With color and black and white pictures -- many of which never ran in LIFE -- LIFE.com recalls an extraordinary effort undertaken six decades ago far from the ornate public realms of the Vatican, when workers meticulously excavated the tombs and other long-sealed, centuries-old chambers beneath St. Peter's.
In a clutter of bones and artifacts the foreman of a team of Vatican workmen examines an ancient archway, St. Peter's, Rome, 1950. (Nat Farbman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
In a clutter of bones and artifacts the foreman of a team of Vatican workmen examines an ancient archway, St. Peter's, Rome, 1950. (Nat Farbman—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)