Ancient history

The Plague already present in the Neolithic

The bacterium that causes bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis , was responsible for some of the most devastating pandemics in history.
The Black Death killed at least a third of the European population in the 14th century , while the first recorded outbreak was the so-called Justinian plague in the 6th century AD
From the analysis of the remains recovered at the burial site in Fralsergarden located in Western Sweden , the researchers found the signs of an epidemic of the oldest variant of Yersinia pestis . It is the oldest version found so far and according to the researchers, it may have separated from the more ancestral version, from an evolutionary point of view, about 5,700 years ago . This discovery could provide a great deal of information on the origin of the disease.