Mylopotamitaki, D. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Genomic impact of the second plague pandemic on three human populations

The second plague pandemic (early 14th-early 19th centuries), which was caused by Yersinia pestis, had a profound demographic, socio-economic and cultural impact across Eurasia and North Africa. Many regions in Europe and the Middle East are estimated to have lost 40-60% of their human populations, with some areas suffering even higher mortality. Whether exposure to Y. pestis drove strong positive selection on protective genetic variants in the human genome, and how it shaped migration patterns, remains debated, despite several recent studies based on ancient DNA. Here, we analyse a markedly larger, higher coverage, and geographically diverse dataset based on shotgun sequencing of genomes from 529 ancient individuals to a mean depth 8.8x dating to either before or after the arrival of the pandemic at three sites in northern Europe: Trondheim (Norway), Lund (Sweden) and Vilnius (Lithuania). Genome-wide scans for signatures of selection provide no evidence for strong positive selection acting on specific genetic variants driven by Y. pestis exposure: we neither replicate selection signatures reported by previous studies nor identify new genome-wide significant candidates. However, for all three sites, we observe evidence for a reduction in long-range immigration, indicated by a drop in the diversity of ancestry that followed the arrival of Y. pestis and broadly coincided with the end of the Viking Age, Christianisation and the onset of the Little Ice Age. Our results shed important light on the demographic impact of major sociohistorical changes that occurred during the late Medieval period in Scandinavia and the Baltic region and link Christianisation to increased diversity in ancestry before the pandemic.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Palaeoproteomic identification of a whale bone tool from Bronze Age Heiloo, the Netherlands

Identification of the taxonomic origin of bone tools is an important, but often complicated, component of studying past societies. The species used for bone tool production provide insight into what species were exploited, potentially how, and for what purpose. Additionally, the choice of species may have important implications for the place of the tool within the larger toolkit. However, the taxonomic identification of bone tools is often unsuccessful based on morphology. Here we apply three palaeoproteomic techniques, ZooMS, SPIN-like data analysis and a targeted database search to narrow down the taxonomic identification of an unusually large Bronze Age bone tool from Heiloo, the Netherlands, to the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Additionally, the tool was investigated for use-wear, which showed that it was likely used for the processing of plant fibres. The assignment of the tool as whale bone adds support to the exploitation of whales by coastal Bronze Age populations, not just for meat, as previously suggested, but also for bone as a resource for tool production. We know of no other parallel of a bone tool such as this in terms of size, use, hafting, and taxonomic identity.

evolutionary biology↗