VERIFICATION OF DEATH DURING THE GREAT-PLAGUE-OF-MARSEILLES - ANTHROPOLOGICAL DATA FROM THE EXCAVATION OF THE MASS GRAVE OF LOBSERVANCE

Recent excavation of a mass grave dating from the Great Plague of Mars eilles (1720-1722) revealed new data on the behaviour of the inhabitan ts of Marseilles facing this fatal epidemic. The aim of this paper is to present the first osteoarchaeological evidence, observed on two nei ghbouring interments, of a verification of death by the implantation o f bronze pins into the toes. This technique is described in the medica l treatises dating from this period, listing different death verificat ion methods. The fear of ''false death'' and burial of people still al ive was prevalent at the end of the XVIIth and in the XVIIIth century. The same medical treatises present the main cause of apparent death a s the plague.