Poor's Holes were mass graves common in European cities during Columbus's time. What did they signify?

• A. Hospitals for the poor
• B. Mass graves for the dead in European cities during Columbus's time
• C. Markets for selling goods
• D. Naval ships

Answer: (B)

The idea here is that Poor's Holes were burial pits used for paupers in European cities. Their existence shows how cities managed mortality in Columbus’s era: many poor people died in crowded urban areas, and there often weren’t enough resources or space for individual, church-backed burials. As a result, the bodies of those who couldn’t afford proper funerals were placed in common graves, sometimes quickly and with little ceremony. This practice highlights the social inequality of the time—wealthier individuals received formal burial rites, while the poor relied on mass graves. It also reflects the public health and logistical challenges cities faced, like overcrowding and disease, which forced such pragmatic, and stark, burial solutions.