'Colonial-era mass grave' found in Potosi, Bolivia

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h1 class="story-header" style="clear: both; margin: 3px -160px 13px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; width: 623px;"> <br /></h1> <div class="caption full-width" style="clear: both; float: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; position: relative;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img alt="View of the Cerro Rico in Potosi" height="351" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/76549000/jpg/_76549890_76549743.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; position: relative;" width="624" /></span><span style="display: block; width: 624px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Potosi is overlooked by the famous Cerro Rico - "Rich Mountain"</span></span></div> <div class="story-feature related narrow" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin: 0px -160px 16px 16px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; width: 144px;"> <a class="hidden" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-28508389#story_continues_1" style="font-weight: bold; left: -5000px; position: absolute; text-decoration: none; top: -5000px;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Continue reading the main story</span></span></a><h2 style="border-bottom-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(216, 216, 216); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 11px 0px 12px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Related Stories</span></span></h2> <ul class="related-links-list" style="border-top-style: none; clear: both; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding: 8px 0px 0px;"> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-12822247" rel="published-1301752021823" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Bolivian mountain risks collapse</span></a></li> <li style="background-image: none; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a class="story" href="http://www.bbc.com/2/hi/americas/3740134.stm" rel="published-1097848151000" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">History echoes in the mines of Potosi</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A grave containing at least 400 people has been unearthed in the Bolivian city of Potosi, with the remains thought to be those of colonial-era miners.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The grave was found by workers carrying out excavations for the construction of a new building.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mine at Potosi became the world's biggest after silver was discovered there by the Spanish in 1545.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">African and indigenous slaves worked the mines - it is estimated as many as eight million may have died.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The mines at Potosi were a source of huge riches for Spain until the end of colonial rule in the 19th Century.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We are talking about a common grave found at about 1.8 metres (5.9 ft), and the human remains are scattered over an area of four by four metres," Sergio Fidel, a researcher at a museum belonging to Potosi's Tomas Frias University, told AFP.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The university intervened when it learnt that construction workers were piling the bones in a heap while work continued.</span></div> <div style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: auto;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Last month the UN's cultural body Unesco put Potosi on its list of World Heritage Sites in danger because of "uncontrolled mining operations in the Cerro Rico Mountain that risk degrading the site".</span></div> </div>

'Colonial-era mass grave' found in Potosi, Bolivia

Potosi is overlooked by the famous Cerro Rico - "Rich Mountain" Continue reading the main story Related Stories Bolivian ...

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