Did This Bronze Age Sheep Trigger One of History’s Deadliest Diseases?

Did This Bronze Age Sheep Trigger One of History’s Deadliest Diseases?

Scientists have uncovered a 4,000-year-old ancestor of the Black Death in the remains of a Bronze Age sheep, shedding light on the early evolution of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for history’s deadliest pandemics. Found at Arkaim, a fortified settlement in the Southern Ural Mountains, this ancient strain offers critical new insights into how plague spread before the era of flea-borne transmission. A Missing Link In The Plague’s Evol…