All posts by Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

Conference on Plague, Mallorca, October 20-22 2021

In-Hoppe, the “International Network – Historical and osteoarchaeological Past Populations Exploration” is organizing a conference on

Plague and Plagues – Transdisciplinary and diachronic perspectives on the history of the plague

in collaboration with the ADEH (asociación de demografía histórica) and the Research group on the History of Health (GHIS) of the University of the Balearic Islands, under the lead of Isabelle Seguy and Joana Maria Pujades Mora.

Originally, the conference was planned for October 2020, but rescheduled  to 2021 due to COVID-19.

More information can be found on the conference website.

Online registration is already open, the submission deadline is May 31, 2021.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Themed Issue and Webinar on “Disease, Death, and Therapy” – Speculum

Speculum published a whole issue on the topic of “Disease, Death and Therapy” with several articles related directly to plague. Moreover, on 14 Jan 2021, Speculum hosted a webinar with the authors; the recording will soon be publicly available.

Gayk, S. Apocalyptic Ecologies: Eschatology, the Ethics of Care, and the Fifteen Signs of the Doom in Early England. Speculum 96, 1–37 (2021) doi:10.1086/711658

Abstract: Exploring how late medieval texts imagined the promised destruction of the physical world, this essay offers an ecocritical reading of a single apocalyptic motif: the Fifteen Signs of the Doom. This once popular catalogue of ecological and cosmological portents of the Apocalypse encouraged environmental watchfulness, moved human experience from the center to the margins, and explored the humbling inscrutability of natural disaster. Surveying some of the Middle English sermons and lyrics that include this motif, this article considers how the practice of imagining the coming apocalypse by cataloguing wonders, natural disasters, and strange phenomena in the material world not only reminded human beings of their participation in a larger ecology but also invited them to reflect upon their responsibilities to and sympathies with the larger world.

McCormick, M. Gregory of Tours on Sixth-Century Plague and Other Epidemics. Speculum 96, 38–96 (2021) doi:10.1086/711721

Abstract: Analyzes philologically and historically all testimony in the works of Gregory of Tours about various epidemics that struck Gaul, Iberia, and Italy in the sixth century; in particular, those of the most serious disease, “inguinal epidemic,” that is, bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis), as well as an illness that may have been smallpox (Variola major). Establishes that Gregory’s testimony, inspired by his personal and pastoral-theological concerns, is reliable and informative; delineates the motivations and sources for reporting the recurring epidemics of plague as they emerge from his writings; shows that Gregory’s information is robust but geographically constrained: of the twenty-two places and regions where he knows unambiguously about plague, only four are further than 400 km from his familial Clermont (Fig. 1). Gregory’s twenty-two mentions of plague also refer to six epidemics between c. 543–47 and c. 591–94, of which he treats four in greater detail; his silences are confirmed to be significant only rarely. Two epidemics are newly dated to springtime, and the initial outbreak is shown as likely to have reached Gaul from a western port. Contagion mirrors communications infrastructures and affected the countryside as well as towns, which populations tended to flee. Symptoms, epidemiology, and heavy mortality align with the ancient DNA proof that the pathogen was Yersinia pestis; pneumonic plague is suggested in two cases. Gregory’s historical testimony is confirmed by and integrated into the new biomolecular archaeological discoveries of early medieval plague victims in western Europe.

Barker, H. Laying the Corpses to Rest: Grain, Embargoes, and Yersinia pestis in the Black Sea, 1346–48. Speculum 96, 97–126 (2021) doi:10.1086/711596

Abstract: When, how, and why did the Black Death reach Europe? Historians have relied on Gabriele de’ Mussi’s account of Tatars catapulting plague-infested bodies into the besieged city of Caffa on the Crimean Peninsula. Yet Mussi spent the 1340s in Piacenza; he had no direct knowledge of events in Caffa. Sources by people present in the Black Sea during the Second Pandemic, including Genoese colonial administrators, Venetian diplomats, Byzantine chroniclers, and Mamluk merchants, offer a different perspective. They show that the Venetian community at Tana played an important role in plague transmission; that it took over a year (from spring 1346 to autumn 1347) for plague to cross the Black Sea to Constantinople; that people crossed the Black Sea in 1346 but commodities did not because of a series of trade embargoes; that grain was one of the most important Black Sea commodities in both volume and strategic value; and therefore that the embargoes of 1346 delayed plague transmission by temporarily halting the movement of grain with its accompanying rats, fleas, and bacteria. When Venice, Genoa, and the Golden Horde made peace and lifted their embargoes in 1347, both the grain trade and the spread of plague resumed.

Curtis, D. R. From One Mortality Regime to Another? Mortality Crises in Late Medieval Haarlem, Holland, in Perspective. Speculum 96, 127–155 (2021) doi:10.1086/711641

Abstract: This article employs a large database of 10,360 deaths taken from registrations of graves dug and church bells tolled at Haarlem between the years 1412 and 1547—one of the largest samples and longest series of mortality evidence ever produced for medieval Holland—and systematically compares findings with a seventeenth-century burial register for the same city. It concludes that we should put aside any lingering notion that late medieval Holland was very lightly affected by epidemic diseases: in fact, in Haarlem, these mortality crises were more severe than those seen in the seventeenth century. The data also reveal not one overarching “medieval mortality regime” but distinct changes between fewer but more severe spikes in the first half of the fifteenth century, and higher frequency of smaller spikes later on—especially in the period 1480–1530—with the number of mortality crises damping down after 1530. These mortality crises tended to produce more adult female victims than male, supporting recent findings from elsewhere in the late medieval Low Countries.

Pieragostini, R. The Healing Power of Music? Documentary Evidence from Late-Fourteenth-Century Bologna. Speculum 96, 156–176 (2021) doi:10.1086/711571

Abstract: The idea of the healing power of music—rooted in Platonic and Aristotelian psychologies and Galenic humoral theory—has a long-standing tradition in European intellectual thought and occurs in several texts of the medieval and early modern periods. In contrast to the abundance of references in theoretical discussions, however, historians today face the scarcity of evidence documenting specific, actual uses of music as therapy. Among such rare evidence are two documents emanating from the chancery of late-fourteenth-century Bologna, which form the focus of this article. The documents, which concern a musician and an itinerant healer, provide new insights into musical practices directed in particular to the cure of psychic sufferings. The documents make clear that the secular authorities of Bologna considered the agency of these two practitioners and their medical and musical skills to be crucial for maintaining or restoring individual and collective health. The evidence discussed here suggests that the use of music toward curative ends must have been more widespread than hitherto acknowledged. It also highlights the powerful association between notions of musical healing and ideas of individual and civic well-being that underlay the Bologna officials’ idea of the state.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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More Bronze Age Plague from Lake Baikal

Kılınç, G. M. et al. Human population dynamics and Yersinia pestis in ancient northeast Asia. Science Advances 7, eabc4587 (2021) doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc4587

Abstract:

We present genome-wide data from 40 individuals dating to c.16,900 to 550 years ago in northeast Asia. We describe hitherto unknown gene flow and admixture events in the region, revealing a complex population history. While populations east of Lake Baikal remained relatively stable from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, those from Yakutia and west of Lake Baikal witnessed major population transformations, from the Late Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic, and during the Bronze Age, respectively. We further locate the Asian ancestors of Paleo-Inuits, using direct genetic evidence. Last, we report the most northeastern ancient occurrence of the plague-related bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Our findings indicate the highly connected and dynamic nature of northeast Asia populations throughout the Holocene.

Comment:

After Yu et al. 2020, this is the second Bronze Age plague genome from Lake Baikal. Since this paper was probably submitted before the publication of Yu et al. 2020, this is not discussed here, and the claim that they report the most northeastern Y. pestis genome does not hold true. Unfortunately, the coverage of their genome is extremely low, so it could not be phylogenetically assessed.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Second Pandemic Plague Genomes of the 18th Century

Guellil, M. et al. A genomic and historical synthesis of plague in 18th century Eurasia. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. (2020) doi:10.1073/pnas.2009677117

Abstract:

Plague continued to afflict Europe for more than five centuries after the Black Death. Yet, by the 17th century, the dynamics of plague had changed, leading to its slow decline in Western Europe over the subsequent 200 y, a period for which only one genome was previously available. Using a multidisciplinary approach, combining genomic and historical data, we assembled Y. pestisg enomes from nine individuals covering four Eurasian sites and placed them into an historical context within the established phylogeny. CHE1 (Chechnya, Russia,18th century) is now the latest Second Plague Pandemic genome and the first non-European sample in the post-Black Death lineage. Its placement in the phylogeny and our synthesis point toward the existence of an extra-European reservoir feeding plague into Western Europe in multiple waves. By considering socioeconomic, ecological, and climatic factors we highlight the importance of a noneurocentric approach for the discussion on Second Plague Pandemic dynamics in Europe.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Second Pandemic Plague Genomes from Poland and Russia

Morozova, I. et al. New ancient Eastern European Yersinia pestis genomes illuminate the dispersal of plague in Europe. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 375:20190569 (2020) doi:10.1098/rstb.2019.0569

Abstract:

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has been prevalent among humans for at least 5000 years, being accountable for several devastating epidemics in history, including the Black Death. Analyses of the genetic diversity of ancient strains of Y. pestis have shed light on the mechanisms of evolution and the spread of plague in Europe. However, many questions regarding the origins of the pathogen and its long persistence in Europe are still unresolved, especially during the late medieval time period. To address this, we present four newly assembled Y. pestis genomes from Eastern Europe(Poland and Southern Russia), dating from the fifteenth to eighteenth century AD. The analysis of polymorphisms in these genomes and their phylogenetic relationships with other ancient and modern Y. pestis strains may suggest several independent introductions of plague into Eastern Europe or its persistence in different reservoirs. Furthermore, with the reconstruction of a partial Y. pestis genome from rat skeletal remains found in a Polish ossuary, we were able to identify a potential animal reservoir in late medieval Europe. Overall, our results add new information concerning Y. pestis transmission and its evolutionary history in Eastern Europe.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Second Pandemic Plague Genomes From Riga

Susat, J. et al. Yersinia pestis strains from Latvia show depletion of the pla virulence gene at the end of the second plague pandemic. Scientific Reports 10:14628 (2020), doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71530-9

Abstract:

Ancient genomic studies have identified Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) as the causative agent of the second plague pandemic (fourteenth–eighteenth century) that started with the Black Death (1,347–1,353). Most of the Y. pestis strains investigated from this pandemic have been isolated from western Europe, and not much is known about the diversity and microevolution of this bacterium in eastern European countries. In this study, we investigated human remains excavated from two cemeteries in Riga (Latvia). Historical evidence suggests that the burials were a consequence of plague outbreaks during the seventeenth century. DNA was extracted from teeth of 16 individuals and subjected to shotgun sequencing. Analysis of the metagenomic data revealed the presence of Y. pestis sequences in four remains, confirming that the buried individuals were victims of plague. In two samples, Y. pestis DNA coverage was sufficient for genome reconstruction. Subsequent phylogenetic analysis showed that the Riga strains fell within the diversity of the already known post‑Black Death genomes. Interestingly, the two Latvian isolates did not cluster together. Moreover, we detected a drop in coverage of the pPCP1 plasmid region containing the pla gene. Further analysis indicated the presence of two pPCP1 plasmids, one with and one without the pla gene region, and only one bacterial chromosome, indicating that the same bacterium carried two distinct pPCP1 plasmids. In addition, we found the same pattern in the majority of previously published post‑Black Death strains, but not in the Black Death strains. The pla gene is an important virulence factor for the infection of and transmission in humans. thus, the spread of pla‑depleted strains may, among other causes, have contributed to the disappearance of the second plague pandemic in eighteenth century Europe.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Bronze Age plague from Lake Baikal

Along with the publication of 19 ancient human genomes from Paleolithic to Bronze Age Lake Baikal, Yu et al. published two Y. pestis genomes. Remarkably, the two individuals carrying plague show no Yamnaya-related ancestry, in contrast to all previously identified individuals infected with this LNBA plague branch. Another suprising result is that the closest Y. pestis strain in the phylogeny published so far was found in Estonia (Kunila2).

Yu, H. et al. Paleolithic to Bronze Age Siberians Reveal Connections with First Americans and across Eurasia. Cell [in press] (2020) doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.04.037

Summary:

Modern humans have inhabited the Lake Baikal region since the Upper Paleolithic, though the precise history of its peoples over this long time span is still largely unknown. Here, we report genome-wide data from 19 Upper Paleolithic to Early Bronze Age individuals from this Siberian region. An Upper Paleolithic genome shows a direct link with the First Americans by sharing the admixed ancestry that gave rise to all non-Arctic Native Americans. We also demonstrate the formation of Early Neolithic and Bronze Age Baikal populations as the result of prolonged admixture throughout the eighth to sixth millennium BP. Moreover, we detect genetic interactions with western Eurasian steppe populations and reconstruct Yersinia pestis genomes from two Early Bronze Age individuals without western Eurasian ancestry. Overall, our study demonstrates the most deeply divergent connection between Upper Paleolithic Siberians and the First Americans and reveals human and pathogen mobility across Eurasia during the Bronze Age.

 

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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MAA Webinar: The Mother of All Pandemics

The Mevieval Academy of America hosted a Webinar on 15 May 2020 with the title “The Mother of All Pandemics: The State of Black Death Research in the Era of Covid-19”.

Moderators: Winston Black (Independent Scholar) and Lori  Jones (Univ. of Ottawa)
Respondent: Monica Green (Independent Scholar)

Bibliographer: Joris Roosen (Independent Scholar)

Panelists:
Seeta Chaganti (Univ. of California, Davis)
Gérard Chouin (William & Mary)
Matthew Gabriele (Virginia Tech)
Robert Hymes (Columbia Univ.)
Nükhet Varlik (Rutgers University)
 
The whole record of the webinar is now available on youtube:

And the webinar is accompanied by an extensive bibliography.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Launch of the new Black Death Network

The Black Death Network was initially established after a session on the EAA 2012 in Helsinki, Finland to facilitate communication and international exchange of researchers across disciplines. Main focus was the crisis of the 14th century triggered by climatic deterioration followed by crop failures and ultimately the devastating plague pandemic, today known as the Black Death.

In the last decade, not the least stimulated through palaeogenetic studies presenting Yersinia pestis genomes from the Neolithic up to the 18th century, the field of ‘plague studies’ flourished and diversified. During the Annual Conference of the Society for Medieval Archaeology in York 2019 on “The Long Black Death”, the demand for a central platform for plague researchers for exchange, communication and public outreach became apparent. Among different options, it was discussed to make use of the already existing Black Death Network. This idea was brought forward to the original editors, Clare Downham, Kerstin Pasda Rainer Schreg and Richard Thomas, and they generously agreed to open the Black Death Network for plague researchers in general. For this, the editorial team was extended, now including also Sacha Kacki, Marcel Keller and Phil Slavin.

The previous board focus on the 14th century crisis will be maintained as Axis I, dedicated to the climatological, ecological, social, economic and political transformations surrounding events such as the Great Famine of 1315-1317, the St. Mary Magdalene’s flood 1342, and the Black Death 1346-1353. In addition, the history of plague will form Axis II, diachronically approaching the history of plague (as caused by Yersinia pestis) from prehistory and the First Pandemic 541-750 to the early Third Pandemic in the 19th to early 20th century. 

 

The intersection of both axes and focal point of this blog will be the Black Death. The Black Death Network is open to researchers from a broad variety of disciplines, including but not limited to the ones listed in the figure. To become a member of the Network, please contact one of the admins. You will have to create a profile which allows you to post on the Black Death Network blog. We kindly ask all new members to post a short introduction in the “Researchers” category.

To improve the structure of the blog, we created a number of blog post categories:

  • Publications and Resources
  • In News and Media
  • Conferences and Workshops
  • Lectures and Talks
  • Research projects and groups
  • Research Insights
  • Comment and Opinion
  • Book Reviews

Please contact one of the admins for requests for additional categories. Here you can find short introductions and guidelines for the individual categories. In addition, we will offer curated bibliographies on selected topics which can be found via the top menu. Please contact the editors if you would like to contribute.

On behalf of the editorial team

Sacha Kacki, Marcel Keller, Rainer Schreg, Phil Slavin

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Pest! Special exibition of the LWL Museum Herne (Germany)

It is an irony of fate that the biggest and most comprehensive exhibition about bubonic plague ever organized – the special exhibition Pest! by the LWL Museum for Archaeology in Herne (Germany) – had to be closed due to a pandemic. The exhibition opened on Sept. 20, 2019 and was supposed to end on May 10, 2020, but due to the Covid-19 crisis, the museum had to close its doors in mid-March.  Today the museum announced on its webpage that the exhibition will be reopened on May 5 and will be extended until November 15. Facing the current hygiene measures, the organizers adapted the already excellent exhibiton design and offer all audio files and the exhibition booklet now online. But the team was creative meanwhile and produced a video tour through the exhibition during the lockdown:

To give some perspective on the scope of the exhibition: It included 11 thematic sections from palaeogenetic discoveries of prehistoric plague to modern perception of plague and its history. In total around 300 objects are shown, more than 200 figures and illustrations, 11 pedagogical stations, and 3 movies on plague. The smallest object on display are Y. pestis bacteria on a microscope slide, the biggest object is the original anchor of Grand Saint Antoine, the “plague ship” which was responsible for one of the last European plague outbreaks 1720-1722 in Marseille. The exhibition includes also the iconic wall of “plague doctor” masks and the art installation “Totentanz” by the artist Claudia Pomowski.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue of almost 700 pages, including not only photos and descriptions of all objects, but also an extensive essay section of around 200 pages. The table of context can be below. The exhibition catalogue can be ordered directly from the museum shop in a special edition for 24.95 € or at your favorite book seller.


4 Impressum

5 Mitarbeiter Ausstellung und Katalog

7 Leihgeber, Partner und Förderer

14 Grusswort der Staatsministerin für Internationale Kulturpolitik im Auswärtigen Amt

15 Grusswort des Landschaftsverbandes Westfalen-Lippe (LWL)

16 Einführung, Stefan Leenen

Essays

20 Vom Pesthauch zu Yersinia pestis, Eine Geisel der Menschheit im Wandel der Zeit, Kay Peter Jankrift

30 Von der Seuchengeschichte der Pest zu einer Naturgeschichte ihres Erregers. Neue Einblicke durch alte DNA, Marcel Keller

48 Katzen, Ratten, Flöhe. Tiere als Überträger der Pest, Valeska Becker

56 Die Justinianische Pest. Ihre Auswirkungen bei den Alemannen und Franken im 6. und 7. Jahrhundert, Frank Siegmund

64 Üble Kerne unter der Haut. Neu erschlossene medizinische Quellen zur Beulenpest im frühmittelalterlichen China, Rudolf Pfister

74 Die transkulturelle Wirkung des Mongolensturms. Folgen für die religiös-medizinische Praxis in Zentral- und Ostasien, Yasmin Koppen

84 Die Justinianische Pest. Ausgelöst durch Klimaevents? Susanne Brather-Walter

92 Die 1340er-Jahre als Schlüsseljahrzehnt der »Great Transition«. Eine klimahistorische Perspektive auf den Vorabend des Schwarzen Todes, Martin Bauch, Annabell Engel

100 Papst und Pest. Avignon 1348, Ralf Lützelschwab

112 Die Judenverfolgungen zur Zeit des Schwarzen Todes. Am Beispiel der oberdeutschen Reichsstädte Ulm, Augsburg und Strasburg, Christian Scholl

122 da man die Juden zu Colne sluch. Das Pestpogrom in Köln von 1349, Tanja Potthoff, Michael Wiehen

132 Pestschätze. Ein (jüdischer) Schatzfundhorizont der Grossen Pest? Stefan Kötz

140 Der Friedhof im Dachgeschoss. Mittelalterliche jüdische Grabsteine in der Burg Hulchrath, Stefan Leenen

160 Die Toten von Byzanz. Die Seuche in der Stadt, Christof Paulus

168 Der Schwarze Tod. Seine Auswirkungen im Osmanischen Reich, Sevgi Aḡcagül

182 Die Pest bei Konrad von Megenberg und das Kärntner Erdbeben 1348. Skizzierung, Zusammenhänge, Rezeption, Lisa Glanzer

190 Chronik, Pestregimen und Pestsegen. Schriftliche Zeugnisse der Auseinandersetzung mit der Pest, Anica Schumann

198 Huldrych Zwinglis Pestlied. Die Pest als Wendepunkt der Reformation? Gorge Hasselhoff

206 Valet will ich dir geben. Passionsmystik als Verarbeitungsmuster im Pestlied des Valerius Herberger, Benedikt Bauer

212 Pestschriften in der frühen Neuzeit. Der Kurtze Bericht von Johann Bokel (1535-1605) als Beispiel, Ulf Wendler

230 Krankheit, Konzept und Kollektiv. Städtische Pestbewältigung und die Suche nach ihren Wurzeln, Katharina Wolff

242 London’s Dreadful Visitation. The Great Plague of 1665, Hazel Forsyth

256 Warum die Pest aus vormodernen Reichsstädten verschwinden musste. Süddeutsche Beispiele, Annemarie Kinzelbach

266 Fact or Fiction? Ein kritischer Blick auf den »Schnabeldoktor«, Marion Maria Ruisinger

276 Die Grand Saint Antoine. Das verfluchte Schiff, Michel Goury

286 Die Pest von 1720 in Marseille. Wirksamkeit und Schwächen eines Schutzsystems, Annick Riani

294 Albert Camus’ La Peste. Die Pest als Metapher und kollektive Grenzsituation, Lars Banhold

302 Die Toten tanzen in unserer Mitte. Gedanken zur Ausstellungsgestaltung, Stefanie Dowidat

Exponate

310 Bereich 1 – Das Wesen der Pest

334 Bereich 2 – Vorgeschichte und Erste Pandemie

352 Bereich 3 – Zweite Pandemie, Ausbreitung und Erklärungen

376 Bereich 4 – Zweite Pandemie, Angst und Ventile

406 Bereich 5 – Zweite Pandemie, Medizin

442 Bereich 6 – Zweite Pandemie, Religion

468 Bereich 7 – Zweite Pandemie, Katastrophenmanagement

506 Bereich 8 – Zweite Pandemie, Erleben der Pest

534 Bereich 9 – Zweite Pandemie, Auswirkungen

568 Bereich 10 – Dritte Pandemie

620 Bereich 11 – Erinnerung

Anhang

648 Literaturverzeichnis

688 Bildnachweis

688 Essays

690 Exponate

Hrsg. vom LWL-Museum für Archäologie, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Herne; Stefan Leenen, Alexander Berner, Sandra Maus. 2019.

Pest! Eine Spurensuche. Theiss, Darmstadt. ISBN 978-3-8062-3996-6.

696 S. mit etwa 700 farb. Abb., Bibliogr., 24 x 30 cm, geb. mit SU. wbg

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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CfP EAA Barcelona 2018: Re‐thinking medieval and early modern pestilences from a biosocial perspective: advanced methods and renewed concepts in archaeological sciences

EAA Barcelona 2018 – 5‐8 September 2018
Call for Papers and Posters
Deadline: 15 February 2018
Re‐thinking medieval and early modern pestilences from a biosocial perspective: advanced methods and renewed concepts in archaeological sciences

While contagious diseases have affected the human species since its origins, great medieval epidemics (e.g. plague, leprosy, tuberculosis) have sparked particular interest for decades. In recent years, archaeology has played an increasing role in the scientific study of medieval pestilences, notably by providing reliable data on both the paleobiology of epidemic victims and their burial treatment. Despite the various breakthroughs reached by interdisciplinary research, the study of past epidemics still needs to get improved, particularly through an integrated analysis of biological and social dimensions of these diseases, which are closely interrelated. We invite contributions regarding both recent methodological advances in the retrospective diagnosis of infectious diseases and the output of archaeological sciences on social and cultural factors acting in human populations’ adaptability to these diseases.

The session shall address various questions, among which:
– What are the new lines of research and future perspectives in paleopathological and palaeomicrobiological study of these diseases?
– What information paleobiological data derived from skeletal assemblages can provide on the epidemiological characteristics of the diseases?
– What was the endemicity of diseases in various places, how did they evolve over time, and how did various diseases competed each other?
– How funerary archaeology and textual sources contributes to reappraise the history of these diseases (e.g. attitudes towards the victims in terms of their integration and/or exclusion, depending on the time period and cultural framework)?
– Which methodological implementation would be desirable in the future to allow retrospective diagnosis of still poorly-known diseases (e.g. ergotism)?

Keywords: Archaeology, Paleomicrobiology, Paleopathology, Medieval, Epidemics

Session details:
– Session theme: Theories and methods in archaeological sciences
– Session ID: #413
– Session type: Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Session organizers:
– Dr. Dominique Castex, CNRS, UMR 5199 – PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, dominique.castex@u-bordeaux.fr
– Dr. Mark Guillon, Inrap, UMR 5199 – PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France, mark.guillon@inrap.fr
– Maria Spyrou, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany, spyrou@shh.mpg.de
– Marcel Keller, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany, keller@shh.mpg.de
– Dr. Sacha Kacki, Department of Archaeology, Durham University, United Kingdom, sacha.s.kacki@durham.ac.uk

Abstract submission deadline:
15 February 2018

If you are interested to submit a Paper or Poster proposal, please use the conference website at
https://www.e‐a‐a.org/EAA2018/
Further information, including registration details, general and practical information, etc. can be found on the conference website

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network
Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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EAA Vilnius 2016: Session report on “Plague in diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective”

The following session report by Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany), Sacha Kacki (Université de Bordeaux, France), Marcel Keller (MPI-SHH Jena, Germany) and Christina Lee (University of Nottingham, UK) will be published in The European Archaeologist. With kind permission of the EAA.

Edit 17-02-07: filmed talks are now linked under the respective name.

logo

Plague, an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, occurred in at least three major historical pandemics: the Justinianic Plague (6th to 8th century), the Black Death (1348-1352, with further epidemic outbreaks until the 18th century), and the Modern or Hong Kong Plague (19th to 20th century). However, it appears that the disease may be much older: DNA from Bronze Age human skeleton has recently shown that plague first emerged at least as early as 3000 BC. As any disease, plague has both a biological as well as a social dimension. Different disciplines can therefore explicate different aspects of plague which can lead to a better understanding of the disease and its medical and social implications.

The session was held on 2nd September 2016 as part of the 22nd Annual Meeting of the EAA with the aim of bringing together researchers from different disciplines who work on plague. It addressed a series of research questions, such as:

  • Which disciplines can contribute to the research on plague?
  • What are their methodological possibilities and the limitations of their methodologies?
  • How can different disciplines work together in order to gain a more realistic and detailed picture of plague in different periods and regions?
  • How did different societies react to plague? In which way may we prove or disprove evidence for such reactions – and which disciplines may contribute to the debate?
  • What where the common aspects, and what the differences of the various plague outbreaks? Are there any epidemiological characteristics that are essential and/or unique to plague?
  • What are possible implications of the pandemic spread and endemic occurrence of plague through the ages for the interpretation of historical and cultural phenomena?

Continue reading EAA Vilnius 2016: Session report on “Plague in diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective”

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network
Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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Introduction – Marcel Keller

I am a PhD student in the department Archaeogenetics of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. My academic background is Biology (B.Sc./M.Sc.) with specialization in Anthropology and Human Biology. The main project of my PhD is the reconstruction of genomes of Yersinia pestis of both the first (Justinianic Plague) and second pandemic (following the Black Death) in Europe. Additional ancient genomes of Y. pestis are crucial for phylogenetic analyses and allow a more detailed picture of the spatiotemporal distribution of plague.

Marcel Keller

Co-Editor of the Black Death Network
Postdoc in Palaeogenetics at U. of Tartu

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