Skeletons Exhibition at Wellcome Collection

The Skeletons exhibition at Wellcome Collection brings to light the thousands of different bones that lie beneath the city streets. On loan from the Museum of London, Skeletons puts on show a collection of unusual and intriguing skeletons that highlight the diversity and great historical impact of London from the Romans onwards.

Under the 21st century paved streets of London, layers and layers of roads and byways from previous eras cover up the bodies of the city's past residents. The Skeletons exhibition at Wellcome Collection uncovers the bones of generations of Londoners that have been discovered as the continuous redevelopment of the city streets and roads continues.

A necropolis under the metropolis, London hosts a city of the dead just metres away from our feet. Burial grounds have been discovered in surprising locations all across the city, underneath familiar landmarks and in the most banal locations. Skeletons exhibition at Wellcome Collection not only tells us a great deal about how London has treated its dead over the years, but it also reveals clues about the past, from social geography to immigration and politics.

17,000 skeletons belong in the hands of the Museum of London, and from these 26 have been selected to star in the Skeletons exhibition at Wellcome Collection. Examining the bones of the dead reveals over 2,000 years of history, giving us valuable and fascinating insight into the health, diet, lifestyle and diseases of the previous city dwellers. Each of the skeletons are accompanied by a recent photo of the location of their burial site, giving you the chance to see the dramatic way in which skeletons really are all over London.

Some of the highlights of the Skeletons exhibition include the remains of a 22 week old fetus which was discovered with its mother and is the youngest ever individual found on a British archeological site; the butcher and beadle of Chelsea, William Wood, who died at the age of 84 in 1842; and a young woman discovered at the site of the Royal Mint, and whose bones have been stained green by the copper residues.

From the affluent areas like Chelsea to the Cross Bones cemetary in Southwark which is believed to have started out as a graveyard for prostitutes, the Skeletons exhibition at Wellcome Collections brings together the bones of London's past to provide us with invaluable information about our history and our city.

The exhibition Skeletons: London's Buried Bones at Wellcome Collection is on show until Sunday 28th September 2008.

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BBC Good Food Show

Frieze Art Fair London

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Body Worlds at Mirror of Time

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RumFest London

GSK Contemporary

Toast Festival

London Film Festival

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