In this episode, archaeologist Dr Gavin MacGregor  introduces the impacts of disease on humans from the earliest times - with fascinating local examples discovered in excavations in Fife. Gavin explains the types of plague that have ravaged populations over millennia, and gives details of some of the earliest evidence of the disease, from around 5000 BC. Dr Tom Turpie explains the devastating impacts of plague on populations in Britain, and Scotland, through successive outbreaks across the centuries.  

Tune in to find out how closely the plague  outbreaks in the past mirror the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, measures that were historically used to identify the disease, and to deal with it, once it was known to be threat. Learn about Inverkeithing's heritage in the context of this disease, and the way it's situation influenced the way the disease impacted upon the town. 

If you'd like to find out more, there's great information from an exhibition at the National Library of Scotland, and a wealth of digital learning resources at https://digital.nls.uk/learning/scots-plague-buik/.