Bioarchaeology of Past Epidemic- and Famine-Related Mass Burials with Respect to Recent Findings from the Czech Republic

of population data over a short period, and thus offer a vast amount of information for bioarchaeological
research. Herein, we present a selective review of research on past epidemic and famine die-offs and of
new interdisciplinary approaches in this field of study. We summarize the discoveries of epidemic- and
famine-related graves that are temporally and spatially restricted to the medieval/early modern Czech
territory, paying special attention to recently unearthed mass burials in Kutná Hora-Sedlec. These
burial pits are historically and contextually associated with a famine in the early 14th century and with
the Black Death in the mid-14th century. To our knowledge, they represent the largest set of medieval
mass graves not only in the Czech Republic but also on a European scale.