Danish scientists from the University of Copenhagen have identified the cause of the massive extinction of the population of Northern Europe around 5,000 years ago. According to experts, the Stone Age farming communities were victims of the plague epidemic. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Science.
The origins of the catastrophe known as the Neolithic Collapse have long been a matter of debate in the scientific community.
In the new study, the team analyzed DNA from human teeth and bones found in Scandinavia. The researchers analyzed the remains of 108 people, 17% of whom had plague when they died.
Scientists compiled a family tree of 38 people from six generations spanning about 120 years. Genomic data showed that this community experienced three separate early waves of plague.
Experts have determined that the latest strain of plague bacteria is more contagious than previous ones and is transmitted from person to person.
A later form of the same pathogen caused the Justinian Plague in the 6th century AD and the Black Death in the 14th century, which devastated Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, killing tens of millions of people.
Because the strains circulating during the Neolithic decline were much older versions, the plague may have caused different symptoms than those seen in epidemics a thousand years later.
Earlier scientists warned about epidemics of a plague-like infection.
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Source: Gazeta
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