Gloucester: More than 90 skeletons found in a mass grave could be the remains of victims of the Antonine plague, an outbreak of smallpox that swept across the Roman empire between 165AD and 189AD, archaeologists now believe.

plague pit in uk
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Archaeologists unearth a mass Roman grave, believed to be one of the rarest finds in British history


The site, which was discovered in London Road, Gloucester, in 2005, was excavated before retirement homes were built on it.

Louise Loe, of Oxford Archaeology said: "The skeletons of adult males, females and children were lying in a very haphazard fashion. They had been dumped unceremoniously in a hurried manner."