| dna examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the plague of athens. | until now, in the absence of direct microbiological evidence, the cause of the plague of athens has remained a matter of debate among scientists who have relied exclusively on thucydides' narrations to introduce several possible diagnoses. a mass burial pit, unearthed in the kerameikos ancient cemetery of athens and dated back to the time of the plague outbreak (around 430 bc), has provided the required skeletal material for the investigation of ancient microbial dna. | 2006 | 16412683 |