Repeated plague infections across six generations of Neolithic Farmers.

ABSTRACT: In the period between 5,300 and 4,900 calibrated years before present (cal. BP), populations across large parts of Europe underwent a period of demographic decline^1,2. However, the cause of this so-called Neolithic decline is still debated. Some argue for an agricultural crisis resulting in the decline³, others for the spread of an early form of plague⁴. Here we use population-scale ancient genomics to infer ancestry, social structure and pathogen infection in 108 Scandinavian Neolithic individuals from eight megalithic graves and a stone cist. We find that the Neolithic plague was widespread, detected in at least 17% of the sampled population and across large geographical distances. We demonstrate that the disease spread within the Neolithic community in t

SUBMITTER: Seersholm FV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11291285 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature