Recent studies of aDNA have yielded new and important information concerning the natural and clinical history of plague. A new comprehensive review offers an up-to-date history The plague is caused by a zoonotic bacterium, Yersinia pestis. First isolated in 1894, it was identified as the cause of the Hong Kong Epidemic. Later, in the 20th century, the same bacterium was shown to have caused the Black Death. Recently – due to studies of the aDNA – the same bacterium has been shown to have caused the Justinian plague as well as very recently epidemic events in prehistory 2800 BC. Also – which th ..read more

After Covid, the natural history of the second great plague epidemic – The Black Death –  has inspired scientists to work in interdisciplinary teams and develop new methods Between the 14th to the 18th centuries, consecutive outbreaks of plague continued to harass the people of Europe. The question is whether the outbreaks were caused by the mutating bacterium or the continued existence of reservoirs among wild rodents? New genetic studies combined with archaeology provide some answers One challenge, when studying the natural history of the continued outbreaks of plague in Europe between ..read more

Millstatt was founded c 800 by the Duke of Carinthia, who built the first church after he allegedly destroyed one thousand pagan statues by throwing them into the lake. A later Abbey housed a significant collection of texts in high medieval German literature Millstatt Abbey © Millstatt Tourism In 1070, the Bavarian Count Palatine Aribo II together with his brother Poto founded a monastery at Lake Millstatt in Carinthia. Likely, the brethren came from Hirsau Abbey, an early adopter of the Cluniac reforms (c. 950-1130). The comital family richly endowed the new abbey with land around Salzburg an ..read more

This year, the Abbey at Reichenau celebrates its foundation in AD 724, the first monastery in present-day Germany. The anniversary is celebrated with a major exhibition in Konstanz. The Island of Reichenau © Achim Mende In 734, St. Pirmin founded the first monastery in present-day Germany Located on the isle Reichenau in Lake Constance (Bodensee) outside the city of Konstanz, the Abbey soon flourished as an influential religious and cultural centre, educating clerks for the ducal and imperial chanceries. In the 9th century, a significant library was built. Also, the abbey housed a famous ..read more

People are increasingly obsessed with their “identity” and the process of “othering”. The question, though, is: who is in charge of the labelling? People themselves? Or their surroundings? Archaeology in Galicia has a story to tell People from Northwest Iberia. Thos labelled as Celtic underlined and coloured red © Samuel Nion Alvaréz. Source: Texts, Politics and Identities: New Challenges on Iron Age Ethnicity. A Case from Northwest Iberia. Samuel Nión-Álvarez In: The Archaeological Journal 11.03.2024. Open Source The concept of ethnogenesis has a long tradition in literature, history and ..read more

New methods reveal the ongoing genetic mixing and mingling of the Southern Scandinavians in the first millennium …And there are beyond these the Ostrogoths, the people from Ringerike – the Rani – and the most gentle Finns, milder than all the inhabitants of Scandinavia. Like them are the people from Vingulmark. The Swedes are of the same stock and excel the rest in height. However, the Danes, who trace their origin to the same stock, drove from their homes the Heruli, who lay claim to preeminence among all the nations of Scandinavia for their tallness. Jordanes: The Origin and the Deeds of th ..read more

How did knowledge, ideas and building materials spread inside Medieval Europe in a world with both traditional geographies and shifting fashions? Building Networks: Exchange of Knowledge, Ideas and Materials in Medieval and Post-Medieval Europe Series: themes in Contemporary Archaeology Ed by Jeroen Bouwmeester, Laura Patrick and Duncan L. Berryman Springer Verlag 2024 How did people learn to build in the Middle Ages? And where did they get the inspiration to import new technologies such as brick building? Or new materials such as window glass? Or even lean to construct vaulted church roo ..read more

War belongs to a handful of crises such as environmental disasters, extreme climatic events, epidemies, and hunger. New book tells the story of the interplay … the obstacles that made me fail did not come from men; they all came from the elements. In the south, the sea has been my undoing; in the north, the burning of Moscow and the cold of winter. Thus water, air, and fire, all of Nature, nothing but Nature-these have been the enemies of a universal regeneration which Nature herself demanded! Napoleon Bonaparte, in exile on St. Helena, 1816 (Quoted by Charles Travis) Environment as a Weapon ..read more

What horse would you prefer if you were a Medieval knight? A Jaguar, Volvo or Mercedes? If your car was a horse, which one would you prefer to ride if you belonged to the Medieval elite? And why? This question is answered by a new archaeological analysis of an animal cemetery in London discovered thirty years ago. Not a locally produced, it appears. Newly published results from an archaeological analysis show how late medieval and Tudor elites imported superior animals to the UK for jousting and as status symbols. Using advanced archaeological science techniques, including studying chemical co ..read more

How does Putin get his people to accept a megalomanic dream and a senseless war? By referring to a glorious medieval past, it appears In 2016, a statue of Vladimir the Great was raised just outside the walls of the Kremlin. Originally, the 24 metres high statue was expected to be raised at the Sparrow Hill, from where it would be visible in all of wider Moscow. This led to wide protests as well as a threat from UNESCO to move the Kremlin from its prestigious list of World Heritage. One particular feature, however, was conveniently forgotten, namely that Vladimir was in fact not a Russian saint ..read more