Researchers Say They've Found One of Erfurt's Lost Black Death Burial Pits

01.13.2026 // 1 MIN READ // Dead Curious

Key points

Medieval chronicles record that roughly 12,000 plague victims were buried in 11 large pits outside Erfurt, Germany during the 1350 Black Death outbreak -- but their locations were never confirmed.
A Leipzig-led research team used electrical resistivity mapping and sediment coring near the deserted village of Neuses to locate a buried structure roughly 10 by 15 by 3.5 meters, matching the historical descriptions.
Radiocarbon dating of human remains recovered from boreholes at the site places them clearly in the 14th century, though full excavation is still needed to confirm the find.

An interdisciplinary team from Leipzig University says it has pinpointed the likely location of one of the 11 mass graves that 14th-century chronicles say were dug outside Erfurt to bury roughly 12,000 Black Death victims.

Why it matters

It would be the first systematically located and scientifically verified Black Death mass grave in Europe, giving historians a physical site to match against centuries-old written accounts of the plague's death toll.

What to watch

The team, publishing in PLOS One, says a full archaeological excavation is planned to confirm the site definitively and recover more remains for study.

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Sources

Phys.org Archaeology Magazine