The Prehistoric Plague

About this episode

This episode explores the origins of prehistoric plague and its impact on ancient societies.

The first ever outbreak of 'plague' - Yersinia Pestis, the most feared disease in human history - was long thought to be the Plague of Justinian in 541 AD. But new studies of ancient DNA have revealed traces of Yesinia Pestis dating back more than 5,000 years.  In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Laura Spinney to explore the origins of prehistoric plague. How did this pestilence emerge to blight the Neolithic world? Where did it come from? And could it have triggered a Stone Age collapse which signalled the dawn of the Bronze Age in Europe? Discover how this deadly pathogen reshaped entire Stone Age societies, long before the advent of written history.  MORE Did Plague Destroy the Roman Empire? Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify The Birth of Indo-European Listen on Apple Listen on Spotify Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff. All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds The Ancients is a History Hit podcast. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe…

People in this episode

Host: Tristan Hughes

Guest: Laura Spinney

Topics covered

• prehistoric plague
• Yersinia Pestis
• Neolithic world
• Stone Age collapse
• Bronze Age
• ancient DNA
• disease history

Keywords

• plague
• Yersinia Pestis
• Neolithic
• Stone Age
• ancient DNA
• disease
• collapse
• Bronze Age
• history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: History Hit, Epidemic Sounds

Places: Europe

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