Climate, Famine, and Plague: A Pilot Study of the 14th-century Mass Graves of Erfurt from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

该提案旨在对埃尔福特的两个14世纪的万人坑进行定位和粗略的年代测定，这些万人坑可能包含数百名死于1315-21年大饥荒和1347-1352年黑死病的死者。该提议将被理解为一个试点项目，旨在澄清这两个万人坑的地质考古条件和历史知识。因此，主要申请者来自中世纪历史和自然地理学科，而古遗传学，考古学，人类学和树木年代学将有侧翼功能，直到主要提案。其目的是为后续项目奠定基础，然后在上述所有学科平等参与的情况下，解决环境变化、饥荒和传染病爆发如何相互关联的问题。埃尔福特案例的独特之处在于，气候、饥荒和瘟疫之间的联系可以在地理上接近的地方进行研究，而且那些万人坑今天仍然可以进入。在拟议的项目过程中，将实现以下目标：(1)系统地概述在研究期间关于埃尔福特的编辑和档案材料，以及挖掘地点到目前为止的进一步历史。(2)澄清哪些水文气候替代数据，以及哪些书面文件可用于重建埃尔福特及其周边地区14世纪的气候条件，以及整个德国中部地区。(3)探索这两个高死亡率事件的文化和历史背景，超越对纪念游行的研究。第一步是检查埃尔福特周围的地名，寻找与饥荒、大规模死亡和瘟疫有关的地名。(4)利用非侵入性地球物理勘探方法，以及直接推力传感和振动测量等微创方法，对Schmidtstedt和Neuseß万人坑进行精确定位和验证。(5)通过微创方法采集的岩心、微木炭碎片和有机遗骸（骨碎片）将在调查地点使用C14方法进行检查，以验证其时间顺序为14世纪。(6)最后，项目结果将作为一篇联合文章发表，以14世纪大饥荒和黑死病之间危机中的埃尔福特为例，展示探索方法和试点研究在环境变化与人类社会之间相互关系的跨学科工作中的进一步潜力。因此，这项初步研究一方面是高度当代相关性的跨学科合作的前奏，但在中世纪历史和历史上工作的自然科学中也非常重要。

The proposal aims at the localization and rough dating of two mass graves of the 14th century in Erfurt, which presumably contain many hundreds of dead of the Great Famine 1315-21 and the Black Death 1347-1352. The proposal is to be understood as a pilot project that aims to clarify the geoarchaeological conditions and the historical lore of both mass graves. Therefore, the main applicants come from the disciplins of medieval history and physical geography, while paleogenetics, archaeology, anthropology and dendrochronology will have flanking functions until the main proposal. The aim is to create the basis for a follow-up project, which will then address the question of how environmental changes, famine, and the outbreak of infectious diseases are related to each other, with equal involvement of all the disciplines mentioned above. What is unique about the Erfurt case is that the connection between climate, famine and plague can be studied here in geographical proximity and that the mass graves are still accessible today. The following goals are to be achieved in the course of the proposed project:(1) A systematic overview of the edited and archival material on Erfurt during the period under study, but also on the excavation sites in their further history up to the present.(2) To clarify which hydroclimatic proxy data, but also which written documents are available to reconstruct the climatic conditions in and around Erfurt in the 14th century, but also across the Central German region.(3) Exploration of the cultural and historical background of both events with high mortality, beyond the research on the memorial processions. A first step is to examine toponyms around Erfurt and too look for references to famine, mass mortality and plague.(4) The precise localization and verification of the mass graves of Schmidtstedt and Neuseß by non-invasive methods of geophysical prospection, but also by minimally invasive methods like direct push-sensing and vibracoring.(5) From the drill cores taken by the minimally invasive methods, micro charcoal pieces and organic remains (bone fragments) will be examined at the investigation sites using the C14 method to verify their chronological assignment to the 14th century.(6) Finally, the project results will be published as a joint article that demonstrates exploration methods and the further potential of the pilot study for interdisciplinary work on the interrelation between environmental changes and human societies using the example of Erfurt in the crisis of the 14th century between Great Famine and Black Death.The pilot study is thus the prelude to an interdisciplinary cooperation of high contemporary relevance on the one hand, but also of great importance within medieval history and the historically working natural sciences.