6 April 2011 Last updated at 12:20

In pictures: Archaeologists find Crossrail skeletons

An archaeology dig near Liverpool Street station is preparing and surveying the ground before the tunnelling begins for the Crossrail project.

There are 20 archaeology digs along the Crossrail route and they have to be completed as part of the planning regulations.

The site of Liverpool Street's new Crossrail ticket hall is where St Bethlehem hospital and a nearby burial ground used to be.

William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress depicts a scene from St Bethlehem hospital. Opened in 1247, it was the first institution dedicated to mental health patients. It is believed to be where the word 'bedlam' comes from.

Archaeologists say there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of skeletons on the site.

In another Crossrail dig at Goslett Yard in central London, archaeologists have discovered a Crosse & Blackwell vault underneath the old Astoria nightclub.

Hundreds of Crosse and Blackwell jars, many broken but some intact and sealed, were discovered at the site near Tottenham Court Road station.

A group of school children are shown another Crossrail archaeology dig at Stepney Green in east London.

London

In pictures: Archaeologists find Crossrail skeletons

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