Ancient DNA reveals earliest known plague outbreak in Siberia
9 reported
Ancient DNA from late stone age cemeteries in southeastern Siberia has provided the earliest evidence of a plague outbreak, according to a study published in Nature. The remains of dozens of hunter-gatherers and children suggest the disease tore through sparse communities in waves beginning about 5,500 years ago, at least two centuries after the bacterium Yersinia pestis first emerged. The hunter-gatherers likely became infected after butchering or eating raw marmots, a practice that still causes plague deaths today. The disease then spread from person to person, decimating families. The research resolves a mystery of why so many children were buried at one cemetery, Ust-Ida, on the Angara River northwest of Lake Baikal. At least two-thirds of the dead at two cemeteries were under 15 years old, and many shared graves with siblings or family members. The international team, including researchers from Oxford, Copenhagen, Alberta, Cambridge, and London, analyzed dental pulp from skeletons and found Y pestis DNA in 18 of 42 individuals (39%), a higher proportion than in some medieval plague pits. The study describes two distinct outbreaks, the first starting about 5,500 years ago and the second 400 to 600 years later.
What’s reported
Ancient DNA from late stone age cemeteries in southeastern Siberia provides earliest evidence of plague outbreak.
The disease began about 5,500 years ago, at least 200 years after Yersinia pestis first emerged.
Hunter-gatherers likely became infected after butchering or eating raw marmots.
At least two-thirds of the dead at two cemeteries were under 15 years old.
Tests on 42 hunter-gatherers found 18 (39%) contained Y pestis DNA.
The study points to two distinct outbreaks: first about 5,500 years ago, second 400 to 600 years later.
Y pestis emerged at least 5,700 years ago after splitting from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.
The earliest evidence of plague in Britain is 4,000 years old.
The Y pestis found carried a superantigen that could trigger severe immune reactions, raising risk for children.
Key figures
Ruairidh Macleod, research fellow studying ancient DNA at the University of Oxford
Samuel Cohn, professor of medieval history at the University of Glasgow
Sources: The Guardian
