'Forgotten plague' that 'ravaged' Britain 1,500 years ago discovered after hundreds of skeletons unearthed

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.

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

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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."

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 A.D. 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.

This story originally appeared in The Sun.