The Black Death (caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis) devastated Europe between 1346 and 1353, killing as much as half the continent's total population. Contemporary accounts from Thuringia, a state in central Germany, report that around 12,000 plague victims died in the city of Erfurt during the 1350 outbreak.
Despite multiple historical records attesting to this staggering loss of life, the locations of Erfurt's 11 mass graves remained unknown for centuries. Now, an archaeological team from Leipzig University believes they have finally pinpointed one of these infamous burial sites.
According to their study published in the journal PLOS One, the team used a process called electrical resistivity mapping to identify a disturbed subsurface area near the deserted medieval village of Neuses. Subsequent core samples revealed mixed geologic materials and human remains dating back to the 14th century, strongly suggesting the presence of a medieval mass grave.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxThe researchers note that the grave's location in a drier, more isolated area aligns with both modern soil science and the medieval "miasma theory" that diseases spread through "bad air" and "vapors" from decaying matter. Rather than interring victims in the fertile soils closer to the town, the residents of Neuses likely opted to place them in the drier conditions near a valley edge.
While an actual excavation is still needed to confirm the findings, the team's novel approach paves the way for additional searches of plague-era mass graves across Europe. They believe similar geophysical techniques could be applied to uncover the resting places of many more victims from this devastating pandemic.
