About the collection

The Centre for Human Bioarchaeology and the Wellcome Osteological Research Database (WORD), form an integral part of the Early Department, curating the human skeletal assemblages.

The Museum of London has numerous collections and material relating to the archaeology and history of London.

The Centre for Human Bioarchaeology is linked to the Early Department at the Museum of London, which curates material in its collections from c.500, 000BP to 1700, and provides access to its collections via the Museum of London web pages.

The database is a dynamic tool under constant upgrade and expansion, generating awareness of the availability of the material.

The human skeletal remains are derived from rescue excavations over a period of many years, as the result of the redevelopment and building of the City of London and the Greater London area.

The c.17 000 human skeletons currently archived and curated are stratified human remains that cover over two thousand years of London’s history and development.

Building and redevelopment is still ongoing and new skeletal assemblages are often revealed through excavations, broadening the potential for further skeletal analysis and historical research.