LEEDS, ENGLAND—Excavations at the site of a future shopping center in Leeds have revealed the burials of at least 28 people, mainly children, who died between 1797 and 1848. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that analysis of the remains shows that the people were in extremely poor health and some may have possibly died during an 1832 cholera outbreak. Jane Richardson of Archaeological Services WYAS, who led the research, says the condition of the remains confirms that living conditions in the city were particularly grim for the lower classes. “What makes these stand out is not the fact that remains were found, but the malnutrition they show us,” said Richardson. “It was the most grim part of Leeds at the time, and malnutrition was so prevalent." Bioarchaeologists found that at least nine of the children suffered from diseases such as rickets and scurvy. After being studied, the remains are slated to be reburied. To read more about nineteenth-century England, go to “The Haunt of the Resurrection Men.”
