Photos: Remains of Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia Discovered

Skull intact

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Claire Gold)

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

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Evi Numen)

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

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Gerald Grunwald)

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

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kate Blair)

The vertebrae and bones of one of the people buried in the colonial cemetery.

Unique handle

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kate Blair)

A unique handle on one of the wooden coffins.

Nails

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kate Blair)

Tacks from the lid of a coffin indicating the dates of birth and death.

Angelic handle

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kate Blair)

A handle on one of the coffins depicts a cherub's head.

[Read more about the Colonial Philadelphia Cemetery]

Skulls and bones

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kim Moran)

Students lay out remains from an internally excavated coffin.

Skeletal analysis

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kim Moran)

Researcher Chelsea Cordle organizes remains in anatomical order.

Boxes and boxes

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kim Moran)

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

Colonial Cemetery in Philadelphia

(Image credit: Kim Moran)

Student Adriana Vagelli brushes away soil to expose a coffin handle.

Laura Geggel
Editor

Laura is the archaeology and Life's Little Mysteries editor at Live Science. She also reports on general science, including paleontology. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Scholastic, Popular Science and Spectrum, a site on autism research. She has won multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association for her reporting at a weekly newspaper near Seattle. Laura holds a bachelor's degree in English literature and psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in science writing from NYU.