The leprosy collection in Medical Museion (formerly the Medical History Museum) at the University of Copenhagen includes bones from about 2000 skeletons discovered at a number of archaeological digs. The first dig began in 1935 in the Monastry of Aebelholt. Subsequent digs took place at cemeteries of leprosaria from the Middle Ages. The largest dig includes material from around 800 skeletons from the leprosarium cemetery at Aaderup, close to Naestved. The well documented digs were supervised by Professor Vilhelm Møller-Christensen who, in the 1960s, used this material to describe leprosy in the Middle Ages and to contribute to the international campaign against the disease.
Medical Museion is both a museum and a research unit. The focus of its research programme is medical history, medical humanities, medical science communication and medical museology.
Entry created February 2001; updated February 2016