All equal in the face of death? Life histories of confirmed victims of the last plague epidemic in Basel (Switzerland)

Dados Bibliográficos

ID15935785
AutoresLaura Rindlisbacher (0000-0002-7304-3824, University of Basel, autor correspondente), Elias Flatscher (University of Zurich), Claudia Gerling (0000-0003-4619-7032, University of Basel), Ben Krause‐kyora (0000-0001-9435-2872, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel), Sandra Pichler (0000-0002-5557-1674, University of Basel)
Ano2026
Volume100
Fascículo410
Páginas500-516
Data de publicação2026-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
EditoraAntiquity Publications (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.15184/aqy.2026.10297
OpenAlexW7154020519
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas32

The Covid-19 pandemic widened public awareness of the close links between socioeconomic status and resilience in the face of infection, yet this interplay was already well established in archaeological discourse. Here, the authors combine osteoarchaeological, stable isotope and pathogenomic analyses with archival research to explore the formation of multiple, or ‘plural’, burials at an early hospital in Basel, Switzerland. Identification of a stamped clay pipe, Yersinia pestis DNA and a high proportion of subadults link the burials to an outbreak of plague in 1665–1670, while physiological stress, dietary and pathological insights contribute to our understanding of prior experiences affecting differential mortality

Dingo · Face (sociological concept · Outbreak · Pandemic · Plague (disease · Psychological resilience · Socioeconomic status · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research