really want to go see the secret underground cemeteries!!

a reply to: dreamingawake

That would be real interesting to find out if they were in fact Plague victims!!

I read the news this morning on this article, the bodies are from the 12 century when the area used to be a hospital of some sort, during that time it was common to bury bodies in mass grave when it was too many deaths happening at once.

The place is now considered an archeological site.

I am interested in knowing how they die.

a reply to: marg6043

Me too! I suspect that it will take them longer to find answers now that it became an archeological site. I mean they work more carefully.

IndependentOpinion:

...skeletons found under Paris supermarket.

That's nothing. A two-seater Cessna plane crashed into an Irish cemetery. Irish police are still clearing away bodies. So far they moved nearly a thousand.

originally posted by: American-philosopher
a reply to: IndependentOpinion

wow holy S%^& you know there is a movie about that. A horror movie about that called As Above So Below.

wow that's funny

The movie is based on reality, in that there are miles of catacombs underneath Paris, and there is a culture of explorers who go down into them, even though it's illegal and extremely dangerous to do so.

What many here might not know is that many major cities in Europe have similar histories beneath them. London has miles of old streets, old rivers, the old docks, mass graves from the same period, and these things are regularly discovered while extending the underground system.

Most of it goes back to the plague (although in London there's a lot of Roman history uncovered too), and the masses of bodies they had to deal with. Some cities managed to remove their dead to outside the city boundaries, but many places were seeing such a massive level of mortality they didn't have the time, the resources or the space to be able to cope.

Venice, for example, couldn't bury their dead within the city, so they basically sent the sick to die on islands where they were then buried. Many other cities in Europe ended up creating mass graves within the city itself, like the catacombs of Paris.

It is a fascinating history, and still a lot of it has never been explored or documented properly.

originally posted by: TDawg61
Wow.The movie"Poltergeist"popped into my mind.

Sad, innit? I saw the pic this morning and immediately my mouth popped open and out came "You son of a #! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn't you? You son of a #, you left the bodies and you only moved the headstones! You only moved the headstones!"

a reply to: IndependentOpinion

I wonder if they will remove the bodies for proper burial or just keep them under the now supermarket, I am not very familiar on how things work when is declared an archeological site, I know that it can not be disturbed without proper permits.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I didn't realize they had so much chemicals added to their food in France that they had to hide the bodies under the supermarket. Must have a Deli there.

Was all the meat picked off the bones? Well aged meat.

You're a sick puppy. Te hee.

Archaeological digs in mass graves are always interesting. With state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and the numerous archaeological disciplines that have been developed within the past 30 years, so much can be learned and explained. Hopefully we eventually be able to find out why these people were buried here and what they died from. And a little bit about their lives.