Scotland’s Last Plague Shows There Was A Lot Of Compassion For The Dead, Even Though It Put The Living At Risk
The Black Death, which was caused by the bacterial agent Yersinia pestis, struck Europe in the mid-14th century. Scotland’s final brush with the bubonic plague occurred from 1644 to 1649.
Researchers from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland have confirmed for the first time that the bacteria responsible for the bubonic plague was present as far as north as Aberdeen during the late 1640s. It was a time when the Scottish population was ravaged by both civil war and disease.
They also discovered surprising acts of care for the dead, even in the face of chaos. The team mapped the plague’s spread in Scotland over the six-year-long epidemic and examined remains excavated from a site in 1987 in York Place, Aberdeen.
The site contained a series of plague pits that were created during the 1647 to 1648 outbreak. The team identified ancient DNA of Yersinia pestis in human remains from one of the plague pits.
“This final Scottish outbreak was thought to have started as a result of infected Scottish soldiers returning from the siege of Newcastle in October 1644,” said Marc Oxenham, the lead author of the study and a professor at the university.
“Initially, in the borders, it spread north over the following years through Central Scotland, Perthshire, and Angus.”
According to an entry in the Council Register of the Burgh, Aberdeen was preparing for the plague’s return by April 1647. The last outbreak in the city happened almost 100 years prior, in 1545.
By this time, Scottish cities and towns were highly experienced in combating the plague. Still, the effects were devastating.
In many regions, populations were facing economic hardship and war, along with the complications of a terrible disease.
Nataliya Hora – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
For example, in Brechin, about 600 people, which was half the town’s population, died within a few months of 1647.
The researchers wanted to look into how people responded to the plague and whether there was a general fear of victims of the plague during this last epidemic.
They analyzed the bones and teeth of skeletons recovered from plague pits, confirming that the individuals died between 1647 and 1648. The Yersinia pestis organism was present as well.
Then, they investigated the burial practices related to the pits to determine how the plague victims were treated. What they found was surprisingly positive.
“The plague is generally associated with the digging of plague pits to dispose of the dead, but what the team found was numerous instances of normal burial and memorialization of plague victims within church grounds,” said Dr. Rebecca Crozier, the director of the osteoarchaeology program at the university.
“Clearly, some of these individuals must have been known to be victims of the plague by their mourners whom, it would appear, may have been less afraid of contracting the plague from their dead as we might assume.”
The researchers believe that the findings show signs of care and compassion for the dead, even though having humanity put them at great risk of contracting the disease themselves.
The study was published in the journal PLOS One.
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