# British parking lot coughs up another one: how often does this happen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2013, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899 "2013-03-14T06:36:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/21 "2013-03-14T17:06:08Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > you can’t take a leak outside without unearthing something or other I’ll piss on your grave! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/22 "2013-03-14T17:12:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ll piss on your grave! Why wait? ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/23 "2013-03-14T17:12:29Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > With everything being an ancient ancestral burial ground, I’m surprised you don’t have a lot more poltergeist problems there. It’s because [London is an urban, violent 'hood](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684288) ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/24 "2013-03-14T19:22:34Z")
Does anyone else think that knight (or whatever he was) was a tiny little guy? It’s hard to tell, but that workman looks like he might be a head taller than the skeleton. This reminds me of the wooden ship they found in Manhattan and the slave burial ground they found in Boston. Surprise! ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/25 "2013-03-14T21:01:38Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Thanks for the new photos. That ornate quadra-thingie seems to be affixed to a base of some sort. [This article](http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/medieval-knight-remains-found-in-edinburgh-car-park-1-2833518) identifies as a [Calvary cross](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Calvary+cross). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/26 "2013-03-14T21:10:57Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > [This article](http://www.scotsman.com/the-scotsman/scotland/medieval-knight-remains-found-in-edinburgh-car-park-1-2833518) identifies as a [Calvary cross](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Calvary+cross). Bingo. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/27 "2013-03-14T22:32:51Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > Does anyone else think that knight (or whatever he was) was a tiny little guy? He must be the shortest knight of the year. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/28 "2013-03-14T22:39:58Z")
_cough_ _gasp_ _snort_ A-_hem!_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/29 "2013-03-15T07:41:08Z")
A [plague pit](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21784141) has just been discovered during rail works in London. This looks like a really good find. Anywhere that’s been inhabited for millennia, like many of the cities in the UK, is going to have vast amounts of stuff underground. Where I live, Nottingham, there’s a vast network of caves, many of them manmade, under much of the city. New sections are being found from time to time. It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that people stopped living in them! ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/30 "2013-03-15T08:16:25Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > A 13th century knight [has been unearthed](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-21762422) in Scotland while digging for a parking lot (other people, not the knight). > > Are Scotland and England really like Israel, where you can’t take a leak outside without unearthing something or other? > > First a King, now this. It really is. Look up **deserted medieval village** some time. There are all sorts of places where you can find archeological evidence of occupation from, say, 10th century until it was finally abandoned in the 19th century. It isn’t just Great Britain. You dig up a hole anywhere in Europe and you never know what you might find. Anything from a 7th century grave site to an unexploded WWII era bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/31 "2013-03-15T08:23:20Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > the lot was going to be for knight parking. You made me groan out loud at my kitchen table. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/32 "2013-03-15T08:23:59Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > First a King, now this. Also, I don’t think the two finds are really equivalent. IIRC, they specifically went digging for Richard, since they knew from records the approximate location of his tomb. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/33 "2013-03-15T09:28:48Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > A [plague pit](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21784141) has just been discovered during rail works in London. This looks like a really good find. > > Anywhere that’s been inhabited for millennia, like many of the cities in the UK, is going to have vast amounts of stuff underground. Where I live, Nottingham, there’s a vast network of caves, many of them manmade, under much of the city. New sections are being found from time to time. It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that people stopped living in them! I know they are calling it a plague pit but what you see in the photo is clearly individual burials. My understanding of a plague pit is it would be a mass grave. Still there is probably more to the story than they are telling us so far. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/34 "2013-03-15T09:58:17Z")
> [@glaeken](#): > > I know they are calling it a plague pit but what you see in the photo is clearly individual burials. My understanding of a plague pit is it would be a mass grave. Still there is probably more to the story than they are telling us so far. Now they are saying they think it’s a grave from the start of the plague, before they starting just chucking bodies in pits. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/35 "2013-03-15T12:07:17Z")
Yeah I notice they have expanded on the story a little now since the original report I read. I really should have read the whole story on the current link. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/36 "2013-03-15T12:38:13Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Now they are saying they think it’s a grave from the start of the plague, before they starting just chucking bodies in pits. Oh, good, they dug up patient zero. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/37 "2013-03-15T13:40:09Z")
How much would we find in various American urban excavations if we looked? (Note: from what I understand what most construction crews actually do here is intentionally look the other way … something found and reported is going to slow the project down … better no one knows they found something that could be “interesting.”) ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/38 "2013-03-15T14:41:03Z")
I would have thought if they found human remains they would have to stop. I know in the UK the moment they find human remains they have to involve the Police until it is established that the remains are over a certain age and so archaeological in nature. Of course they could still look the other way but I would have thought that unlikely in particular to human remains. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/39 "2013-03-15T16:36:12Z")
You don’t have to report what you don’t “find” and there is incentive to not look. [This article](http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2003772218_bones03m.html) is of course notable for the fact that once human remains were identified work on the project was stopped, but also notable was that “more remains were found when an archaeologist screened backfill from the same trench.” A development team finds a few bones, they don’t know for \*sure \*what kind, cow, deer, human … bring it to someone’s attention? If it is human your project is stopped, your job is halted, your pay perhaps as a worker and your timeline and potential profit or loss impacted as a developer. Nothing to see here buddy. Cart the debris away! ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bob\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_X)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899/40 "2013-03-15T16:56:47Z")
The writeup at Huffington Post, > **[Remains Of Mysterious Medieval Knight Buried Under Parking Lot](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/medieval-knight-found-under-parking-lot_n_2869975?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular)** > > Remains Of Mysterious Medieval Knight Buried Under Parking Lot has a good picture of the tombstone with its “cross fleury” and sword, and this bit in the comments that is too good not to share (thanks Frogbert): Now is the winter of our disinterment, made glorious summer by these sons of Indiana! Now are our brows bound up with bright orange hard hats, our bruised knees hung up for monuments. Our stern car alarums changed to merry Tweetings!, our dreadful March winds to delightful tape-measurements. Grim visaged parking attendants hath smoothed their wrinkled tickets and now instead of mounting higher fees to tightly cram more cars into the lot, they caper, nimbly in a crampéd ticket booth while archaeologists scramble over loot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-parking-lot-coughs-up-another-one-how-often-does-this-happen/652899.md?page=3)