When a man decided to dig a plot in his New Orleans backyard for a swimming pool, he ended up discovering a historic cemetery that dates back to the 1700s.
Vincent Marcello lives in the historic French Quarter of the city and unearthed 13 caskets while workers dug up his backyard.
The caskets were said to be stacked one on top of the other underground, at the property that used to be St. Peter Cemetery before it was closed down.
Marcello knew his land had historic ties but did not expect to find human remains, according to WDSU.com.
He told the news site: ‘We didn’t exactly know what we were going to find. This is the French Quarter. No telling what’s underground.’
But he knew the site was an old burial plot and therefore asked archaeologist Ryan Gray from the University of New Orleans for his help.
Mr Gray told the site: ‘Part of the reason why the cemetery was closed was because it was overcrowded, and historical accounts and complaints revealed that people couldn’t dig anywhere without hitting earlier remains.’
The archaeologist said wealthy families probably paid for their relatives’ remains to be reburied at the St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 when St. Peter’s was closed.
But he suspects that poorer families, who couldn’t afford for their relatives to be reburied, left their remains in the French Quarter.
Marcello wasn’t traumatised by the experience though and said: ‘It’s all part of the New Orleans culture. I think they [neighbouring residents] might even like it.’
Forensic teams are now working on the remains and Mr Gray would like to identify the corpse’s family members to have a public reburial.
It’s not the first time bodies have been discovered underground in the area – in 1984, 36 corpses were found when an apartment complex was being built.
Old burial ground: The property used to be part of St. Peter Cemetery, dating back to the 1700s, before it was closed due to overcrowding:
