Skull intact
The First Baptist Church of Philadelphia's burial ground was allegedly relocated in 1860. But, apparently, the congregation didn't move all of the bodies. This surprised construction workers in 2016, when they came across some of the bones while digging an underground parking garage for a luxury residential building upon that very spot.
Here is one of the burials that scientists uncovered. They later did an internal excavation of this particular burial.
[Read more about the Colonial Philadelphia Cemetery]
Complex excavation
Researchers and volunteers worked as fast as they could to excavate the remains from the cemetery at 218 Arch Street in Philadelphia, which dates back to the early 1700s.
This photo was taken in March 2017.
Small coffin
Kimberlee Moran (left) and Allison Grunwald (right) on the last day of internal coffin excavation.
Behind them is the very last coffin to be excavated and the only one with an intact name plate – Benjamin Britton.
Vertebrae and bones
The vertebrae and bones of one of the people buried in the colonial cemetery.
Unique handle
A unique handle on one of the wooden coffins.
Nails
Tacks from the lid of a coffin indicating the dates of birth and death.
Angelic handle
A handle on one of the coffins depicts a cherub's head.
[Read more about the Colonial Philadelphia Cemetery]
Skulls and bones
Students lay out remains from an internally excavated coffin.
Skeletal analysis
Researcher Chelsea Cordle organizes remains in anatomical order.
Boxes and boxes
Boxes of remains and coffin hardware excavated from 218 Arch Street by Aecom archaeologists in 2017. In all, archaeologists uncovered about 500 individuals from the old cemetery.
Brush work
Student Adriana Vagelli brushes away soil to expose a coffin handle.
