Medieval History
Rats weren't the carriers of the plague after all. A study by an archaeologist looking at the ravages of the Black Death in London
, in late 1348 and 1349, has exonerated the most famous animal villains in history.
"The evidence just isn't there to support it," said Barney Sloane, author of The Black Death in London. "We ought to be finding great heaps of dead rats in all the waterfront sites but they just aren't there. And all the evidence I've looked at suggests the plague spread too fast for the traditional explanation of transmission by rats and fleas. It has to be person to person ? there just isn't time for the rats to be spreading it."
He added: "It was certainly the Black Death but it is by no means certain what that disease was, whether in fact it was bubonic plague."
Click here to read this article from The Guardian
Click here to see our feature on the Black Death
- Anthropologist Compares Medieval Lives, Pre- And Post-black Death
Each time Sharon DeWitte takes a 3-foot by 1-foot archival box off the shelf at the Museum of London she hopes it will be heavy. ?Heavy means you know you have a relatively complete skeleton,? said DeWitte, an anthropologist at the University of South...
- A 'black Death' Saga With More Than One Plague
The plague that decimated Europe's population in the 14th century provided plenty of support for the notion of a higher power ? and a lower one. God's wrath and the devil's malice seemed plausible explanations for such widespread loss of life....
- Black Death Came From China, Study Finds
An international team of scientists have concluded that the plague known as the Black Death originated in China over 2600 years ago. In the article, ?Yersinia pestis genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity?, which was published...
- Plague And Famine: An Interdisciplinary View
Plague and Famine: An Interdisciplinary View I am organizing a session for the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held from May 13-16, 2010 at Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo on the relationship between plague and famine. Famines...
- Medieval News Of Last Week
THE HEPHTHALITES 14th-century observatory wows scientists Medieval Graves found at Czech building site Anglo-Saxon Church reopens Medieval wall investigation English manuscript unveiled in LA Everyone's Joan Of Arc Lost documents shed light on...
Medieval History
Black Death study lets rats off the hook
, in late 1348 and 1349, has exonerated the most famous animal villains in history."The evidence just isn't there to support it," said Barney Sloane, author of The Black Death in London. "We ought to be finding great heaps of dead rats in all the waterfront sites but they just aren't there. And all the evidence I've looked at suggests the plague spread too fast for the traditional explanation of transmission by rats and fleas. It has to be person to person ? there just isn't time for the rats to be spreading it."
He added: "It was certainly the Black Death but it is by no means certain what that disease was, whether in fact it was bubonic plague."
Click here to read this article from The Guardian
Click here to see our feature on the Black Death
- Anthropologist Compares Medieval Lives, Pre- And Post-black Death
Each time Sharon DeWitte takes a 3-foot by 1-foot archival box off the shelf at the Museum of London she hopes it will be heavy. ?Heavy means you know you have a relatively complete skeleton,? said DeWitte, an anthropologist at the University of South...
- A 'black Death' Saga With More Than One Plague
The plague that decimated Europe's population in the 14th century provided plenty of support for the notion of a higher power ? and a lower one. God's wrath and the devil's malice seemed plausible explanations for such widespread loss of life....
- Black Death Came From China, Study Finds
An international team of scientists have concluded that the plague known as the Black Death originated in China over 2600 years ago. In the article, ?Yersinia pestis genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity?, which was published...
- Plague And Famine: An Interdisciplinary View
Plague and Famine: An Interdisciplinary View I am organizing a session for the 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies to be held from May 13-16, 2010 at Western Michigan University at Kalamazoo on the relationship between plague and famine. Famines...
- Medieval News Of Last Week
THE HEPHTHALITES 14th-century observatory wows scientists Medieval Graves found at Czech building site Anglo-Saxon Church reopens Medieval wall investigation English manuscript unveiled in LA Everyone's Joan Of Arc Lost documents shed light on...