The oldest cases of plague in Britain have been identified in Bronze Age human remains, pushing the timeline of the disease’s presence in the UK back thousands of years. Three individuals tested positive for Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague: two from a mass burial in Somerset and one from a cairn in Cumbria. This discovery, published in Nature Communications, sheds light on the spread and evolution of this ancient pathogen.
Researchers analyzed the teeth of 34 individuals from the two sites, as bacterial DNA can persist in teeth for millennia. Two of the plague-positive individuals were children aged between 10 and 12, while the third was a woman between 35 and 45 years old. The presence of Yersinia pestis suggests that plague existed in Britain roughly 4,000 years ago.
The Levens Park ring cairn, where one set of Bronze Age remains tested positive for Yersinia pestis.The Levens Park ring cairn, burial site of one of the individuals who tested positive for Yersinia pestis. Photo: Ian Hodkinson
The identified strain is the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (NLBA) variant, previously found in Western Europe and thought to have arrived around 2,800 BCE. This new research confirms the strain’s presence in Britain earlier than previously believed. While the Black Death is perhaps the most infamous plague outbreak, this discovery highlights the disease’s long history, predating the Middle Ages by thousands of years.
The children’s remains were discovered at Charterhouse Warren in Somerset, a site believed to be a mass burial of trauma victims. This suggests that plague might not have been the direct cause of death for these individuals. Due to the rapid degradation of pathogenic bacteria, it’s possible that others buried at the sites were also infected, but the evidence has since decomposed.
Close-up view of skeletal remains unearthed at the Charterhouse Warren site.Skeletal remains from the Charterhouse Warren site, a suspected mass burial of trauma victims. Photo: University of Cambridge
Genetic analysis of these ancient plague strains offers insights into the pathogen’s evolution, revealing gene loss over time. This pattern is consistent with later plague epidemics, including the Black Death. Understanding these genetic changes may help researchers identify genes crucial for the spread of infectious diseases. This knowledge can potentially inform strategies for managing current and future disease outbreaks.
This research offers a glimpse into the health challenges faced by Bronze Age Britons. It emphasizes the importance of ancient DNA research in documenting infectious diseases far beyond historical records. Further research will explore how human genomes responded to these ancient pathogens and the evolutionary dynamics between humans and disease-causing organisms. This information can enhance our understanding of disease impact, both past and present.
The oldest known plague victim lived in present-day Latvia between 5,000 and 5,300 years ago, a period roughly contemporary with Ötzi the Iceman. This discovery in Britain further underscores the ancient and persistent nature of plague, a disease that continues to circulate globally today. While modern antibiotics are effective against plague, it remains a public health concern in some parts of the world.
