The Empire of Death. Researchers have come close to unraveling the secret of the catacombs of Paris, where the remains of more than 6 million people are kept

Scientists have finally come close to unraveling the secret of the catacombs of Paris, where the remains of more than 6 million people are kept. In the first-ever scientific study of this place, a group of archaeologists, anthropologists, biologists, and doctors are studying the skeletons of people whose bones were literally dumped into the quarry mines in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

According to experts, the remains can "tell" about a 1000-year-old death in the French capital. In particular, they can answer the questions: how many people are buried in the maze of tunnels and how diseases that could lead to mass deaths developed over the centuries, The Guardian writes.

"Surprisingly, there has never been a serious scientific study of the catacombs. Our research looks at the 1,000-year history of health care in Paris and its suburbs, the medicine and surgical interventions people were subjected to, and the diseases they suffered from," said project leader, archaeologist, and anthropologist Philippe Charlier.

The scientist notes that there are many underground caches with skeletons in the world, but this one, under the streets of Paris, is special. "There are other ossuaries in the world, but this one is probably the largest, so it is unique. It is an ideal place for anthropological and paleoanthropological research," Philippe emphasized.

A sign at the entrance to Les Catacombes, a 300-kilometer-long network of tunnels 20 meters underground, warns in large letters: "Stop! This is an empire of death." But this does not deter the 550,000 visitors who come here every year.

The history of the catacombs of Paris

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Parisian authorities decided to exhume the bodies buried in the cemetery in the city center and from other overcrowded cemeteries, ostensibly for reasons of public health. In 1788, the remains were simply dumped into abandoned quarry shafts that had been used to lift stone used to build Paris.

"The official justification was health reasons. But I suspect that due to demographic pressure in Paris, there was a real financial and economic interest in reclaiming the land where the burials were located," Charlier suggested.

In 1810, the quarries' inspector general, the nobleman Louis-Etienne Éricard de Thury, decided to show some respect for the dead and placed skulls and long bones-femur, tibia, humerus-in decorative walls known as hagues. But behind the carefully ordered facades, the rest of the bones lay in a mess of rubble.

After one of these landscaped walls collapsed in 2022, Charlier's team from the University of Versailles and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines had the opportunity to study the site.

Currently, experts are repairing the part of the hagues that collapsed due to water seepage.

Examining the remains

In addition to analyzing the amputations, trepanations, autopsies, and embalming of the dead, the study includes what scientists call paleopathology. That is, experts want to determine what diseases and parasitic infections the deceased suffered from. And whether they were poisoned by heavy metals, including lead, mercury, arsenic, and antimony.

So far, Philippe Charlier's team has scanned the bones and taken samples for analysis. The scientist says that radiocarbon dating, which they have yet to conduct, will allow them to establish the age of the bones, and a simple count should give a more accurate estimate of the number of bodies in the catacombs. The researcher believes that this figure will exceed 6 million.

The research project is now in its third year, and the team will publish its first preliminary findings by the end of the year. Charlier predicts that the work will outlive his career.

"The task is enormous. This is a work without end. I think my students' children will continue our research. And this is good," summarized Philippe Charlier.

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