Long ago, a terrible sickness spread across the Byzantine Empire. It is called the Plague of Justinian. Researchers have found a huge burial pit in Jerash, Jordan, that shows how the disease killed many people at once.
The study was led by Rays H. Y. Jiang, an associate professor at the University of South Florida. His team looked at the bones, the DNA, and the objects found with the bodies. They wanted to learn who the victims were, how they lived, and what death looked like in a real city.
A Mass Grave Reveals the Scale of Death
When the plague hit, people from different neighborhoods were buried together. The bodies were quickly placed on top of broken pottery in an empty public space. Hundreds of people were laid in the ground in just a few days.
First Confirmed Plague Mass Grave
Many old stories talk about a big sickness, but few burial sites have proved it was the plague. The Jerash site is the first place where scientists have matched the bones with the DNA of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes bubonic plague.
Mobility and Hidden Connections
The people buried there were not all from the same street. They came from a mobile population that moved around the region. In normal times, their movements would be hard to see in a cemetery, but the crisis forced them into one spot.
Understanding the Human Impact of Pandemics
By linking the biology of the bodies to the city’s layout, the team showed how a disease can change daily life. They say pandemics are not only biological events but also social ones that expose who is most vulnerable.
Research Team
- Swamy R. Adapa – research and development scientist
- Andrea Vianello – visiting research fellow, Anthropology
- Elizabeth Remily‑Wood – proteomics core director, Molecular Medicine
- Gloria C. Ferreira – professor, Molecular Medicine
- Michael Decker – professor, Byzantine History
- Robert H. Tykot – professor, Anthropology