Issyk-Kul, KG
Plague in two lakeside cemeteries, 1338
In 2022 researchers analysed genetic material from seven individuals buried in two cemeteries near Issyk-Kul and found the Black Death there in 1338 or 1339. The lake was a stopover on the Silk Road, a land route for travellers from the Far East to Europe. About 118 rivers and streams flow in and nothing flows out; some hydrologists hypothesize the water filters deep underground into the Chu River. At 1,607 metres it rarely freezes, because its salinity is 0.6% against the 3.5% of typical seawater. Its level now drops about 5 centimetres a year.
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Sources
- Wikidata · CC0
- Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0