Germany: Hundreds of bodies of ‘Black Death’ victims discovered in mass grave

Archaeologists by Germany About a thousand during the excavation of one site ‘Black Death’ or ‘Black Death’ have discovered structures of victims from Europe It may be the largest mass grave of its kind.

Excavations prior to the construction of new apartments in the southern German city of Nuremberg uncovered eight such pits, each containing hundreds of structures of adults, youths and children dating from the late 15th and early 17th centuries. was

Archaeological excavation company In Terra Verita said in a statement that three pits have been fully excavated so far, while four more are expected to be tested in the coming weeks.

Melanie Langbein, from the city’s heritage conservation department, said: ‘A discovery like this has never been made before and, quite frankly, no-one had thought of it. The site is of great importance to the city of Nuremberg and we are working together to get all possible information.’

The excavation company noted that the tomb had about nine people seated on top of each other (photo terra veritas).

Two of the mass graves contained the remains of adults piled on top of each other in a sitting position at the southern end of the pit.

The excavation company noted that about nine people were placed on top of each other.

Available spaces in the pits between those buried in the sitting position were filled with the bodies of infants and children.

The number of dead bodies removed from one of these pits reached around 300.

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But signs of an unknown number of bodies being exhumed later suggest that we may not know for sure how many people were actually buried there the first time.

According to the archaeological excavation company, so far about 1,000 bodies have been recovered from these pits, which have been documented and taken for further examination. According to the company, this number is expected to grow to around 1,500.

Anthropologist Florian Melzer said that despite the destruction, the remains are in very good condition for research.

He added: ‘We can now detail all the information hidden in these bones, such as the prevalence of different types of cancer, the genetic variations that appear in the skulls, the age and gender of the dead, the state of the teeth. Even their health and living conditions can be ascertained in the future.’

Dozens of waves of the Black Death killed millions of people in Europe between the 14th and 18th centuries.

Previous research shows that people in the Nuremberg area suffered three major and several minor plagues between the 16th and 17th centuries, which killed more than five thousand in 1533, nearly 10,000 in 1563, and 1634. About 15,000 deaths occurred.

Terra Verita said: ‘As far as we know this site is the largest mass grave in Germany and with the estimated number of bodies it may possibly be the largest mass grave in Europe.’

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