Ancient teeth from Siberia rewrite plague's timeline, dating back over 5,500 years

Scientists have significantly revised the timeline of the plague, unearthing the earliest known evidence of the deadly disease in ancient human teeth from Siberia. This groundbreaking discovery, detailed in a study published in the journal Nature, indicates that the plague bacterium, *Yersinia pestis*, caused lethal outbreaks among hunter-gatherer communities around Lake Baikal approximately 5,500 years ago, pushing back its known history by several centuries.

The research revealed two distinct waves of the disease, with the first major outbreak occurring between 5,500 and 5,300 years ago. These ancient plague strains proved highly virulent, causing significant mortality, especially among children within these communities. Evidence suggests the infection likely originated from wild marmots and then spread between people through direct contact and respiratory transmission.

This finding challenges the long-held belief that widespread epidemics primarily emerged with the rise of agriculture and dense urban settlements. The Siberian discovery underscores that highly lethal forms of plague were already devastating nomadic hunter-gatherer groups millennia ago, offering crucial insights into the early evolution of this pathogen and its profound impact on prehistoric human populations.