A grim discovery was made by archaeologists in Lincolnshire where some 48 skeletons of the victims of the infamous 14th century plague pandemic were found, the Daily Mirror reports.
According to the newspaper, the discovery itself was actually made back in 2013 but the team of scientists and archaeologists responsible for the find kept thoroughly studying it before publishing their findings seven years later.
The skeletons, 27 of which apparently belong to children, were found beneath the site of a 14th-century monastery hospital at Thornton Abbey.
"Despite the fact it is now estimated that up to half the population of England perished during the Black Death, multiple graves associated with the event are extremely rare in this country, and it seems local communities continued to dispose of their loved ones in as ordinary a way as possible", said Dr. Hugh Wilmott of the University of Sheffield.
He described as "unique" the discovery of this "previously unknown and completely unexpected mass burial" dating back to that particular time period, noting that it offers an insight into "the real difficulties faced by a small community ill prepared to face such a devastating threat."
The find also suggests that the local community was "overwhelmed by the plague" and left unable to cope with the sheer number of people killed by the disease, the newspaper adds.