Keller, Marcel; Guellil, Meriam; Saag, Lehti; Malve, Martin; Valk, Heiki; Kriiska, Aivar; Slavin, Philip; Metspalu, Mait; Tambets, Kristiina; Scheib, Christiana L. (27 August 2022). The second plague pandemic in the Baltic region – new evidence from ancient DNA (Unpublished). In: 23rd Paleopathology Association European Meeting. Vilnius.
The Baltic region was repeatedly struck by plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, during the so-called Second Pandemic (14th–18th centuries). After the initial wave, the Black Death (1346–1353), the Plague of the Great Northern War 1702-1714 is the most prominent outbreak in the Baltics, reportedly causing more deaths than any previous epidemic in some regions. Years of war, displacement and famines had weakened the local population and undermined state authorities, setting the stage for one of the last widespread plague epidemics in Europe. In the last two years, several papers presented a number of newly retrieved Y. pestis genomes from four Baltic sites, presenting evidence for repeated outbreaks of plague over several centuries.
In our study, we aim to investigate the genetic history of the Second Pandemic in Estonia and neighboring regions, both by metagenomic screening of individuals on regular cemeteries and by targeted analysis of suspected plague burials. We present palaeogenetic evidence for plague in six different urban and rural sites, spanning the 14th–18th centuries, linking the Baltic plague outbreaks to known Y. pestis lineages circulating in other parts of Europe at the same time and offering new insights into the phylogeography of the Second Pandemic. In addition, we contextualize our findings with the recently published plague genomes from the Baltic region which so far have not been presented comprehensively in synopsis.
Funding: ASTRA 2014-2020.4.01.16-0030, PRG243, PRG1027
Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item (Speech) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine > Anthropology 04 Faculty of Medicine > Service Sector > Institute of Legal Medicine |
UniBE Contributor: |
Keller, Marcel |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology 500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Marcel Keller |
Date Deposited: |
31 Aug 2022 09:56 |
Last Modified: |
23 Feb 2023 13:32 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/172506 |
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