Ancient Teeth Push Oldest Plague Evidence to 5,500 Years Ago Near Lake Baikal
Updated
Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 17
Ancient Teeth Push Oldest Plague Evidence to 5,500 Years Ago Near Lake Baikal
3 articles · Updated · abcnews.com · Jun 17
Summary
Plague DNA found in teeth from 18 hunter-gatherers near Siberia's Lake Baikal dates the oldest known human evidence of the disease to about 5,500 years ago, roughly 200 years earlier than previously thought.
Carbon dating from four cemeteries suggests two outbreaks, with researchers saying the pathogen spread both from marmots during butchery or handling hides and between people through coughing and sneezing.
Several victims were children aged 8 to 11, including three girls buried side by side and relatives found in shared graves, indicating the disease struck small family groups rather than isolated individuals.
The Nature study suggests plague was already deadly in mobile hunter-gatherer communities long before the bubonic form tied to the Black Death, offering clues to how major pathogens evolve.