Why Europe’s late stone age population crashed

Source- This post on the Why Europe’s late stone age population crashedhas been created based on the article “Plague: Why Europe’s late stone age population crashed”  published in “Indian Express” on 13 July 2024.

A new study titled “Repeated plague infections across six generations of Neolithic Farmers,” published in the journal Nature suggests that disease, specifically the plague may have been the primary driver of the population collapse in Europe’s late Stone Age.

Key Findings

1. Population Collapse: Around 5,000 years ago, northern Europe experienced a significant decline, decimating Stone Age farming communities. The cause of this ‘Neolithic decline‘ has been widely debated.

2. Study Methodology: Researchers analyzed DNA from human bones and teeth excavated from ancient burial tombs in Scandinavia. The samples included remains from Falbygden, Sweden; coastal Sweden near Gothenburg; and Denmark, totaling 108 individuals (62 males, 45 females, and one undetermined).

3. Infection Findings: Of the 108 individuals studied, 18 (17%) were infected with the plague at death. The researchers charted the family tree of 38 individuals from Falbygden across six generations (~120 years), finding 12 (32%) infected.

4. Genomic Findings: The researchers reconstructed full genomes of Yersinia pestis strains responsible for three distinct waves of infection. The last wave may have been more virulent, with traits suggesting person-to-person spread.

5. Historical Impact: The Neolithic plague is an ancestor to all later plague forms, including the Justinian Plague (6th century AD) and the Black Death (14th century). Early strains may have had different symptoms.

6. Geographic Prevalence: High prevalence of plague in the examined areas suggests it played a substantial role in the Neolithic decline in Northern Europe.

7. Neolithic Period: The Neolithic period saw humans transition from hunter-gatherers to settled farming and animal domestication. The population crash in Northern Europe occurred between 3300 BCE and 2900 BCE, as sophisticated civilizations arose elsewhere.

8. Migration and Replacement: The populations of Scandinavia and Northwestern Europe disappeared, later replaced by the Yamnaya people from the steppe region of present-day Ukraine, who are ancestors of modern Northern Europeans.

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