Graves at the Brighton Dome

I was called in at short notice to photograph a 200-year-old Quaker burial site discovered at the Brighton Dome during the redevelopment of the Corn Exchange. I made two visits to document the team from Archaeology South-East while they exhumed several of the 15 complete skeletons. The remains have now all been carefully lifted out and moved to an office where they will be cleaned and examined in detail. Decisions are still to be made about whether they will be reburied, cremated or stored for further study.

While that process sounds very clinical, the reality was an utmost care, respect and diligence shown by the archaeologists. It was a painstaking process to find and catalogue every bone from each grave. I was curious to know how it felt to hold a human skull and was told that the first time was definitely a strange experience. For the record, this was one of the most exciting shoots I have ever been on. More photographs from this shoot are here. More information about the burial site can be found here.