They were victims of waves of plague almost 400 years ago.
The bones of more than 1,000 bodies were discovered by archaeologists in Nuremberg (Germany), revealed this Tuesday, March 5, CNN.
It could be the largest mass grave ever discovered in Europe.
The first discoveries were made in the fall, Der Spiegel points out, when archaeologists were carrying out a study prior to the construction of new buildings in the southern German city.
They are still continuing today, as the studies progress.
Specialists estimate that the unearthed graves could contain more than 1,500 bodies in total and include buried plague victims.
Bodies dating from the 17th century
In total, eight graves were discovered, each containing several dozen bodies, Melanie Langbein of the municipal heritage conservation department told CNN.
“Although there are plague cemeteries in Nuremberg, these people were not buried in an ordinary cemetery.
This means that a large number of deceased people had to be buried in a short period of time, without taking into account Christian burial practices,” she detailed.
Archaeologists continue to gradually discover new bodies as research progresses.
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Precisely identifying the date these bodies were buried will prove difficult, as Nuremberg experienced plague outbreaks every decade starting in the 14th century.
Archaeologists first used carbon-14 dating to estimate the period: between the beginning of the 15th century and the beginning of the 17th century.
Coins dating from the same century have also been found.
But it was a note dated 1634 which confirmed that it was a mass grave dug because of the plague.
It details a plague epidemic that killed more than 15,000 people between 1632 and 1633, and specifies that nearly 2,000 people were buried near San Sebastian Hospital, the site of the current excavation.
“This mass grave constitutes an immense opportunity”
“It’s a spectacle that archaeologists rarely see,” Julian Decker, head of the company In Terra Veritas, which is leading the excavations, admitted to Spiegel.
“This mass grave represents a huge opportunity for research, it can help us better understand the lives and suffering of people in the 17th century,” he continued.
Because the plague affected all ages and all social categories, as the mayor of Nuremberg, Marcus König, emphasized to BR24 during his visit to the site.
The bodies were found on a site which was to be the subject of real estate construction.
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These tombs thus contain a representative sample of the society of the time, which allows them to examine the characteristics of the population.
“We can examine the size and demographics of the city with the same tools as a modern census team,” insisted Julian Decker, who aims to determine the percentage of children and adults, women and men. , and the general health of the population.