Bioarchaeological studies have provided important information about mortality patterns during the second pandemic of plague, including the Black Death, but most to date have focused on European contexts. This study represents a spatial contribution to plague bioarchaeology, focusing on Central Asia, the origin of the second pandemic. We examine the relationship between stature and plague mortality during an outbreak of plague at Kara-Djigach in northern Kyrgyzstan in 1338–1339, the earliest archaeological site known to contain victims of the Black Death in Eurasia.

This article looks at the demographic contours and impact of the pestis secunda—the second wave of the Second Plague Pandemic—which ravaged England and Wales in 1361–62. The study is based on a rich corpus of statistical data deriving from manorial records—primarily court rolls, but also inquisitions postmortem and episcopal registers—on a national level. A close analysis of the data reveals that the wave in question tended to discriminate across regions, socioeconomic statuses, and genders. The study's findings are then considered within a wider context of ongoing historiographical debates related to the total size of the English population before and after the Black Death. It argues that the population size of England on the eve of the Black Death was higher than often argued, and that the impact of the pestis secundawas harsher than often assumed. The evidence suggests that it was the pestis secunda, rather than the Black Death, that had severe, long‐term demographic and socioeconomic repercussions for England and Wales.

Early modern England was a world of wood. Everyone from laity to elite had a vested interest in woodland resources because it was a necessity for all aspects of life from warmth, fuel, shelter, transportation, and industry. Starting in the late fifteenth century and lasting through the early modern period, anxieties about timber scarcity spread as the Royal Navy complained of shortages. Since the Royal Navy was responsible for the protection of the Kingdom and was an integral part of England’s colonial exploits abroad, the possibility that the maintenance of the fleet was at risk was cause for grave concern.

Through the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Royal Navy accused merchant ship builders, agriculturalists, woodland industrialists, and private woodland owners of fomenting shortages through careless destruction of woodlands for profit, leading to a “timber famine”. Although most naval timber that furnished the Royal Navy came from private estates, historians have focussed on management in the Royal Forests. This thesis investigates how private woodland owners in the Weald, who owned most of the wood and timber reserves in southeast England managed their most essential resource. Private landowners’ interests directly conflicted with the interests of the Royal Navy, yet ultimately it was not the landowners who were responsible for perceived timber shortages. However, an inability to reconcile these competing interests contribute to historic myths about the state of England’s woodlands in the early modern period.

Through an in-depth HGIS (Historical Geographic Information System) study, this thesis argues that private landowners in the Weald were motivated by profit to sustainably maintain their woodlands. They chose to manage their woodlands with a preference for local underwood economies rather than timber because they were the most lucrative and thriving markets, much to the behest of the Royal Navy. I argue that the Royal Navy’s inability to procure timber during this period was due to lack of funds, disorganization within the Navy Board, and poor Royal Forest management which ultimately left them unable to keep up with the competitive timber market and provided more motivation for landowners to give preference to local underwood economies. Additionally, this thesis argues that timber scarcity in the Weald did not result in woodland destruction. In fact, the case study on Glassenbury demonstrates that Wealden landowners’ sustainable management was largely responsible for the maintenance of Wealden woods to this day.

Excavations at Street House between 2016-2022 unearthed evidence for Neolithic salt making and settlement at Street House, near Loftus, occurring 6,000 years ago. In 2023, we aimed to understand more about the Neolithic activity at Street House, to find out if salt manufacture was occurring elsewhere in the area and to gauge how the process worked.

In recent years (2016–22), I have been undertaking excavations on a Neolithic saltern at Street House (Sherlock 2021). Indeed, some readers will recall some earlier excavations at Street House that revealed the evidence for Iron Age salt making at the site (Sherlock & Vyner 2013). It was with that information about a potential pattern of salt manufacture at the site that led to a critical evaluation of the geophysics to assess the potential for other salterns. Further work by James Lawton (AoC Archaeology) suggested there were other locations indicative of kilns or salterns. 

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Santé publique et gestion des effluents urbains à Montpellier à la fin du Moyen Âge ». Bulletin historique de la ville de Montpellier, n^o42, 2020, p. 82-99

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Responsabilité et reddition des comptes à Montpellier au XVe siècle ». Actes du colloque : L'histoire des villes à travers leur comptabilité (Montpellier, 14-15 juin, 2017), ComptabilitéS, [En ligne], 12, 2019

L’article examinera d’abord la notion d’« imputabilité » avec pour objectif de comprendre les horizons d’attentes de l’universitas montpelliéraine en ce qui a trait aux dépenses publiques. On verra ensuite comment le contexte de production, la mécanique des comptes et les processus comptables sont inhérents à la notion de responsabilité financière. On conclura en montrant que la gestion des finances publiques est une importante manifestation de l’autonomie urbaine.

DUMAS, Geneviève, DUBÉ, Catherine. « Muddy Waters in Medieval Montpellier ». Dans Carole Rawcliffe et Claire Weeda, dir., Policing the Environment in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, Amsterdam, Presses universitaires d’Amsterdam, 2019, p. 179-206.

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Montpellier face aux mortalités : discours, prise en charge et matérialité des victimes ». Dans Thomas Labbé et Gerrit Jasper Schenk, dir., Actes du colloque "Pour une histoire de la sensibilité. Perception et prise en charge des victimes de catastrophes", (Lorsch, 11-13 décembre 2014), Turnhout, Brepols, 2018, p. 103-123.

Cet ouvrage se propose de réfléchir à la construction historique de la condition de victime, en relation avec les événements traumatiques dans l'Europe médiévale et moderne. Dans le contexte contemporain, le discours et la gestion des situations de catastrophe ou de mort de masse s'organisent en priorité autour de la place des victimes dans la fabrique événementielle. Cette attitude de la société contemporaine face à la dévastation, qualifiée tantôt de « compassionnelle », tantôt « d'humanitaire », ou bien encore de « tragique », reflète une forme de sensibilité qui définit en premier lieu la réalité catastrophique comme un drame.

Une telle approche de la souffrance possède-t-elle cependant une histoire ou constitue-t-elle une constante anthropologique de la société occidentale ? Quel regard les sociétés médiévales et modernes ont-elles posé sur cet aspect autant éthique que social du réel ? Les essais réunis dans ce volume proposent d'offrir quelques pistes de réflexion. À la lecture ambiguë de la victime au Moyen Âge, entre souffrance et responsabilité, la Renaissance semble commencer à proposer une vision plus « tragique » des individus souffrants. Les victimes peuvent dès lors entrer progressivement dans une politique des émotions qui triomphe au XVIIIe siècle.

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Bien public et pratiques de la santé à Montpellier au XVe siècle ». Dans Lucie Galano et Lucie Laumonier, dir., Montpellier au Moyen Âge, Bilan et approches nouvelles, Turnhout, Brepols, 2017, p. 77-89.

Fondée à la fin du Xe siècle, Montpellier connut une expansion fulgurante à partir du XIIe, à la faveur du développement d’échanges culturels et économiques, vers la Méditerranée ou le nord de l’Europe. Cette expansion était le fruit de politiques menées par les Guilhem et confirmée lors du passage de la seigneurie sous l’autorité des rois d’Aragon et de Majorque après 1204, quand la ville obtint un gouvernement consulaire. Devenue une communauté urbaine d’importance au XIIIe siècle, Montpellier était habitée par une population cosmopolite. Dans et hors les murs se croisaient grands marchands, changeurs et simples revendeurs, universitaires et intellectuels de renom, artisans et agriculteurs. L’attractivité et le rayonnement de Montpellier en faisaient l’une des principales villes du Bas-Languedoc. Pourtant, son histoire médiévale n’a bénéficié que d’une attention inégale de la part des chercheurs. Cet ouvrage, procède d’un colloque international  réuni à Montpellier en 2013 et rassemble des articles réalisés par les principaux contributeurs et principales contributrices à l’histoire et à l’archéologie de la ville. Basés sur des archives originales ou sur la réinterprétation de données connues, les recherches proposées ici, tout en présentant un bilan des travaux passés, empruntent des voies nouvelles démontrant les promesses des études historiques et archéologiques sur Montpellier.

DUMAS, Geneviève. « L’enseignement au Moyen Âge ». Dans Christian Amalvi et Rémy Pech, dir, Histoire de Montpellier, Toulouse, Privat, 2015, p. 109-129.

Ces vers des Fleurs du mal de Baudelaire en 1857 s'appliquent pleinement à Montpellier, qui, dans les dernières décennies, a profondément changé. Il était nécessaire de rendre compte non seulement de la métamorphose de la capitale du Languedoc administrée par Georges Frêche, mais aussi des apports considérables à la connaissance du Montpellier médiéval, moderne et contemporain résultant des fouilles des chantiers du tram et des derniers travaux savants.

DUMAS, Geneviève. Santé et société à Montpellier XIIIe-XVe siècles, Leyde, Brill, 2015.

This book examines the social, institutional and cultural setting of medical practices in the medieval town of Montpellier which boasted one of the first universities of the middle ages and a famous school of medicine. Some of its most celebrated masters and their medical works have been thoroughly studied but few of them try to put these in context with a thriving urban community of merchants and craftsmen that were at the core of the city council. Their concurrent efforts will endow Montpellier of a rich health care system featuring not only the university masters but also the city’s barber-surgeons and apothecaries. Their collective fate is revealed here in an integrated picture of health and society in the middle ages.

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Le livre de mémoires des notaires Bertrand Paul (1397-1400) et Jean du Pin (1401-1419) : gestion documentaire et mémoire urbaine ». Dans Patrick Gilli et Enrica Salvatore, dir., Les identités urbaines au Moyen Âge, (Studies in European Urban History, n^o32), Turnhout, Brepols, 2014, p. 81-92.

DUMAS, Geneviève. « Un registre de comptes à Montpellier au XVe siècle : nouveau regard sur l’organisation communale médiévale ». Bulletin historique de la ville de Montpellier, n^o35, 2013, p. 48-61.

DUBÉ, Catherine. « L’apport des sources comptables à l’étude du réseau viaire de Montpellier à la fin du Moyen Âge ». ComptabilitéS [En ligne], n^o12, 2019. 

Abstract 

À la fin du Moyen Âge, l’administration urbaine de Montpellier développe des préoccupations de plus en plus importantes pour la voirie, qui se concrétisent par une série d’interventions sur le réseau de communication urbain. Celles-ci se déclinent en travaux de nettoyage et d’entretien sanitaire des voies supervisés par des officiers de la ville, en entreprises de pavage réalisées par des ouvriers spécialisés, les « caladiers » mais aussi par des gestes d’embellissement, contribuant à améliorer l’expérience esthétique de la ville et contribuer à son prestige. Ces diverses interventions sont documentées dans la comptabilité urbaine, qui se révèle être une source de premier plan pour l’étude de la gestion du réseau viaire

Slavin, P. (2022, June 20). Black death: how we solved the centuries-old mystery of its origins. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/black-death-how-we-solved-the-centuries-old-mystery-of-its-origins-185423

Newfield, T., Duggan, A.T., Poinar, H. (2020). RE: Diverse variola virus (smallpox) strains were widespread in northern Europe in the Viking Age. Science 369, eLetter: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6502/eaaw8977/tab-e-letters

Newfield, T., & Oppenheimer, C. (2021). Comment on "Effects in North Africa of the 934-940 CE Eldgjá and 1783-1784 CE Laki eruptions (Iceland) revealed by previously unrecognized written sources" by Brugnatelli, V., and Tibaldi, A. [Bull. Volcanol. (2020) 82:73] Bulletin of Volcanology 83, 55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-021-01478-9

Izdebski, A., Guzowski, P., Poniat, R., Masci, L., Palli, J., Vignola, C., Bauch, M., Cocozza, C., Fernandes, R., Ljungqvist, F.C., Newfield, T., Seim, A., Abel-Schaad, D., Alba-Sánchez, F., Björkman, L., Brauer, A., Brown, A., Czerwiński, S., Ejarque, A., . . . Masi, A. (2022). Palaeoecological Data Indicates Land-Use Changes Across Europe Linked to Spatial Heterogeneity in Mortality During the Black Death Pandemic. Nature Ecology & Evolution 6, 297-306.

Abstract

"The Black Death (1347–1352 ce ) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen data on landscape change from 261 radiocarbon-dated coring sites (lakes and wetlands) located across 19 modern-day European countries. We used two independent methods of analysis to evaluate whether the changes we see in the landscape at the time of the Black Death agree with the hypothesis that a large portion of the population, upwards of half, died within a few years in the 21 historical regions we studied. While we can confirm that the Black Death had a devastating impact in some regions, we found that it had negligible or no impact in others. These inter-regional differences in the Black Death’s mortality across Europe demonstrate the significance of cultural, ecological, economic, societal and climatic factors that mediated the dissemination and impact of the disease. The complex interplay of these factors, along with the historical ecology of plague, should be a focus of future research on historical pandemics."

Mordechai, L., Eisenberg, M., Newfield, T.P., Izdebski, A., Kay, J.E., & Poinar, H. (2019). The Justinianic Plague: An Inconsequential Pandemic? PNAS 116, 25546-25554. https://doi.org/10.1525/jmw.2020.2.3-4.115

Abstract

"Existing mortality estimates assert that the Justinianic Plague (circa 541 to 750 CE) caused tens of millions of deaths throughout the Mediterranean world and Europe, helping to end antiquity and start the Middle Ages. In this article, we argue that this paradigm does not fit the evidence. We examine a series of independent quantitative and qualitative datasets that are directly or indirectly linked to demographic and economic trends during this two-century period: Written sources, legislation, coinage, papyri, inscriptions, pollen, ancient DNA, and mortuary archaeology. Individually or together, they fail to support the maximalist paradigm: None has a clear independent link to plague outbreaks and none supports maximalist reconstructions of late antique plague. Instead of large-scale, disruptive mortality, when contextualized and examined together, the datasets suggest continuity across the plague period. Although demographic, economic, and political changes continued between the 6th and 8th centuries, the evidence does not support the now commonplace claim that the Justinianic Plague was a primary causal factor of them."