BOSTON (WHDH) - Archaeologists are digging at Old North Church in Boston’s North End in search of human remains from over 150 years ago.
The Old North Church Foundation wants to restore the church’s basement crypt but they want to make sure they do not disturb any final resting places in the process. The crypt contains 37 tombs, where people were buried from 1730 until the 1850s.
Over time, 1,100 people have been buried in the crypts, which were reused over and over again. Forensic archaeologists are digging to ensure that no one was buried in the crypt’s floor, as a minister once mentioned in a sermon that someone had been buried in the crypt’s walkway. They have no plans to open the actual crypts.
City of Boston archaeologist Joe Bagley said if any bone fragments are discovered, they will not dig deeper and will leave the remains where they were found.
“We don’t ever want to disturb any burials or the tombs,” said Bagley.
So far, no bone fragments have been found.
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