Fort Mason Burial Pit: The world's worst layer cake

Workers clearing lead-contaminated soil at Fort Mason in 2010 got an unpleasant surprise when they uncovered a pit full of body parts dating back to the 19th century. Beth shares the research into who these early San Franciscans were, why they were buried in a Fort Mason courtyard, and the man most likely responsible: A U.S. Army surgeon named Edwin Bentley.

Sources:

"Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Anatomical Dissection at a Nineteenth-Century Army Hospital in San Francisco," edited by P. Willey, Peter Gavette, Eric J. Bartelink and Colleen F. Milligan: https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9781683402664

"Now and Then: Fort Mason," National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/photosmultimedia/now-and-then-foma.htm

Dr. Edwin Bentley. Image courtesy of the NIH's National Library of Medicine: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-101416384-img?qvq=q:bentley;lc:NLMNLM~1~1&mi=5&trs=8

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