By Becca Lewis | Published
Beneath the modern streets of Paris lies a system of catacombs that house the bones of millions whose bodies were unceremoniously dumped into quarry shafts as the city expanded. Today, a team of researchers is excavating the site to try to determine what killed these people and when exactly they died, in order to trace the history of the disease and medical practice in the times in which they lived. This is surprisingly the first time that the Paris catacombs have been excavated for scientific study, and the project could provide valuable information about human history.
The largest mass grave in the world
The Paris Catacombs are probably the largest repository of human remains in the world, containing between 5 and 6 million skeletons that were deposited there between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. With the central cemeteries of Paris overcrowded, bodies were exhumed from their graves inside the city and thrown into the pits of unused quarries on what was then the outskirts of the city. Due to the unceremonious handling of the remains, they were never sorted or properly buried, and the jumble of jumbled skeletons has lain beneath the streets of Paris ever since in what have since become catacombs.
Popular legend of the time had it that the city’s official burial grounds were so overcrowded that basement walls collapsed and decomposing bodies fell into residences. However, historians cite a much more banal reason to explain the removal of the remains from the center of Paris. At the time, real estate was scarce and the city was growing, so dumping a few million bodies in the catacombs seemed like a good way to free up land.
Skeletal walls
In 1810, government authorities saw fit to respect the dead and the abandoned quarries of Paris were transformed into catacombs. Louis-Étienne Héricard de Thury, the general inspector of quarries, decided to arrange the bones in a more pleasant way so that the burial site could be visited and appreciated. The skeletons were embedded in walls that closed off the piles of human remains behind them.
Because the bones of the Paris catacombs were exposed to humidity and human interference over the years, sections of the bone wall collapsed, requiring repairs. During these excavations, some studies on the condition of the remains, delving into autopsy and embalming practices over the 1,000 years that the giant tomb represents, were made possible. The researchers were able to study what heavy metals people were exposed to, what illnesses they suffered from, and what medical practices were used throughout their lives, which gave them the idea to conduct a larger, more in-depth study.
A window into the past
The scale of the Paris Catacombs means that with current methods, excavating and studying this massive repository of human remains would take more than a lifetime, even with DNA science and the use of alternative light source cameras could speed up the process. Although the task is daunting, the Paris catacombs offer a unique insight into human history in the region and could provide valuable information on past pandemics, the effects of economic and social changes, and the evolution of medical practices over time. centuries. Although the initial burial of these remains was more like a landfill than a solemn ceremony, their presence could be a boon to scientists who wish to study our past, as frightening as it may be to walk the streets above of a mass of 6 million people. fall.