How did the plague reshape Bronze Age Europe?

Phys dot org ^ | December 3, 2019 | Anthony King

[SunkenCiv]

...Prof. Haak will also try to detect more plague DNA in hundreds of skeletons from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. So far, DNA evidence from a dozen skeletons points to little variability between the strains of Yersinia pestis in such remains, suggesting that the pestilence spread rapidly across the continent. The speed may owe to another human advance at this time -- the domestication of wild horses, which may literally have carried the disease into Europe.

"We see the change from wild local horses to domesticated horses, which happened rapidly at the beginning of the Bronze Age," said Dr. Tomasz Suchan, a geneticist at Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse, France, who is using ancient horse DNA to study the origins of our modern equines as part of his EARLYRIDERS project.

With horses, people could travel much faster and horses transformed trade, movement, migration and warfare. "Horse domestication allowed for the first time long-distance movement of people (on land)," Dr. Suchan said.

This may have meant that riders carrying the bacterium may have unknowingly disseminated plague throughout Europe. However, Dr. Suchan is examining horse remains for ancient DNA to investigate another, more startling, hypothesis -- that horses might themselves have been carriers...

There is no evidence of this yet, but Dr. Suchan and colleagues are developing ways to detect miniscule amounts of plague DNA in ancient horses to try to discover if they were infected. Horses are known to harbour some species of Yersinia, related to plague. It is known also that the bacterium Yersinia pestis during the Bronze Age was not adapted to life inside fleas, and so was very probably not transmitted via rodent fleas as medieval bubonic plague was.

[SunkenCiv]

Wolfgang Haak & the PALEoRIDERS - Molecular anthropology – population genetics – ancient DNA

[SunkenCiv]

Old & In The Way was David Grisman (Mandolin & Vocals), Jerry Garcia (Banjo & Vocals), Peter Rowan (Guitar & Vocals), Vassar Clements (Fiddle), John Kahn (Upright Bass)
Old & In The Way - Wild Horses

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

the other additions to the keyword "bronzeage" sorted chrono:

• 4,200-year-old burial of Bronze Age chieftain discovered under UK skate park [2020]
• The mystery of the 'blue monkeys' in ancient Grecian frescoes, solved [2020]
• Traces of opiates found in ancient Cypriot vessel [2018]
• Millennia-old sunken ship could be world's oldest, researchers suggest [2014]
• Ancient Chronography, Eratosthenes and the Dating of the Fall of Troy [abstract] [2010]
• Bronze Age mouse offers clues to royal shipwreck [ Ulu Burun wreck ] [2008]
• Exploring the blue depths of the Aegean and Mediterranean [2008]
• Replica of 3,300-year-old shipwreck arrives in Bodrum [ Uluburun II ] [2006]
• Anatolian tree-ring studies are untrustworthy [2006]
• How did the plague reshape Bronze Age Europe?
• previous full list posted 04/30/2020

[ProtectOurFreedom]

They introduced high-speed quadrupeds and next thing they knew was disease was spreading everywhere.

Never trust “high speed” anything. Now I’m worried about the last speed bump I got from Comcast. Should I ditch my cable modem?

Thank God California high-speed rail is cancelled. Those Hollyweird diseases could have found their way up here to Santa Clara County in no time at all.

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, the Bronze Age humans wound up saddled with The Plague.

[bunkerhill7]

This is what happens when you put the cart before the hearse.

[SunkenCiv]

Equus a long time ago, so we neigh never know for sure.

[SunkenCiv]

Selections from the "horses" keyword, chrono sorted:

• Humans domesticated horses -- new tech could help archaeologists figure out where and when [2020]
• Mammoths will roam new Jurassic Park-style theme park with cave lions...in 10 years,... [2018]
• Skeletons of 5,000-year-old found buried alongside remains of two sacrificed horses (trunc) [2018]
• Wild horses are EXTINCT: Domesticated breeds are now the only ones to survive on the planet, [tr] [2018]
• 'Truly amazing' scientific discovery on adaptation of Yakutian horses to cold [2015]
• Prehistoric animal remains discovered in U.S. [2014]
• Wyoming cave dig unearths bones of ancient horses, cheetahs and bison [2014]
• West US cave with fossil secrets to be excavated [2014]
• World's Oldest Genome Sequenced From 700,000-Year-Old Horse DNA [2013]
• Distinctive virus behind mystery horse disease [2013]
• MtDNA tests trace all modern horses back to single ancestor 140,000 years ago [2012]
• Three-toed horses reveal the secret of the Tibetan Plateau uplift [2012]
• [From 1995] A Stone-Age Horse Still Roams a Tibetan Plateau [2012]
• Prehistoric Cave Paintings of Horses Were Spot-On, Say Scientists [2011]
• Ancient Royal Horse Unearthed in Iran [2011]
• 400,000 year old spears found in an German coal mine! [2010]
• Ancient DNA identifies donkey ancestors, people who domesticated them [2010]
• Earliest domesticated horses dated 5,500 years ago [2009]
• Horses tamed 1,000 years earlier than thought [2009]
• Earliest Horse Figures Of Anatolia In Eskiºehir [2007]
• Science Traces Roots Of 'Traditional English' Apple Back To Central Asia [2007]
• Horses First Domesticated In Kazakhstan [2006]
• Mysterious Arctic skull raises questions about what animals once roamed North [2006]
• Chinese Archaeologists Probe Origin Of Domestic Horses Through DNA [2006]
• 'Extinct' Wild Horse Roams Again [2005]
• Archaeologists Suprised To Discover Ancient Horse Skeletons In Jaffa Dig [2005]
• Ancient Site Reveals Stories Of Sacrificed Horses [2005]
• New Insight Into Horse Evolution [2005]
• Scientists To Start DNA Analysis Of Ancient Horse Skeletons [2005]
• Donkey Domestication Began In Africa [2004]

  ---

• Horses Snort When They're Happy, Study Says [2018]

  ---

• Horror as Chinese horses are forced to fight to the death [2007]

[SunkenCiv]

Domestication in title search results:

• Archeological Plant Remains Point to Southwest Amazonia as Crop Domestication Center [07/29/2018 3:42:07 PM PDT]
• Ancient genomes heat up dog domestication debate [07/18/2017 7:55:46 PM PDT]
• Archaeological excavation unearths evidence of turkey domestication 1,500 years ago [11/23/2016 10:15:55 AM PST]
• Rutgers law professors say pets are 'animal slaves,' argue domestication is form of torture [09/24/2016 7:51:38 AM PDT]
• Biologist Drake helps answer key question in canine history [Dog Domestication] [02/06/2015 11:03:34 PM PST]
• Archeological Plant Remains Point to Southwest Amazonia as Crop Domestication Center [07/29/2018 3:42:07 PM PDT]
• Ancient genomes heat up dog domestication debate [07/18/2017 7:55:46 PM PDT]
• Archaeological excavation unearths evidence of turkey domestication 1,500 years ago [11/23/2016 10:15:55 AM PST]

[SunkenCiv]

the rest of the Domestication keyword, chrono:

• A Gene Tied To Facial Development Hints Humans Domesticated Themselves [2020]
• Viking Cats - DNA Study Shows the Crucial Role Felines Played in Viking Life [2019]
• Study reveals that felines BULLY other pets because they are not as well domesticated as their [tr] [2018]
• Rare Human Genetic Disorder May Explain Why Dogs are Friendly [2017]
• Ancient genomes heat up dog domestication debate [2017]
• How Cats Used Humans to Conquer the World [2017]
• Goats Form Intense Connections with Humans, Too [2016]
• Humans May Have Domesticated Dogs Twice in Both Asia and Europe, New Study Shows [2016]
• Dogs were domesticated TWICE: Canines became man's best friend in Europe and Central Asia [tr] [2016]
• Ancient Humans, Dogs Hunted Mastodon in Florida: Early Dogs Helped Humans Hunt Mammoths [2016]
• Bond between man and dog is closer than you thought -- how canines hearts are in sync with ours [2016]
• Reading An Ancient Bond In The Look Of Puppy Love [2016]
• The Big Search to Find Out Where Dogs Come From [2016]
• Dogs can read human emotions, study finds (only other species shown to be capable of this) [2016]
• Dogs Mimic Each Other's Expressions, Too [2015]
• Canine Copycats Can Mirror Other Dogs' Emotions (Dogs Read Feelings) [2015]
• Dog has been man's best friend for 33,000 years, DNA study finds [2015]
• Aboriginal Female Hunters Aided By Dingoes [2015]
• Dogs 'Can Trace Origins To Central Asia' [2015]
• Otago Researchers Sequence Kuri Dog Genomes [2015]
• Have humans made dogs STUPID? Pets are 'lazy thinkers' compared to wild wolves [2015]
• Have humans made dogs STUPID? Pets are 'lazy thinkers' compared to wild wolves and [tr] [2015]
• Fossils reveal felines drove 40 species of canines to extinction after arriving in North [tr] [2015]
• 'Golden jackals' of East Africa are actually 'golden wolves' [2015]
• Are Cats Really Wild Animals? Experts clash over whether they count as a domesticated species. [2015]
• 8 Million Dog Mummies Found in 'God of Death' Mass Grave [2015]
• Autopsy carried out in Far East on world's oldest dog mummified by ice [2015]
• Family Tree of Dogs and Wolves Is Found to Split Earlier Than Thought [2015]
• Dogs have been man's best friend 'for 40,000 years' [2015]
• Dogs Don't Remember [2015]
• Dogs bred from wolves helped humans take over from Neanderthal rivals in Europe 40,000 years ago [2015]
• When did dogs become man's best friend? [2015]
• Biologist Drake helps answer key question in canine history [Dog Domestication] [2015]
• A Carolina Dog (The Dixie Dingo) [2014]
• Wolves are better than dogs at COUNTING: Wild canines identify the number of items more often [2014]
• Jurassic Farm: Can we bring prehistoric bovines back from extinction? [2014]
• Archaeologists say Stonehenge was "London of the Mesolithic" in Amesbury investigation [2014]
• UK's Oldest town revealed: Amesbury dates back more than TEN millenia [2014]
• Why Do Dogs Bark? It's Still Mostly a Mystery. [2014]
• More questions than answers as mystery of domestication deepens [2014]
• Birthplace of the domesticated chili pepper identified in Mexico [2014]
• Dogs are NOT descended from modern wolves but split from common ancestor 34,000 years ago [2014]
• Study Reveals More Clues to Origins of Domesticated Dog [2013]
• DNA hint of European origin for dogs [2013]
• Archaeology: The milk revolution [2013]
• D.N.A. Backs Lore on Pre-Columbian Dogs [2013]
• Native Native American dogs [2013]
• Opinion: We Didn't Domesticate Dogs. They Domesticated Us. [2013]
• Humanity's Best Friend: How Dogs May Have Helped Humans Beat the Neanderthals [2012]
• MtDNA tests trace all modern horses back to single ancestor 140,000 years ago [2012]
• [From 1995] A Stone-Age Horse Still Roams a Tibetan Plateau [2012]
• Dog: Man's Best Friend for Over 33,000 Years (Oldest Known Evidence of Dog Domestication) [2012]
• 'Speed Gene' in Modern Racehorses Originated from British Mare 300 Years Ago, Scientists Claim [2012]
• Prehistoric Cave Paintings of Horses Were Spot-On, Say Scientists [2011]
• Filipino scientist discovers rice's ancient origins [2011]
• Ancient Royal Horse Unearthed in Iran [2011]
• Old dog, new tricks: Study IDs 9,400-year-old mutt [2011]
• Pompeii's Mystery Horse Is a Donkey [2010]
• A Zedonk? Zebra/Donkey Hybrid Born in Georgia Animal Preserve [2010]
• Ancient DNA identifies donkey ancestors, people who domesticated them [2010]
• Animal Connection: New Hypothesis for Human Evolution and Human Nature [2010]
• Tracking the Ancestry of Corn Back 9,000 Years [2010]
• Domesticated cats hail from Turkey, research suggests [2010]
• Scientists pinpoint origins of little dogs [2010]
• Ancient giant cattle genome first [2010]
• Scientists in aurochs genome sequence first (wild cattle) [2010]
• Is Rice Domestication to Blame for Red-Faced Asians? [2010]
• Giant cattle to be bred back from extinction [2010]
• DNA study sheds new light on horse evolution [2009]
• Dogs descended from wolf pack on Yangtze river [2009]
• Dog domestication likely started in N. Africa [2009]
• NEW RESEARCH ON HOW DOGS AND CATS BECAME MAN'S BEST FRIENDS [2009]
• The Evolution of House Cats [genetic research about cat breeding] [2009]
• Zebra or horse? A 'zorse', of course! [2009]
• Earliest domesticated horses dated 5,500 years ago [2009]
• Horses tamed 1,000 years earlier than thought [2009]
• Predecessor of Cows, The Aurochs, Were Still Living In The Netherlands Around AD 600 [2008]
• World's first dog lived 31,700 years ago, ate big [2008]
• Living with humans has taught dogs morals, say scientists [2008]
• How the First Farmers Colonized the Mediterranean [2008]
• A Potted History of Milk [2008]
• Archaeologists Trace Early Irrigation Farming In Ancient Yemen [2008]
• Maize (Corn) May Have Been Domesticated In Mexico As Early As 10,000 Years Ago [2008]
• Scientists calculate the exact date of the Trojan horse using eclipse in Homer [2008]
• Heated Debate Over WhoPlanted First Sunflower [2008]
• Domestication Of The Donkey May Have Taken A Long Time [2008]
• How Wild Asses Became Donkeys Of The Pharaohs [2008]
• Cats' Family Tree Rooted In Fertile Crescent, Study Confirms [2008]
• Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis [2008]
• China To Start Excavation Of Horse-And-Chariot Burial [2007]
• Scientists believe cats 'sort of domesticated themselves' [2007]
• Squash grown 10,000 years ago in Peru [2007]
• Smithsonian Scientists Connect Climate Change, Origins Of Agriculture In Mexico [2007]
• A Worldwide Push To Bring Back Chariot Racing [2007]
• Drifters Could Explain Sweet-Potato Travel [2007]
• Earliest Horse Figures Of Anatolia In Eskiºehir [2007]
• Science Traces Roots Of 'Traditional English' Apple Back To Central Asia [2007]
• Practice Of Farming Reaches Back Farther Than Thought (Panama - 7,800YA) [2007]
• Rush Head Butts Punkin (Conservative Cat Lovers Alert) [2006]
• Domestication Event: Why The Donkey And Not The Zebra? [2006]
• Horses First Domesticated In Kazakhstan [2006]
• Nice Rats, Nasty Rats: Maybe It's All in the Genes [2006]
• Cattle's Call Of The Wild: Domestication May Hold Complex Genetic Tale [2006]
• Chinese Archaeologists Probe Origin Of Domestic Horses Through DNA [2006]
• Horse Antibodies Could Combat A Bird Flu Outbreak [2006]
• Did Carolina Dogs Arrive With Ancient Americans? [2006]
• 'Extinct' Wild Horse Roams Again [2005]
• An Asian origin for a 10,000-year-old domesticated plant in the Americas [2005]
• Ancient Humans Brought Bottle Gourds To The Americas From Asia [2005]
• When did the horse get to America? Did the Native Americans Really Have the Horse Before Columbus? [2005]
• Archaeologists Suprised To Discover Ancient Horse Skeletons In Jaffa Dig [2005]
• Ancient Peruvians Loved Their Spuds [2005]
• Modern Potato Had Roots in Peru [2005]
• Ancient Site Reveals Stories Of Sacrificed Horses [2005]
• New Insight Into Horse Evolution [2005]
• Call It Zonkey or a Deebra? [2005]
• Worldwide Phylogeography of Wild Boar Reveals Multiple Centers of Pig Domestication [2005]
• How Prehistoric Farmers Saved Us From A New Ice Age [2005]
• Scientists To Start DNA Analysis Of Ancient Horse Skeletons [2005]
• Kibble for Thought: Dog diversity prompts new evolution theory [2004]
• Donkey Domestication Began In Africa [2004]
• Prehistoric Row Erupts Over Hunter-Gatherer Riddle [2004]
• Experts: Dogs originated in ancient Asia [2004]
• Scientists Say They've Cloned a Horse [2003]
• An origin of new world agriculture in coastal Ecuador (12,000 BP) [2003]
• CANINE EVOLUTION: A Shaggy Dog History [2002]
• World's Dogs Are Descended From Asian Wolves [2002]
• Rainforest Researchers Hit Paydirt (Farming 11K Years Ago in South America) [2002]
• Origins of Domestic Horse Revealed [2002]
• Dogs Make Us Human [2002]
• The Paleolithic Diet and Its Modern Implications [2002]
• Genetic Marker Tells Squash Domestication Story [2002]
• The Dixie Dingo [2001]

[Thunder 6]

bump...

[nicollo]

Interesting Darwinian selection going on in the PaleoRiders….

[SunkenCiv]

:^) And some of that probably goes on off-camera.

[ckilmer]

This is actually the interesting answer to a question I heard posed a while back. Diseases killed out over 90% of Americas indian popluations whereas europe’s black death only killed 30-50% of europe’s popluation. Why the difference? the reason is that this was the black death’s second appearance in europe —so the europeans had developed some immunity. the americas indians had no immunity at all.

[SunkenCiv]

Yup, and not just The Plague. It would be interesting to look at the historical/ancient epidemics prior to 1492 to see if these correlate to the sudden population collapses documented in PreColumbian America.

[ckilmer]

actually, that would be a good way to indicated when and by whom the new world came in contact with the old world prior to 1492.

[SunkenCiv]

We think alike.