Traces of plague in a 5,000-year-old grave outside Falköping



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Remarkable discoveries were made at the Gökhem Farm of Salvation, in the vicinity of Falköping, in a so-called hatchery, a common grave with a large stone chamber. He writes the University of Gothenburg in a press release.

Traces of DNA after Yersinia pestis, the bacterium causing the bacteria, were found in skeletons after interregional peasants who lived on the site about 4,900 years ago. The bacteria at the origin of death row is the deadliest in the history of humanity and has claimed the lives of millions of people.

The discovery was made by an interdisciplinary research group from France, Denmark and Sweden, including archaeologists Kristian Kristiansen and Karl-Göran Sjögren of the University of Gothenburg.

"Discovering such an early variant in Falköping was totally unexpected, as previous research indicated an origin in Asia, and now it could be re-evaluated, so it's an important discovery, according to Karl-Göran Sjögren, in the press release. .

The discovery at Falköping also allows the researchers to solve another puzzle. It is only recently that it has been discovered that people from different parts of Eurasia had been infected with plague during the Bronze Age. But every time the infection appeared and how it spread, it was unknown until now. The plague variant that was discovered seems to have given birth to all subsequent infection variants and beliefs have spread rapidly, a plague having been discovered in a vast region ranging from Europe to Europe. East to Central Asia, a few hundred years later.

"We believe that the first plague could have occurred in the culture of Tripoli north of the Black Sea a few hundred years before the discovery of Falköping, then spread to the west and east, as It could have been facilitated by better communication thanks, among other things, to the carts pulled by oxen that started to be used, "said Karl-Göran Sjögren.

It is through molecular clock analyzes that researchers have discovered that different strains of harmful bacteria are spreading fast in Eurasia 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. It corresponds exactly to a period of time in southeastern Europe where the first large concentrations of population took place, but also collapsed.

At the same time, there have been several technical advances such as the wheel, dragon animals and metallurgy. Factors such as the facilitation of commercial travel.

"The rapid spread indicates well-developed communications and contacts, which combine groups in very large areas, Karl-Göran Sjögren." Based on this evidence, the researchers argue that it was "well done". A plague pandemic that occurred among large populations and later major consequences for future civilizations and migration patterns.

The results are published in Applied Scientific Journal, Cell, December 6, 2018.

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