A few years ago, Johannes Krause and Philip Slavin, who explored the area around Lake Issyk-Kul in present-day Kyrgyzstan, noticed that the cemeteries were disproportionately populated with people who died between 1338 and 1339. Chu valley, it was clear; but their surprise was even greater when they found the word “plague” on some of their tombstones. Had they found the origin of the greatest plague in European history?

could not. It was clear that this could not happen. The first documented case of the ‘black plague’ dates back to 1346 from Caffa on the Crimean peninsula when it was besieged by the Mongol army. They were definitely the first to be affected. Between 1347 and 1351, the disease claimed the lives of approximately 70 million people worldwide. We’re talking about a very different world from that: a world where the most populous states like France or Italy barely add 16 million.

There were cities, counties and regions that lost 80% of their population. The economic, demographic and cultural impact was so great that it is hard to imagine even today. Was it possible that it originated in Kyrgyzstan ten years ago?

The expansion of the Black Death from year to year.

One of the greatest mysteries in the history of medicine. For centuries, scientists have been unsuccessful in trying to find the origin of the disease. Actually the question was still open. In recent years, researchers have harnessed the full potential of ancient DNA and modern genomics, but the Black Death’s geographic origin remains unclear.

Did it all start here? Having come across cemeteries in the area, Krause and Slavin set to work. The team translated and analyzed how little archival data remained and combined it with DNA analysis of the seven people buried at the site.

The results seem obvious: Yersinia pestis, the plague bacterium was in three of the DNA samples, and analysis shows it played a role in the epidemic that devastated the population in the region. In fact, according to the authors, when analyzing genomes Y. pestis They found that everything indicated it was the common ancestor of all other strains found over the centuries.

How did it reach the rest of the world?. Also, based on data and historical artifacts (things like inscriptions on tombstones or coins stored in hoards), the authors believe that by then the area was pretty well connected commercially with the rest of Eurasia. In fact, it appears to be the colossal impact of the epidemic that has plunged the region into a major crisis and “disconnected” from the rest of the continent. This explains not only the spread of the disease, but also why no one looked there until recently.