WORLD / Science & Health

Where did the Black Death begin? DNA detectives find a key clue.

Archaeological excavations at the Kara-Djigach site in Kyrgyzstan in 1886, where plague victims were buried in 1338 or 1339. By fishing shards of bacterial DNA from the teeth of bodies in a cemetery, researchers found the starting point for the plague that devastated Eurasia, they say. | A.S. LEYBIN / VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Gina Kolata
The New York Times

Jun 20, 2022

Where and when did the Black Death originate? The question has been asked for centuries.

Now, a group of researchers reports it has found the answer in the pulp of teeth from people buried in the 14th century.

Based on their analysis, the researchers report that the Black Death arrived in 1338 or 1339 near Issyk-Kul, a lake in a mountainous area just west of China in what is now Kyrgyzstan. The plague first infected people in a nearby settlement of traders eight years before it devastated Eurasia, killing 60% of the population.

Where did the Black Death begin? DNA detectives find a key clue.

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