Clues to Black Plague’s Fury in 650-Year-Old Skeletons

NY Times ^ | January 29, 2008 | NICHOLAS BAKALAR

[RightWhale]

The Black Plague originated in Central America and was brought to Europe by early traders. Pre-Columbian for sure and thus deniable.

[Palladin]

What a morbid hobby.

[null and void]

I recall reading in school that this plague killed half the people in England, so it seems unlikely that all of these people (IIRC 4 million of them) were already ill.

No antibiotics, no sanitation, poor nutrition, grinding poverty, little heating, harsh winters, crowded living conditions, frequent cuts, scrapes, and minor burns, and only half of them were sickly? Not bad!

[SunkenCiv]

The Spanish flu of 1918 killed thousands of healthy people in their prime while sparing many children and the elderly, whose weaker immune systems did not overreact to the infection. Sexually transmitted infections like H.I.V. disproportionately affect the strongest and healthiest, for the obvious reason that they are the most sexually active.

It's also been suggested that an earlier deadly flu outbreak late in the 19th century wound up, in effect, vaccinating those around at the time who'd contracted it, such that their immune systems laughed off the Spanish Lady. Thanks forkinsocket.

[american_ranger]

Europe also had a large leper population but the black plague killed them all off.

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

"...A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe..."

Hey, thanks; I just skimmed the entire thing via Google Books. Very interesting!

[jalisco555]

A lack of sanitary plumbing, the habit of digging wells next to cesspools, living in cramped quarters in crowded cities, and a lack of understanding the necessity of hygiene caused a large part of the population to be “under the weather” a good part of the time.

I tell people that plumbers have saved more lives than doctors. Which is a painful admission for a doctor to make!

[fella]

Interesting doesn’t even come close. It should be required reading in High school to open kids minds to what real hardship is. Defoe had a lot of firsthand accounts to draw from.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

It wiped out approx. 1/3 the population of Europe and England. Many small towns and villages simply disappeared. We still see the effects of the plague today - with the emphasis on how Christ is portrayed in modern church art. Pre-Black Death, Christ was generally seen as a happy, arms-outstretched, inspirational person (The Sermon of the Mount Christ). Post-Black Death, the art rendering changed dramatically, focusing not only on his death, but his hideous torture, suffering and crown of thorns. (The Crucifixion Christ).

[martin_fierro]

29 + posts, and not one "BRING OUT YOUR DEAD" graphic??

People. You're slipping.

[Ciexyz]

Most interesting.

[LadyDoc]

another cat myth...I’ve heard it before, but the last time it was blamed for the plague when they were killing witches, about two hundred years later and it was called the plague of London...except that plague was not Bubonic plague.

The plague started in China, spread with Ghengis Khan and ended up in Iceland.

I don’t think killing a few stray cats would make a difference...

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, you’re right, that is pretty bad on our part.