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Parisian mass grave found under supermarket

By Aileen Graef
An archeologist uncovers the skeletons in a Parisian mass grave. Denis Gliksman/Inrap
An archeologist uncovers the skeletons in a Parisian mass grave. Denis Gliksman/Inrap

PARIS, March 2 (UPI) -- More than 200 bodies found in a mass grave beneath a supermarket in Paris are likely renaissance-era victims of the plague. Archaeologists expected to find some human remains under Boulevard Sebastopol's Monoprix supermarket -- the site was known to have hosted a hospital's cemetery from the 12th to the 17th century. The large number of bodies surprised researchers since the graveyard was moved in the 18th century to the catacombs under the city.

"We thought that there would be a few bones as it was the site of a cemetery but we didn't think we would find a communal grave," Pascal Roy. director of the supermarket, told the Telegraph.

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The bodies were carefully placed in the grave likely to save space.

"What is astonishing is that the bodies were not thrown in, but put there with care and in an organized way," said Isabelle Abadie who is leading the dig. "It suggests there were a lot of sudden deaths, but we still have to find the cause of this sudden fatal event and whether it was an epidemic, fever, famine."

French officials say the skeletons will be respectfully reburied after they are examined.

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