black death

Lunel-Viel (Languedoc-Southern France). Victim of the plague thrown into a demolition trench of a Gallo-Roman house; end of the 6th-early 7th century. Source: 1990; CNRS - Claude Raynaud

4 June, 2019 - 21:37 ancient origins

Details of First Historically Recorded Plague Pandemic Revealed by Ancient Genomes

An international team of researchers have analysed human remains from 21 archaeological sites to learn more about the impact and evolution of the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis during the...

15 March, 2019 - 23:36 dhwty

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

The plague doctor mask is one of the most recognizable symbols of the Black Death. Though the image is iconic the relationship may be a little anachronistic. While plague doctors have been plying...

The recently unearthed medieval priest’s skull and coffin lid.

18 April, 2017 - 22:58 ancient-origins

Latest Thornton Abbey Discovery: Did the Great Famine take a Medieval Priest and Leave an Elaborate Grave?

The remains of a Medieval priest who died 700 years ago has been uncovered at Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire. Research shows he could have been a victim of the Great Famine. Archaeologists from the...

Image from an illuminated manuscript depicting a Byzantine siege of a citadel. A tactic of ancient biological warfare was to hurl infected dead bodies over city walls.

6 June, 2015 - 14:19 lizleafloor

The Devastating and Diabolical Ancient Origins of Biological Warfare

History paints a bleak picture of the devastating effects that disease, contamination, or poison can have on humans. But with those hard lessons came experience and knowledge, and mankind has...

Archaeologists with the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) plan to test the DNA of the remains.

4 March, 2015 - 11:59 Mark Miller

Old skeletons, possibly plague victims, found under Paris grocery

Archaeologists have unearthed the skeletal remains of 200 people underneath a supermarket in Paris on the site of an old hospital where victims of the Black Plague had been known to be buried. It was...

30 May, 2014 - 03:40 aprilholloway

Researchers trace origin of global fish trade in medieval London

Researchers have uncovered the medieval tipping-point when local fishing could no longer support the demands of the burgeoning metropolis, and catches started to come in from as far away as Arctic...

31 March, 2014 - 23:05 aprilholloway

Study of Black Death skeletons reveals plague may have been airborne

An analysis carried out on 25 skeletons of plague victims discovered by railway engineers beneath London last year, has revealed that the Black Death was even more lethal than previously thought...

28 January, 2014 - 22:58 aprilholloway

Scientists decode 1,500-year-old plague and warn it could strike again

Scientists have, for the first time, achieved a complete reconstruction of the genome responsible for the bubonic plague, which struck the Eastern Roman Empire 1,500 years ago, and is said to have...

14 December, 2013 - 05:20 aprilholloway

Archaeologists find mass grave with evidence of cholera outbreak

Archaeologists digging in the graveyard of the Abbey of St Peter in Lucca, Italy, have discovered a mass grave that contains evidence of an ancient cholera outbreak . The researchers hope the DNA...

2 November, 2013 - 04:40 johnblack

The mystery behind the plagues that have killed millions

If we take a close look into the history of humanity we will see that societies have never been undisturbed for a long period of time. It would be either wars or mysterious and unexplained plagues...