Expansion plans for the University of Mississippi’s medical center have been put on hold after the discovery of an astonishing seven thousand bodies buried underneath the land that was earmarked for the construction project.

The first of the dead bodies were discovered by builders working for the university back in 2013 who were constructing a road next to campus. The body count mounted once more in 2014 when a further 1000 coffins were uncovered during the construction of a parking garage.

Thousands of bodies discovered underneath the University of Mississippi

It is believed that the bodies are those of patients from the state of Mississippi’s very first mental institution. The Insane Asylum first opened its doors in 1855 and remained open until 1935 and represented a new, more humane way of dealing with the mentally ill. Before the opening of the asylum, mentally ill individuals in the state of Mississippi were often kept chained up in the prison system or the attics of their family’s homes.

Official records show that of the 1376 patients who were admitted to the asylum between the years of 1855 and 1877, more than 20% died inside the walls. The records also show that the facility expanded its service in the aftermath of the US Civil War. At its peak, it is believed that the institution had approximately six thousand patients.

To build on the land, the University of Mississippi is required to exhume and rebury every single body in a respectful fashion. The costs of this were initially estimated to run to as much as $21 million, more than $3000 per body. However, the university plans to bring the exhumation and reburial process in-house at a significantly reduced cost. Representatives estimate that through cost-cutting measures the entire process should only cost around $400,000.

The excavation project is current in the hands of a group of academics who are interested in studying the remains of the people buried underneath the land.

A group of academics has formed a consortium dedicated to studying the remains which they believe to be of vital historical significance. “It would be a unique resource for Mississippi, “said Molly Zuckerman, a professor of anthropology at the University, “It would make Mississippi a national center on historical records relating to health in the pre-modern period, particularly those being institutionalized.” However, despite the fact that they have a vested interested in learning from these bodies the team has made it clear that this will not impede their ability to ensure that the patients are given their due respect. “We want to show them care and respectful management, “said Ralph Didlake, who oversees the campus Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities.