Archaeologists’ ‘Unique’ Dig Finds More Than 1,000 Skeletons at Abbey Site

A “unique” excavation project in France is casting light on the fascinating 800-year history of an abbey where researchers have uncovered more than 1,000 human skeletons, among numerous other finds.

The remains of the Abbey of Beaumont are in the city center of Tours, which lies in the country’s Loire Valley region.

Historical sources indicate that the abbey was founded in A.D. 1002 as a religious establishment for Benedictine nuns. It remained in operation for eight centuries until around 1790 when it was confiscated by revolutionaries who expelled the Benedictines. The confiscation occurred during the French Revolution, which took place from 1789 to 1799.

By the turn of the 19th century, the abbey had almost completely been destroyed. The only buildings still standing within the complex are an abbey house and some outbuildings that had just been rebuilt around the time that the revolution broke out.

Excavations at the abbey site—conducted by the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) and the Archaeological Service of the Department of Indre-et-Loire (SADIL)—can be considered a “unique case” in Europe, according to Philippe Blanchard, scientific manager of the operation with INRAP.

“It is, to our knowledge, the first time in Europe that an abbey has been excavated in its entirety,” Blanchard told Newsweek. “Indeed, while interventions on monastic establishments have been frequent for several decades, they generally only concerned part of the abbey.”

At the Beaumont site, researchers have unearthed the whole abbey complex, including the remains of an entire church, a cloister, gardens, cemeteries and dwellings, among numerous other structures. The various finds date from the foundation of the abbey all the way up to the revolutionary period—spanning the entirety of its history.

Excavations have even revealed the older remains of a village of the same name dating from the ninth to 10th century.

In December, 14 months of fieldwork—the most recent round of excavations at the site—came to an end and now researchers are taking stock of what has been found.

The first round, conducted in 2019 and 2020, mainly focused on the gardens and orchards of the abbey. But the latest excavations investigated the entrance courtyard and the regular enclosure of the abbey—the latter area being the richest in remains.

During the recent excavations, the researchers uncovered a large church with its cloister to the south and various peripheral buildings arranged around it. Among these were storage rooms to the west, including a vast cellar and four caves.

The south wing of the cloister included the kitchens and refectory. Finally, the eastern wing housed a hall for the community and the chapter house, where the superior gathered the sisters to discuss the main affairs of the abbey and read religious texts.

The dormitories were on the upper floors. The excavations also revealed many annexes and other structures, such as latrines, an infirmary, lodgings for the abbesses, wells, fountains, cisterns, washbasins, parlors and two chapels.

“The interest of this excavation … is to have been able to observe the evolution of the monastic establishment throughout its operational period,” Blanchard said.

In fact, the researchers found evidence of three distinct churches that succeeded each other in the same location.

In addition to the various structures, the recent excavations also unearthed more than 1,000 human burials from various periods.

These included an “important” cemetery, probably from the medieval period, to the southeast of the cloister that must have been reserved for the servants or poor.

To the north of the church, researchers identified a parish cemetery, reserved for inhabitants of the nearby village. Finally, the excavations uncovered several burials dating to before the establishment of the monastic complex, confirming the presence of a village community before its founding.

Some of the most intriguing burials were found right next to the first church, which dates to the 10th or 11th century. Here, researchers uncovered the remains of numerous very young children, seemingly less than 1 year old. These children were likely placed there because they had died without being baptized. In this location, they would have been exposed to water dripping from the roof, which was considered sacred.

The researchers also collected around a hundred crates of ceramic artifacts, 50 crates of animal remains and more than 5,000 objects during the recent excavations. All of these remains, alongside the human skeletons, will be studied over the next few years. These investigations will shed new light on the lives of the people who lived in and around the abbey.

“The study of the skeletons will allow us to understand the composition of the different groups buried in the abbey by observing their funerary practices. Specific studies will be carried out, for example, on their pathologies or on their diet,” Blanchard said. “The study of residues taken from the latrines may provide us with information on the parasites and diseases that the nuns and their staff may have suffered from.”

Fragments of ceramics unearthed in dumps at the site should confirm the social status of their users, according to Blanchard.

“For example, porcelain from the 18th century was unearthed and very probably corresponds to the very first imports from China. In addition to studying the networks of trade and dissemination of various goods, this reveals that these nuns lived in opulence, as this ceramic was extremely expensive at that time,” Blanchard said.

Excavations at the site were initiated due to a major development project that will contain shops, businesses and housing, as well as public services, including a school complex.

“French law requires the developer to carry out archaeological excavations to preserve, through scientific study, the historical data buried in the ground. This is what we call preventive archaeology,” Blanchard said. “This allows for the preservation of knowledge and the restoration of the history of the places to the inhabitants and scientists.”