Archeology – Freiburg im Breisgau – excavations at the leprosy cemetery in Freiburg before graduation – knowledge

Freiburg (dpa) – After hundreds of medieval skeletons have been found in a former leprosy cemetery in Freiburg, the archaeologists’ excavation work there is about to be completed. From the evaluation of the finds, the experts hope to gain insights into the health and social history of the late Middle Ages, as announced by the State Office for Monument Preservation in the Stuttgart Regional Council. Since April 2020, more than 400 human burials have been found, mapped and recovered in the course of construction work.

According to the information, this included not only lepers from the period from 1256 to 1632. In addition to evidence of leprosy (60 percent), the experts also found signs of syphilis, tuberculosis, meningitis, rickets and malnutrition on the bones. They also discovered the remains of French soldiers who were believed to have died during the siege of Freiburg in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211124-99-119056 / 2

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