There’s some exciting news in the world of archaeology! It has recently come to light that researchers have discovered the first-known plague victim. The oldest strain of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria behind the plague that caused the Black Death, was discovered in the remains of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer.
As reported by BBC, a man in his twenties who died over 5,000 years ago in Latvia was found to be infected with the earliest-known strain of the disease. The man had been buried with three others at a Neolithic burial site in Latvia by the side of the River Salac. "He most likely was bitten by a rodent, got the primary infection of Yersinia pestis and died a couple of days [later] - maybe a week later - from the septic shock," said Dr Krause-Kyora.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Plague is a disease that affects humans and other mammals. It is caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with the plague.
The website further explains that Plague is infamous for killing millions of people in Europe during the Middle Ages. Presently, human plague infections continue to occur in rural areas in the western United States, but significantly more cases occur in parts of Africa and Asia.
In other related news, a 2000-year-old mummy with a golden tongue was discovered by archaeologists at an ancient Egyptian site called Taposiris Magna. It’s a city established by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus between 280 and 270 BCE. The name refers to the "great tomb of Osiris", which Plutarch identifies with an Egyptian temple in the city.