ERFURT, GERMANY—A possible mass grave containing the remains of victims of the Black Death has been found near the site of the medieval village of Neuses in central Germany, according to a statement released by Leipzig University. Historic records from the nearby city of Erfurt indicate that in 1350, when the Black Plague struck the region, some 12,000 people were buried in 11 large pits outside the city. Using resistivity mapping and sediment coring, the team members, led by Michael Hein of Leipzig University, identified a large, underground structure holding mixed sediments and fragments of human remains. Radiocarbon dating of these bone samples shows that the remains date to the fourteenth century. “Our results strongly suggest that we have pinpointed one of the plague mass graves described in the Erfurt chronicles,” Hein said. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS One. To read about a curious economic effect possibly caused by the Black Death, go to "Off With Their Heads."
