This Deadly Disease Was Wiping Out Humans 5,500 Years Ago
Ancient DNA from 46 burials found Yersinia pestis in 18 individuals, showing plague was already killing small Siberian communities 5,500 years ago.
5 Articles
5 Articles
Ancient DNA reveals plague was already killing humans 5,500 years ago
Plague was already a deadly killer 5,500 years ago, long before cities, farming, or the rat-infested conditions usually linked to historic outbreaks. By analyzing ancient DNA from hunter-gatherer cemeteries in Siberia, researchers discovered early plague strains in nearly 40% of the individuals studied and found evidence of rapid family-based outbreaks that wiped out many children and young teenagers.
This Deadly Disease Was Wiping Out Humans 5,500 Years Ago
A new study suggests plague was already a deadly threat 5,500 years ago, striking small hunter-gatherer communities long before cities and agriculture emerged. For centuries, plague has been remembered as the disease that devastated medieval Europe, killing millions and reshaping societies. But new research suggests its deadly history stretches much further back than previously thought. [...]
Oldest plague find shows disease has wiped out families for millennia
Recent research indicates that plague, which causes fatal outbreaks, already posed a significant threat to hunter-gatherer communities 5,500 years ago. The study, published in the journal Nature, analyzes ancient DNA from human remains found in cemeteries in Siberia, challenging the traditional view of the disease's evolution. Research analyzes ancient DNA in hunter-gatherer cemeteries. The researchers, led by Eske Willerslev of the University o…
The oldest known traces of plague, about 5,500 years old, have been discovered in graves of hunter-gatherers in Siberia. Found on one of the four ancient funeral sites, the discovery is several hundred years earlier than the oldest signs of the plague. This also indicates that hunter-gatherers were exposed to [...]
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