The nuns tested positive for the deadly infection, according to the study, which will be published in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. The scientists also performed the test on priests buried near the altar of Saint-Nicolas' Church in La Chaize-le-Vicomte, in central France. The priests also tested positive. Although historical records are less clear about the priests' contact with local plague victims, Bianucci said the men must have been around "the parishioners, as their ministry required, and certainly assisted people who were dying," such as by administering last rights. "It will be most interesting to see it (the plague dipstick test) applied to a wide array of tissues of varying ages in the future," said Arthur Aufderheide, director of the Paleobiology Laboratory at the University of Minnesota's Medical School, Duluth Campus. Bianucci and her colleagues are already in the process of doing just that, by applying the test to burial sites in France, Italy and other European countries. One site housed the world's first plague infirmary in Venice on the island of Santa Maria di Nazareth. Venetian authorities established the first sanitary cordons, quarantines and other protective measures, precautions that may have helped safeguard the infirmary's caregivers from the contagion that appears to have killed so many French nuns and priests. Related Links: |
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