News Genetics

Plague may have caused die-offs of ancient Siberians

Bacterium DNA was found in two skeletons dating to roughly 4,000 years ago

Lake Baikal

An analysis of ancient Siberians’ DNA suggests that the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, infected people living just west of Lake Baikal (shown) by around 4,400 years ago.

avdeev007/E+/Getty Images

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Ancient people brought the plague to Siberia by about 4,400 years ago, which may have led to collapses in the population there, a new genetic analysis suggests.