“Graves, Bones and Ceramics Unearthed near Notre-Dame Cathedral in Chartres”

Twenty graves, bones and some ceramics were discovered last March in Chartres. The remains were found during preventive archaeological excavations carried out near the Notre-Dame cathedralaccording to our colleagues from Republican Echo.

The Hôtel-Dieu, a former hospice destroyed in 1868

“It is not a surprise”, shared Aude Bailles, archaeologist at the city of Chartres, quoted by the daily. In effect, a former hospice was under on the court. Built in the 1070s, the building was called “L’Aumône” then “Hospital“. It was entrusted to canons linked to the cathedral, before being razed between 1867 and 1868.

Before its destruction, people’s bodies who died in the hospice were buried in the Saint-Côme chapelwhich was a burial place for canons and lay people.

you dig them of the hospice were also found during the excavations. On site, grain stones, bone combsbricks and walls dating from the Gallo-Roman period were dug up. “Analyses will be carried out on some of these objects”, says the archaeologist. As for the bones found, they would date from the 13th and 14th centuriesin view of certain ceramics found nearby and the mode of burial used.

Excavations put on hold

These discoveries came before temporary suspension of excavations since the end of April. This break will make it possible to make way for pilgrimages. Work will resume in mid-September, once the summer period has passed.

You may also be interested in:

⋙ Notre-Dame: archaeologists have found an incredible rood screen dating from the Middle Ages

⋙ Archaeology: 35 medieval sarcophagi discovered in the heart of Bordeaux

⋙ Prehistory: a 3,700-year-old dagger discovered by a little girl in her school