Epidemics and pandemics are not equal-opportunity killers. Seen through the archaeological record, incomplete as it may be, these waves of death victimized the marginalized and most vulnerable populations wherever they struck.

In the United States, the covid-19 pandemic appears to be no different, striking Indigenous, Black and Latin communities at far greater rates than white populations.

This is nothing new. Indeed, in an academic paper published earlier this year, anthropologists examine the human costs — social, cultural, economic— of epidemics in ancient societies and consider “how the study of disasters, such as pandemics, can contribute to the growth of an archaeology that both furthers our understanding of the major challenges that humanity faces and supports the creation of equitable and scientifically supported agendas and solutions.”

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