London skeletons disgorge secrets of the Black Death

[ferri]

i really love stuff like this. maybe i should just make an Archeology thread. lol

LONDON – You can learn a lot from a tooth.

Molars taken from skeletons unearthed by work on a new London railway line are revealing secrets of the medieval Black Death — and of its victims.

Last week, Don Walker, an osteologist with the Museum of London, outlined the biography of one man whose ancient bones were found by construction workers under London’s Charterhouse Square. He was breast-fed as a baby, moved to London from another part of England, had bad tooth decay in childhood, grew up to work as a laborer, and died in early adulthood from the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century.

more here:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/0 ... ack-death/

[Jo]

You find the coolest sites!

[LoneWolf_53]

I put forth a motion that we rename her "Bones."

[Bsuds]

Busy Bones.

[Lady tehMa]

You find the coolest sites!

The intellectually interesting with a healthy dose of morbid, I would say . . .

[ferri]

Stephen King and i are like this (draws a picture of crossed fingers...)

it's just amazing to me all the stuff they can learn from one old bone or tooth. lol

[Frisk]

I think an archeology subforum is a cool idea.

[xjeepguy]

It's pretty cool how they can extract DNA from the teeth ( 14th century ) of those black death victims and tell us what their lives were like at the time , what diets they had etc...

Go science !

[mexi cali]

I love that stuff.