In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have unraveled a long-standing mystery surrounding the burial of numerous deceased children by ancient hunter-gatherers in Russia 5,500 years ago. The children were found to be victims of an early outbreak of the plague caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, shedding light on the disease’s historical significance.
The study, recently published in Nature by an international team of scientists, including individuals from Canada, revealed that Yersinia pestis, notorious for triggering the Black Death in Europe in the 14th century, had already proven fatal to humans millennia earlier. Moreover, the bacterium demonstrated the ability to spread among hunter-gatherer societies, not solely confined to later densely populated settlements.
Lead author of the study, Ruairidh Macleod, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, expressed astonishment at the early evidence of large-scale plague outbreaks among these ancient communities. This finding challenged previous assumptions and underscored the severity of the plague’s impact on early human societies.
For decades, Andrzej Weber, an anthropology professor at the University of Alberta, and Angela Lieverse, an archaeology professor at the University of Saskatchewan, have studied remains from a prehistoric hunter-gatherer settlement near Lake Baikal in Russia. Their research, spanning 40 years through the Baikal Archeology Project, has unveiled insights into the lives of ancient communities that thrived in the region.
Lieverse pointed out the anomaly they observed two decades ago: a significant number of buried individuals were children under 12 years old, a rarity in that era. The team’s meticulous analysis of human bones, spearheaded by Lieverse, identified the age and sex of each set of remains and revealed signs of disease, with plague emerging as a significant factor.
Collaborating with Macleod, an ancient DNA specialist, the team’s investigation into family relationships among the remains led to the unexpected discovery of the plague bacterium. The endemic nature of plague in the region, carried by marmots consumed by the hunter-gatherers, provided crucial context for the findings.
Genetic analysis indicated that the strain of plague responsible for the outbreak possessed a “superantigen” capable of triggering severe inflammatory responses, particularly affecting children. Notably, this strain lacked the genes necessary for flea-borne transmission, diverging from the bubonic plague’s typical spread mechanism.
The study’s revelations challenged previous assumptions about the timeline and impact of ancient plague strains, emphasizing human-to-human transmission within affected family groups during the Lake Baikal outbreak. Tragic instances, such as the simultaneous deaths of young sisters and cousins, underscored the devastating toll the plague took on these communities, particularly children.
The researchers emphasized the significance of such discoveries in tracing the evolution and impact of deadly pathogens like the plague over time. Lieverse reflected on the poignant narrative conveyed by the prehistoric remains and DNA evidence, highlighting the heartbreaking fate of the young victims while acknowledging the power of unraveling their story in present times.