New research from Jordan presents the first burial site confirmed both archaeologically and genetically as being linked to the bubonic plague in the Byzantine period, shedding new light on its impact on early urban society.
The Plague of Justinian, considered the first known outbreak of bubonic plague in the Mediterranean basin, continues to reveal its secrets some 1,500 years after it struck the Byzantine Empire. A new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, focuses on the ancient city of Jerash in Jordan, and paints a clearer picture of the human toll paid by the region’s residents. Rather than simply identifying the bacteria that caused the disease, the researchers sought to understand who the victims were, how they lived, and what a plague looked like in a real city at a time of crisis.
Mass grave at the Hippodrome
The study was led by Professor Rays HY Jiang of the University of South Florida, in collaboration with researchers from the fields of public health, genomics, anthropology, history and molecular medicine. According to the report, this is the third study in a series examining the Justinian plague, but this time the emphasis has shifted from the pathogen itself to the people who were affected by it. The researchers found that in an abandoned public area of the city, many bodies were buried quickly, above layers of pottery shards, in a way that indicates a single concentrated burial event rather than a cemetery that gradually developed over time.
This is perhaps the most important finding in the study: Jerash is the first site where a plague burial has been confirmed both through archaeological findings and genetic analysis. While historical sources from the period describe widespread disease, in many cases it has not been possible to prove with certainty that mass graves are indeed linked to the plague. In Jerash, however, the researchers determined that hundreds of people were buried within a few days. This provides direct confirmation of the scale of mortality, and also tangible evidence of what the collapse of urban routine looked like during a plague.
Movement patterns in the population
The study also contributes to understanding the patterns of movement in the ancient population. For years, there has been a certain contradiction between historical and genetic sources, which pointed to population movement and mixing between regions, and regular burial sites, which sometimes showed a much more local picture. The findings from Jerash offer a solution: in normal times, mobile populations gradually assimilate into the local population and therefore it is difficult to identify their movement. But in moments of crisis, when many die in a short period of time and are buried together, the traces of this mobility can be seen more clearly. According to the researchers, those buried in Jerash were part of a mobile group within the broader urban population of ancient Jordan.
Epidemics – not only a biological event but also a social one
Beyond its archaeological significance, the study also has a contemporary message. The researchers emphasize that epidemics are not just biological events but also social events. They are influenced by population density, human movement, environmental conditions, and social vulnerability structures. In this sense, the Plague of Justinian is not just a distant episode from the past, but also a historical mirror for understanding how diseases spread and shape human societies. Jerash therefore provides not only evidence of an ancient plague, but also a fuller human story of a city caught in an extreme crisis and the way an entire society tried to cope with it.
for the scientific article DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2026.106473
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