Mass graves of plague and decapitation victims from late medieval and early modern cemetery in Gdańsk, Poland.

Abstract

In the mid-fourteenth century a cemetery for the burial of the destitute, pilgrims and non-citizens of Gdańsk, Poland, was founded beyond the city walls. During epidemics, the local urban population was buried there in mass graves. Excavations in Gdańsk led to the discovery of four mass graves, the largest of which contained the remains of 759 people who were probably killed by the same plague. In addition to being used as a plague cemetery, this site also served as a burial ground for criminals. Following a single mass execution, 41 decapitated bodies were interred in a mass grave dated to the fifteenth century. The skulls of these individuals were not found during excavation. Skeletal analysis suggests that the executions may have been performed using a mechanical device: a guillotine.