Right, well now that the whole Nazi War Digger thing is sort of under control, I can finally take the time to address this whole plague kerfuffle.
NOPE.
NOPE.
NOPEITY.
NOPE.
NOOOPE.
NOPE.
–
YEP.
YEP.
YEP.
So, let me just sum that up for you: NOPE NOPE NOPEITY NOPE NOOOPE NOPE. YEP YEP YEP. Very interesting research project, but super rage inducing headlines.
Everything you learned about the Black Death in school was not wrong – well, of course some of it was, but it was wrong well before the results of this project came out in a press release. It is much more likely (and not a new theory at all) that the Black Death consisted of both bubonic AND pneumonic plague (and even septaecemic in some cases) and therefore spread by both insect vectors (like rat fleas) and by humans through infected droplets. It is also incredibly important to remember that the Black Death affected many cities and countries over a very long period of time – so what is true for one place and time may not be so for others.
Deathsplanation 
Yay! Geographic distribution!
Thank you!
Once again, we see how the corporate media spread misinformation, and notice how it is the unfiltered internet that corrects the falsity.
And they ignore the fact that plenty of people still get bubonic plague every year.
I was a bit puzzled by the description of a “plague pit”; the photo I saw (the burials at the bottom of the big vertical concrete ring) showed skeletons in grave cuts.
You are not the only one! I had a quick chat with some people via Twitter about this topic. It is not uncommon to picture ‘plague pits’ as heaps of haphazard burials, when in actual fact the earlier mass burials (c. 14th century) are much more ordered – more ‘trenches’ than ‘pits’. Many individuals were also buried in single inhumation or multiple burials (with 2-3 individuals). This is pretty much everything that my thesis is about. 😀
Pingback: Those recent headlines about the Black Death… | Typing Animal·
Hello I nominated you for the Liebster Award
http://sschroth53.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/the-liebster-award/
Pingback: Blogging Archaeology: Future Goals of Blogging | These Bones Of Mine·
I read about the manyfold distribution pattern of the pestis bacteria in a book that was first released 40-ish years ago (“Plagues and People” by William McNeal). how is this news?
Pingback: Avoid Killer Gerbil Headlines Like A Cliche… | Deathsplanation·