Oldest strain of plague bacteria found in remains of 5,000-year-old man

Jawbone of the man buried in Riņņukalns, Latvia, around 5,000 years ago.

The oldest strain of the bacteria behind the plague which caused the Black Death has been discovered in the remains of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer.

The pandemic may have killed up to half of Europe’s population in the 1300s.