News Archaeology

The Black Death chose its victims selectively

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

The Black Death, a bacterial epidemic that wiped out more than 1 in 3 Europeans from 1347 to 1351, was not an equal-opportunity destroyer. A new report finds that the disease disproportionately took the lives of physically frail people, rather than indiscriminately killing off individuals regardless of their health.

GRIN REAPER. New evidence suggests that Black Death victims, such as the woman represented by this skull, often had physical frailties before the epidemic.