Medieval hospital built for victims of feared disease gives up long-buried secrets
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hospital → build → secrets
Archaeologists in England have uncovered new remains at one of the country’s oldest and largest medieval leprosy hospitals, hundreds of years after the disease ravaged communities across Britain.
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disease → uncover → Britain
The recent excavation, reported by British news agency Jam Press, centered on South Common in Lincoln, a historic English city roughly 140 miles north of London.
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excavation → report → London
The site was once home to the Hospital of the Holy Innocents, which was founded between the late 11th and early 12th centuries.
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which → found → centuries
During a three-day excavation, archaeologists from the British television program “Time Team” uncovered traces of medieval walls and possible living quarters.
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archaeologists → uncover → walls
The hospital operated for nearly 500 years, housing up to 20 leprosy patients at a time, officials said.
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officials → operate → time
The findings build on an excavation that took place last year, when volunteers unearthed walls, building surfaces and artifacts linked to the former hospital.
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volunteers → build → hospital
This time, researchers identified traces of small, square features that may have served as individual living quarters or enclosed yards for patients.
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that → identify → patients
The structures have never been excavated before, researchers said, according to Jam Press.
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researchers → excavate → Press
The findings offer a rare glimpse into how leprosy patients may have lived during the Middle Ages, including who could afford to receive care.
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who → offer → care
“You’d need to have resources to get in here,” Professor Carenza Lewis of the University of Lincoln said, according to Jam Press.
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Lewis → need → Press
“If you had enough money and could buy your way into a leper hospital, it’s a bit like getting a place in a private care home or something like that.
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it → have → that
Historical documents suggest the hospital accommodated up to 20 patients, who may have lived in separate structures with small yards, Lewis said.
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Lewis → suggest → yards
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Report → start → news
“We know that they had little sorts of curtilages [enclosed plots of land], which implies they’re separate little buildings, little houses with a little yard, perhaps,” she said.
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she → know → yard
Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic bacterial infection that primarily affects the skin, nerves, and eyes.
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that → know → skin
Although the disease can cause severe disfigurement if left untreated, it is curable with antibiotics and still exists today.
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it → cause → antibiotics
The excavation is part of a three-year research project led by Anglia Ruskin University, which aims to learn more about the people who lived, worked, and died at the medieval hospital.
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who → lead → hospital
Tim Taylor, the creator of “Time Team,” said the site could reveal more about Lincoln’s archaeological past.
“Lincoln has an extraordinary archaeological story, and this site promises to give us the opportunity to uncover a fascinating part of it,” Taylor said, Jam Press reported.
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Press → say → it
The findings come after a similar discovery last year in York, England, where a sinkhole in a city street exposed the remains of one of northern England’s largest medieval hospitals.
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sinkhole → come → hospitals
The remains were believed to belong to St. Leonard’s Hospital and date back to the 12th or 13th century.
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remains → believe → century
The Aporia
