the plague victims ' bones reveal clues to their harsh lives in medieval london skeletons unearthed in london crossrail excavations are pictured .
this week , don walker , an osteologist with the museum of london , outlined the biography of one man whose ancient bones were found by construction workers under london 's charterhouse square : he was breast - fed as a baby , moved to london from another part of england , had bad tooth decay in childhood , grew up to work as a laborer , and died in early adulthood from the bubonic plague that ravaged europe in the 14th century .
media playback is unsupported on your device media caption the teeth of the skeletons contain plague that ravaged europe killing millions of people .
it later became known as the black death .
this discovery is a hugely important step forward in documenting and understanding europe 's most devastating pandemic , " he said . "
 
molars taken from skeletons unearthed by work on a new london railway line are revealing secrets of the medieval black death — and of its victims .
the 25 skeletons were uncovered last year during work
twenty - five skeletons were uncovered last year during work on crossrail , a new rail line that 's boring 13 miles ( 21 kilometers ) of tunnels under the heart of the city .