Overview
- A USF-led study in the Journal of Archaeological Science dates the Jerash assemblage to the Plague of Justinian and confirms it as a plague mass burial through archaeological context and genetics.
- Researchers report a single mortuary episode in an abandoned civic space with hundreds of bodies interred within days, distinct from cemeteries that accumulate over time.
- Ancient DNA recovered from teeth identified Yersinia pestis in multiple individuals, including at least five confirmed cases, directly linking the deaths to bubonic plague.
- Bioarchaeological evidence indicates many of the dead were part of a mobile population embedded in the urban community, with the crisis concentrating otherwise dispersed groups.
- The interdisciplinary team shifts emphasis from pathogen detection to human and civic consequences, offering insights with relevance to how modern societies experience pandemics.