Scientists in the United Kingdom have lifted the shroud on one of the most lethal catastrophes in recorded history, announcing they've found a long-lost mass grave from London's Black Death.
"The depth they are and the type of pottery we're getting strongly suggests that they're part of the Black Death cemetery of that mid-14th century." (Via BBC)
Workers on London's Crossrail project, which burrows under the heart of the city to construct railway tunnels, unearthed 25 skeletons last year. Tests have now confirmed those skeletons carried plague bacteria. (Via YouTube / Crossrail Project)
The DNA of the 14th-century plague bacteria closely matches that of a recent outbreak in Madagascar that killed 60 people. That outbreak was pneumonic, meaning it was passed not by rats but by coughing and sneezing. (Via The Disease Daily)
One proponent of the theory told The Guardian: "As an explanation for the Black Death in its own right, [rat fleas] simply isn't good enough. It cannot spread fast enough ... to cause the huge number of cases that we saw during the Black Death."
Crossrail is Europe's largest infrastructure project and has already unearthed more than 10,000 archeological finds. Workers have already found more skeletons at the 14th-century grave site using sonar.
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