28 Jul 2013 Human bones found in the theatre

A shocking discovery was made by archaeological research in the vicinity of the theatre in Kladno. Researchers have discovered that hundreds of human skeletons are standing on top of it. Audience members sat just inches above the skeletons during performances.

Representatives of the construction site called the archaeologists in the spring of 2013, when a human skull was found during the excavation of a sewer in the theatre. "They called the police at the same time. The director of the Czech Archaeological Society, Radek Balý, assessed the situation to be only a relocated skull from a grave in the original cemetery, which on the site of today's park between 1831 and 1898," recalls Michaela Selmi Wallis, the head of the archaeological team.

The archaeologists eventually discovered around a hundred skeletons. About a third of them are children's skeletons. They date back to the nineteenth century. Back then, mortality rates were higher due to infections and diseases. Also buried under the theatre are women between the ages of twenty and thirty who died during childbirth.

"We found decorative tacks on some of the coffins, they were lined with cloth. We found this type of richer coffins in the auditorium, but not around the theatre. Some of the buried have their hands tied together with a rosary. On the lids of some of the coffins was a cross with Christ made of pressed thin sheet metal. The discovery of a man wearing a miner's uniform is interesting; buttons were left behind," the archaeologist explained.

After the research, the remains were placed in a depository in Dolní Počernice. The bones scattered in the upper layers of the grave backfill, archaeologists carefully selected. They were then buried in the cemetery in Kladno.

These are not the first finds of this kind. Already in 2000, during repairs to the orchestra pit, workers unearthed a skull and other skeletal remains. "Back then, they thought there was a corpse buried there and called the police," recalled Blanka Bendlová, the theatre's director.

The investment included a complete modernisation of the building, expanding it to include a café with a multifunctional hall and an alternative stage. The building will be equipped with modern technologies, new utility lines and, most importantly, modern theatre technology. The stage and auditorium have undergone a major transformation.

Sources: www.rozhlas.cz, www.idnes.cz, www.denik.cz