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A Black Death mass grave at Thornton Abbey: the discovery and examination of a fourteenth-century rural catastrophe
- Source :
- Antiquity. 94:179-196
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Antiquity Publications, 2020.
-
Abstract
- The discovery of mass burial sites is rare in Europe, particularly in rural areas. Recent excavations at Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire have revealed a previously unknown catastrophic mass grave containing the remains of at least 48 men, women and children, with radiocarbon dating placing the event in the fourteenth century AD. The positive identification of Yersinia pestis in sampled skeletal remains suggests that the burial population died from the Black Death. This site represents the first Black Death mass grave found in Britain in a non-urban context, and provides unique evidence for the devastating impact of this epidemic on a small rural community.
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
0303 health sciences
Archeology
education.field_of_study
History
Rural community
General Arts and Humanities
Population
Context (language use)
Ancient history
01 natural sciences
law.invention
03 medical and health sciences
law
Radiocarbon dating
Rural area
education
030304 developmental biology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17451744 and 0003598X
- Volume :
- 94
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Antiquity
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........091b1830cc86c0d443732af06013d36b