Plague’s Procrustean Bed: Problems in Interdisciplinary Studies of Pre-Modern Disease
Research objective(s)
Until the 20th century, plague’s (Yersinia pestis) epidemiological history was based on the documentary record, which only captured manifestations visible to humans. Bioarchaeology and paleogenomics can now document plague’s material history, while phylogenetics constructs a theoretical account of plague’s long-term evolution across Eurasia. These new scientific fields have, however, built their narratives of the 2nd and largest plague pandemic—the episode commonly called the Black Death—on the earlier documentary record without acknowledging its inherent limitations. The so-called Quick Transit Theory (QTT) still holds that the entire intercontinental pandemic unfolded within a 10-15 year period before 1346.
Materials and Methods
This study uses intellectual history methods of history of science and medicine to survey European and Islamic plague historiography (13th to 21st centuries) and pinpoint the moments when chronological markers of the 2nd Plague Pandemic became established. It then examines the intellectual histories of bioarchaeology and paleogenomics to document when and how these markers were adopted into scientific fields.
Results. Three junctures are identified when the pandemic’s narrative was defined in decisive ways. Conclusions. Episodes of mass mortality that may predate the 1340s have either not been investigated or been forced into the narrow QTT chronology. Significance Since dating medieval burial sites by archaeological or radiocarbon methods is inherently imprecise, medical-historical methods must be used to assess late 13th and early 14th-century plague events.
Limitations. Challenges remain in coordinating dating methods across different disciplines. Future research. Future work should engage with the parallel historical and phylogenetic analyses already pushing plague’s Asian history back into the 13th century.
Ethics Statem…
This is the talk I'll be giving at the Paleopathology Association meeting next month. Note the Ethics Statement! #histmed #historiography #bioarchaeology #MedievalSky 🧪🗃️