Medieval Burial Pit Exhumed Near Leicester Cathedral

LEICESTER, ENGLAND—The Guardian reports that a narrow shaft containing the remains of more than 100 people was discovered near Leicester Cathedral, in an area where a new heritage learning center will be constructed. The burials are thought to date to the early twelfth century, during a period of illness and hunger described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. No buckles or brooches were found among the remains, and the position of their limbs suggests that they had been wrapped in shrouds. “Their bones show no signs of violence, which leaves us with two alternative reasons for these deaths: starvation or pestilence,” said Mathew Morris of Leicester University. It appears as though the bodies were dropped into the shaft by the cartload in three deposits over a short period of time, he added. “We have no idea, at present, what might have triggered such a massive cause of death. As far as we know, the bubonic plague did not reach our shores until 1348. So, what was the cause of the mass deaths that occurred then?” he asked. To read about analysis of the skeleton of Richard III, which was reburied in Leicester Cathedral in 2015, go to "The King Is Dead. Long Live the King."