The plague epidemic in the fourteenth century decimated the population of Europe.To this day, it is considered one of the most devastating pandemics in world history. The latest findings of scientists indicate that Pathogen may have contributed to ‘Neolithic collapse’When the population of Scandinavia declined dramatically.
The Neolithic period was the period when agriculture began to spread intensively. This led people to organize themselves into larger groups than hunter-gatherers. However, this contributed to the spread of infectious diseases.As iflscience.com points out, the bacteria that causes the plague was already proven to exist in 2019. Yersinia pestis In Scandinavia 5000 years ago.
Not all viruses or bacteria are equally contagious and deadly. Dr. Frederik Seersholm of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues wanted to investigate how common plague was among Neolithic farmers 5,300 to 4,900 years ago. For this purpose, he examined the teeth and bones of 107 people from Sweden and one person from Denmark.
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The analysis shows that 18 of these people, or 17 percent, had plague at the time of their death. In addition, our results suggest that the smallest plague strain we have identified could have epidemic potential, Seersholm notes.
According to the scientist, the fact that these people were infected with the plague at the time of their death does not mean that this is what led to their death. The bacteria can be transmitted for a long time, until death occurs from other causes. However, there is potential here.
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Did the plague wipe out the population of Neolithic Scandinavia?
If 17% of those who die in a given year are plague victims, then plague would only contribute a small part to any population disaster anyway. However, the remains sampled for testing did not come from a single time period. Most of them came before the plague or during its waves.
Scientists suggest that the dramatic population decline in Scandinavia and northwestern Europe is the result of something really big. There is no evidence that massive climate change contributed, so the assumption is that disease is to blame.
We cannot yet prove that this is exactly what happened. The fact that we can now show that this could have happened is important, said Seesholm.
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Wasn’t there a single devastating wave?
The research allowed scientists to rule out the existence of a devastating wave of plague. The fate of one family was followed over six generations, which suffered at least three epidemics caused by distinctly different strains of plague. This pattern is familiar because the Black Death of 1347–53 was followed by periodic resurgences until the 17th century.
It remains a mystery how the disease spreads. It is known that fleas were not responsible for this as they were in the Middle Ages. All strains lack the enabling mutation. Y. Pestis Remaining in the digestive system of the insect, unlike the species from which it evolved.
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