"The epidemic of cocoliztli from1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 million to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population of Mexico (Figure 1). In absolute and relative terms the 1545 epidemic was one of the worst demographic catastrophes in human history, approaching even the Black Death of bubonic plague, which killed approximately 25 million in western Europe from 1347 to 1351 or about 50% of the regional population."
"The cocoliztli epidemic from 1576 to 1578 cocoliztli epidemic killed an additional 2 to 2.5 million people, or about 50% of the remaining native population.
Ring around the rosey,......Typical description of a buboe.
a pocket full of poseys,....Nosegays of flowers were carried
ashes, ashes,...............to cover the smell of death.
we all fall down............The bodies were burned, all die.
I just love nursery rhymes, don’t you?
“The epidemic of cocoliztli from1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 million to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population of Mexico (Figure 1).”
Recently saw Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto” which was an interesting flick. Greatly exceeded my expectations.
This portrayed a time when if some plague didn’t get you, the Aztecs might turn you into a human sacrifice.
In the 1890s my grandfather’s family was trimmed from 7 to 4 children, by diptheria. Two gone over one weekend. Apparently gargling with kerosene was a treatment. That in Dakota Territory.
Somehow most people, in most societies survive.
This, incidentally, has nothing to do with the Spanish presence. The Spanish were largely spared because they were very aggressive against rodents (this was a rodent borne disease) and did not permit them in their homes.
The native population, on the other hand, seemed to have rodents all over the place, to the extent that the Spanish even commented on it in letters they sent home. The connection between various plagues and rodents was of course not known at the time.
Thanks for that link.