Scientists have discovered the DNA of the bacterium responsible for the infamous Black Death in the teeth of three people buried in the UK millennia before the deadly pandemic began.. That is, the plague entered Europe long before the continent was covered by a terrifying epidemic, according to Science Alert..

The remains of two teenagers were found in a mass grave at Charterhouse Warren in Somerset.. The third remains belonged to a 35-45 year old woman buried in a ring cairn at Levens in Cumbria.. All three lived around the same time, but it is unknown if the plague caused their deaths..

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The researchers note that the mass grave is not typical for that period.. The bones of 28 people showed signs of fatal injuries, suggesting that the site was used to bury bodies after violent acts.. It is likely that the children contracted the plague at the time of death, and it is unlikely that this disease caused it..

But how the woman found in the cairn died, it is impossible to say.

In all three cases, the bacterial DNA lacked the genetic mutation for flea transmission.. The earliest identification of this mutation dates back to about 3,800 years ago..

Identified strain of Yersinia pestis bacteria was different from the strain that caused the Black Death. However, these are the oldest cases of bacterium infection detected in Britain.. This suggests that the plague spread easily even before it developed mutations that contributed to repeated bouts of deadly virulence since the 14th century..

The second plague pandemic was a fairly large series of events in the history of mankind, changing not only the economy, politics and culture, but perhaps even our genome.. Although much is already known about the history of the disease, scientists are still trying to figure out how it originated and spread..

Previously, scientists said they were able to trace the history of the Black Death. They discovered the original strain of plague in 14th-century remains from central Asia..