(ORDO NEWS) — Archaeologists have discovered 42 new bodies in an ancient cemetery in the courtyard of the Real de San Andrés hospital in Peru. This is reported by the publication Aventuras na Histroria.
The hospital is located in the center of Lima, the capital of Peru. Built in 1552 specifically for Spanish patients, it is considered the oldest hospital in both Peru and all of South America.
The bodies found could not be found for five centuries, despite the fact that they lay at a depth of about 30 centimeters. Most of the bones belonged to men, some of whom died from syphilis and skull deformities.
It was also possible to find a cross, probably copper, hanging on the chest of one of the buried. The cemetery itself was found in the 2000s, but these remains have only just been discovered.
“Those who did not survive as a result of treatment are buried here,” said archaeologist Hector Walde. Patients were often placed on beds in the corridors so that they could hear the services, since in that era, healing was considered inextricably linked with God’s help.
Hospital Real de San Andrés was founded by Viceroy Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza. The main building of the hospital was designed in the form of a cross with an altar in the center.
Other adjacent buildings included work offices, a pharmacy, a psychiatric hospital, and a garden and cemetery.
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