Plague pits containing the remains of at least 1,000 victims have been unearthed in southern Germany. The pits could together form the largest mass grave ever discovered in Europe, archaeologists say.
Nuremberg suffered a series of plague outbreaks between 1533 and 1634 that together claimed the lives of roughly 30,000 people, according to the statement. As the bodies piled high, authorities ordered them to be buried in mass graves outside the city's churchyards. People buried according to medieval Christian tradition were laid to rest with their head facing west and feet toward the east"to see Christ coming out of the east at the Doom," Live Science previously reported. The new excavations, on the other hand, revealed skeletons arranged in a seated position, facing in different directions and stacked one on top of another to fill every bit of available space.