Willerslev - Baikal Archaeology Project

Lethal plague outbreaks in Lake Baikal hunter–gatherers 5,500 years ago

Plague is among the most devastating diseases in human history. However, early strains of the plague-causing bacterium Yersinia pestis lacked virulence factors that are required for the bubonic form until around 3,800 years ago. Consequently, the morbidity and mortality of early plague strains remain unclear. Here we describe early plague strains that are associated with two phases of outbreaks among mid-Holocene hunter-gatherers near Lake Baikal in southeast Siberia, beginning from about 5,500 years ago. These outbreaks occur across [...]

Andrea Hiob2026-06-18T13:41:53-06:00Categories: Journal Articles, Publications|Tags: Schulting, Bazaliiskii, Ramsey, Goriunova, Lieverse, Weber, Willerslev, Macleod, Jessup|

Recent article from Dr. Ruairidh Macleod published in Nature!

Big congratulations to Dr. Ruairidh Macleod and all co-authors on the recent publication of their article in Nature! Title: Lethal plague outbreaks in Lake Baikal hunter-gatherers 5,500 years ago Authors: Ruairidh Macleod, Frederik V. Seersholm, Bianca De Sanctis, Angela Lieverse, Adrian Timpson, Rick Schulting, Jesper T. Stenderup, Charleen Gaunitz, Lasse Vinner, Olga Ivanovna Goriunova, Vladimir Ivanovich Bazaliiskii, Sergei V. Vasilyev, Erin Jessup, Yucheng Wang, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Mark G. Thomas, Russell Corbett-Detig, Astrid K. N. Iversen, Andrzej W. [...]

Andrea Hiob2026-06-18T12:38:49-06:00Categories: Media & Public Outreach, News|Tags: Goriunova, Lieverse, Weber, Willerslev, Macleod, Jessup, Ramsey, Schulting, Bazaliiskii|

Ancient human parvovirus B19 in Eurasia reveals its long-term association with humans

Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is a ubiquitous human pathogen associated with a number of conditions, such as fifth disease in children and arthritis and arthralgias in adults. B19V is thought to evolve exceptionally rapidly among DNA viruses, with substitution rates previously estimated to be closer to those typical of RNA viruses. On the basis of genetic sequences up to ∼70 years of age, the most recent common ancestor of all B19V has been dated to the early 1800s, [...]

pderas2020-06-30T11:02:15-06:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: Bazaliiskii, Weber, Willerslev|

The first horse herders and the impact of early Bronze Age steppe expansions into Asia

The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyzed 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia [...]

pderas2020-06-30T11:03:25-06:00Categories: Publications, Journal Articles|Tags: Willerslev, Bazaliiskii, Goriunova, Weber|

137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes

For thousands of years the Eurasian steppes have been a centre of human migrations and cultural change. Here we sequence the genomes of 137 ancient humans (about 1× average coverage), covering a period of 4,000 years, to understand the population history of the Eurasian steppes after the Bronze Age migrations. We find that the genetics of the Scythian groups that dominated the Eurasian steppes throughout the Iron Age were highly structured, with diverse origins comprising Late Bronze Age [...]

pderas2020-06-30T11:04:41-06:00Categories: Journal Articles, Publications|Tags: Bazaliiskii, Weber, Willerslev|