Reaching across the centuries, the skeletons unearthed by London’s vast Crossrail construction project have exposed the perils of city life up to 450 years ago.
An archaeological study of more than 3,000 skeletons retrieved in recent years from the site of the new Elizabeth line station at Liverpool Street has shown that many belonged to people who migrated to the capital from rural areas but died in their late teens or as young adults.
The study, to be published this month by the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola), paints a bleak picture of a polluted and increasingly overcrowded metropolis where “newcomers were more susceptible to diseases that were rife in the city”.
Crossrail — 73 miles of new tunnels and Underground stations — offered archaeologists