Sunday, December 23, 2007

Archaeologists to dig 'Hospital Field' in Winchester
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have announced ambitious plans to dig up more about Winchester's medieval history.

The project, by the University of Winchester, will focus on a site on the eastern edge of the city, close to St Swithun's School.

The plot, known to nearby residents as Hospital Field', dates back to the 12th century and was the location of a leprosy hospital during the 1500s.


Interesting to me was this bit: "Lepers have been thought of as being people who society shunned and pushed away. But some more recent research has discovered that was not necessarily the case. This dig gives us an insight into how these people were viewed and how they lived." That aspect will be interesting, though how they'll get answers to that question escapes me at the moment.