Experts knew there was a graveyard under Manchester’s Metrolink tramline, but the sheer scale of the excavation—277 unearthed bodies—has made news worldwide.
The archeological dig is a prelude to development work to Manchester’s transit system, and covers generations of burials in England’s third-largest city. Church officials say they are pleased with the sensitivity shown by the project, and that the remains will be relocated.
Even so, the bone haul is nothing on the 3,000-corpse plague pit excavated during similar work in London earlier this year.