All equal in the face of death? Life histories of confirmed victims of the last plague epidemic in Basel (Switzerland)

The Covid-19 pandemic widened public awareness of the close links between socioeconomic status and resilience in the face of infection, yet this interplay was already well established in archaeological discourse. Here, the authors combine osteoarchaeological, stable isotope and pathogenomic analyses with archival research to explore the formation of multiple, or ‘plural’, burials at an early hospital in Basel, Switzerland. Identification of a stamped clay pipe, Yersinia pestis DNA and a high proportion of subadults link the burials to an outbreak of plague in 1665–1670, while physiological stress, dietary and pathological insights contribute to our understanding of prior experiences affecting differential mortality.