BLACK DEATH PIT DISCOVERED

An extremely rare discovery of a mass burial of bodies has been discovered at Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire at the location of a 14^th century monastery hospital. The Black Death, one of human history’s worst pandemics was the cause of this pit with 48 skeletons, out of which 27 are of children. The plague had caused the death of some 75 to 200 million Europeans from 1346 to 1353.

This large burial site with both male and female adults and children indicates that the local population was overwhelmed by the Black Death that they could not keep pace the death tolls. One of the team members working on the excavation site since 2011, Dr Hugh Willmott, University of Sheffield’s Department of Archaeology, explains that the finding is of national importance.

He says that it has been estimated that nearly half of England’s population expired during this pandemic. The local community disposed their loved ones in the simplest way possible. The small unprepared communities had real difficulties in facing such a devastating threat. The study further intends to figure out the lives that these people led using the artifact excavations, and analyzing the DNA isolated from their teeth samples. 

Content Sourcer: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161130104143.htm

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