December
01
/ 2023
Archaeologists from several universities in England teamed up to analyze the skeletal remains of more than 400 individuals who were buried in a medieval cemetery that belonged to St. John the Evangelist Hospital in Cambridge. Their comprehensive study of the bones of these unfortunate souls has provided detailed information about the users of what was, in essence, a medieval social benefit system which functioned over hundreds of years. Constructed and opened for business by its church in 1195, St. John the Evangelist Hospital was tasked with the mission of providing housing and medical services to the “ poor and infirm.” The deceased interred at the cemetery came from a diverse set of backgrounds, united only by their eternal connection to
