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‘Forgotten plague’ that ‘ravaged’ Brits 1,500 years ago discovered after 100s of skeletons unearthed in Cambridge burial pit

PROOF of the 'first plague' spread to Britain has been discovered thanks to skeletons found in an ancient burial pit in Cambridge.

The first genetic evidence of the 6th century Justinian Plague in the UK was discovered during an international study into ancient plague genomes.

 These skeletons were plague victims that were buried at Edix Hill in Cambridgeshire in the mid 6th century
These skeletons were plague victims that were buried at Edix Hill in Cambridgeshire in the mid 6th centuryCredit: Cambridgeshire County Council

Plague burials were discovered at a site called Edix Hill in Cambridgeshire in the 1990s.

However, the skeletons are now being restudied by researchers at the University of Cambridge and this research has aided in the discovery of eight different plague genomes across Europe, suggesting that the plague causing bacteria, Yersinia pestis, is much more complex than previously thought.

These new genomes helped to connect the Edix Hill burials to the plague and provide hard evidence that it did affect Britain.

Ancient Origins reported that Craig Cessford from the University of Cambridge said: "It is unlikely that Edix Hill is unusual in being affected by the Justinianic Plague, more probably most, if not all, of Anglo-Saxon England was ravaged by it."

 The Justinian Plague affected lots of areas across Europe
The Justinian Plague affected lots of areas across Europe

He added: "This discovery therefore represents a major historical event that previously could only be guessed at, meaning that the story of Early Anglo-Saxon England must be rewritten."

The Justinian Plague started in 541 AD and killed around 25 million people as it spread across the Mediterranean.

It is known as the first major plague outbreak but is often forgotten about due to the medieval Black Death plague being much more widely discussed.

Before antibiotics the plague was extremely deadly and would often result in bodily tissues dying and turning black before the victims eventually died themselves.

 Plague victims had to be buried carefully to stop the infection spreading
Plague victims had to be buried carefully to stop the infection spreadingCredit: CNRS - Claude Raynaud
 This Renaissance painting depicts the first plague
This Renaissance painting depicts the first plagueCredit: Wikimedia Commons

What is the plague?

Here's what you need to know about the deadly infection...

  • Plague is a serious and often deadly bacterial infection caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis
  • Humans can be infected with the plague from flea bites and rats were responsible for spreading a lot of plague ridden fleas around Europe
  • People can also infect one another so plague sufferers must be isolated
  • Most people have heard of the bubonic plague but there are actually lots of different names for plague depending on which area of the human body is infected
  • Bubonic plague infects the lymph nodes, pneumonic plague infects the lungs and septicemic plague infects the blood
  • Symptoms of bubonic plague include: fever, chills, seizures and swelling at the site of the flea bite
  • 50% of people who have bubonic plague die if it's not treated with antibiotics
  • There have been three major bubonic plague outbreaks in history with the most well known one reffered to as the Black Death
  • The first bubonic plague outbreak is called the Justinian Plague, named after a Roman emperor called Justinian I
  • It started in 541 AD and spread across the Mediterranean, killing 25 million people
  • The second major outbreak was the Black Death, which originated in China in 1334
  • It swept across the globe and killed nearly 60% of Europe's human population
  • The third outbreak is often called the Modern Plague and it also began in China in the 1860s
  • It reached Hong Kong in 1894 and spread around the world for the next 20 years, killing about 10 million people

In other archaeology news, ancient ‘cat fight’ fossils have revealed sabre-toothed tigers could puncture skulls with a single bite.

Ancient beer has been created by researchers in Israel after they extracted the key yeast ingredients from 5,000 year old pots.


What do you think of the new plague evidence? Let us know in the comments...
