Plague Survivors Lived Longer Lives

The Black Death left Europe's surviving population and its descendants healthier and longer-lived after killing 30 to 50 percent of the population between 1347 and 1351. The disease disproportionately killed elderly and already unhealthy people. In 2014, a bioarchaeologist compared 464 skeletons from pre-plague London with 133 from people who died between 1350 and the mid-16th century. Her analysis found that post-plague Londoners had significantly better survival rates, with far more people reaching middle age and beyond.

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