The report marks the first public release of evidence gathered by an archaeological dig beneath the Old Divinity School at St John’s College, conducted as part of the Victorian building’s refurbishment in 2010-2012. • Stonehenge: ghostly outlines of missing stones appear 
 
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 Although the existence and location of the cemetery have been known to historians since at least the mid-twentieth century, the sheer scale and extent of the burial ground was unclear until now. “One possibility is that this occurred prior to the winter, when ground conditions would have potentially made digging graves considerably more difficult.” 
 
 One skeleton found in a grave which was too big for the body 
 
 The bodies, which mostly date from a period spanning the 13th to 15th centuries, are burials from the medieval Hospital of St John the Evangelist which stood opposite the graveyard until 1511, and from which St John's College takes its name. A lost medieval cemetery discovered under Cambridge University contained graves that had been pre-dug in anticipation of winter deaths, archaeologists have discovered. Craig Cessford, from the university's department of archaeology and anthropology, said it was one of the largest finds of its kind in the UK. Originally merely a small building on a patch of waste ground, the Hospital grew with Church support to be a noted place of hospitality and care for both University scholars and local people. Archaeologists working at Cambridge 
 
 Despite local rumours linking the hospital cemetery to the Black Death, no evidence of this disease was found on any of the remains and the team did not find any sign of large burial groups from that period of the 14th century. In later centuries, plague victims in Cambridge were buried on local grazing land such as Midsummer Common, and it is likely that the same locations were used in the medieval period as well. The Hospital cemetery, dating from the early 13th century, contained the bodies of approximately 1,300 people, most of which were buried in neatly laid-out rows, or deposited in a charnel house on the site. The cemetery was found to have had gravel paths and a water well, along with seeds from various flowering plants, suggesting that much like today’s cemeteries, it was a place for people to come and visit their deceased loved ones. The vast majority of burials took place without coffins, many even without shrouds, suggesting the cemetery was primarily used to serve the poor. Grave-goods such as jewellery and personal items were only present in a handful of burials but they included a jet crucifix and the head of a woman. “Evidence for clothing and grave-goods is rarer than at most hospital cemeteries”, said Dr Cessford, “principally because this was a purely lay graveyard with no clerics present. "Items were found in graves that might represent grave-goods, but their positions were ambiguous and it is equally possible that they represent residual material from earlier activity at the site." Also of interest to the archaeologists was the relative lack of remains of young women and complete absence of infants, which would normally be expected in a medieval hospital cemetery. The lack of young female remains can probably be explained by the Hospital’s Augustinian ordinance from 1250 which established its areas of concern to be “poor scholars and other wretched persons”, and specifically excluded pregnant women from its care. The bodies surprisingly did not exhibit many serious illnesses and conditions that would have required medical attention. The Archaeological Journal report suggests that “this could reflect that the main role of the Hospital was spiritual and physical care of the poor and infirm rather than medical treatment of the sick and injured”.
– Historians have long known that a medieval cemetery existed on the grounds of what is now the University of Cambridge, but until a recent dig they didn't realize just how big it was. Archaeologists uncovered the full or partial remains of about 1,300 people beneath Old Divinity School at the university's St. John's College. The numbers make it one of Britain's largest medieval cemeteries, reports the Guardian. Most of the people were buried between the 13th and 15th centuries, when the cemetery was in operation near the ancient Hospital of St. John the Evangelist. Most were buried without coffins or shrouds, suggesting they were poor, notes the Telegraph. Unusual for cemeteries of this era was the lack of infants and young women, likely because the nearby hospital did not treat pregnant women and instead focused on "poor scholars and other wretched persons," reports the University of Cambridge. Archaeologists also found evidence of gravel paths, seeds, and a water well, meaning that the cemetery seemed to be a place where loved ones would visit and pay their respects. (Click to read about how a medieval potion might help against modern superbugs.)