Scientists have uncovered the long-standing enigma surrounding the burial of numerous deceased children by ancient hunter-gatherers in Russia 5,500 years ago. The mystery has been resolved, indicating that the children were victims of the earliest known plague outbreak, shedding light on the disease’s historical impact.
The study, featured in Nature by an international team of scientists, including Canadian researchers, highlights that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium infamous for causing the Black Death in the 14th century, was lethal to humans millennia earlier. Remarkably, the plague could spread among hunter-gatherer communities, not solely affecting densely populated settlements.
Lead author of the study, Ruairidh Macleod, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, expressed astonishment at the early evidence of widespread fatal plague outbreaks among these ancient communities. The research team, led by Andrzej Weber from the University of Alberta and Angela Lieverse from the University of Saskatchewan, has been investigating remains from a prehistoric hunter-gatherer society near Lake Baikal in Russia for years.
Lieverse’s expertise in analyzing human bones enabled the identification of the deceased individuals’ age, sex, and signs of diseases. Collaborating with ancient DNA specialist Macleod, they discovered the plague bacteria in the remains, sparking a significant realization regarding the historical outbreak.
Furthermore, genetic analysis revealed a “superantigen” in the plague strain responsible for severe inflammatory complications, particularly affecting children. Surprisingly, this particular strain lacked the genes necessary for flea-mediated transmission of bubonic plague.
The Lake Baikal outbreak, affecting numerous small family groups, indicated human-to-human transmission. Heart-wrenching evidence included the simultaneous deaths of three young girls, confirmed through DNA testing to be sisters and cousins.
This groundbreaking discovery underscores the evolutionary nature of deadly pathogens like the plague over time. Lieverse emphasized the importance of understanding such historical events to comprehend the potential capabilities of infectious diseases in the future, portraying a poignant narrative of the tragic impact on these ancient communities’ children.