Ancient DNA extracted from hunter-gatherer remains in Siberia reveals that deadly strains of plague were already decimating entire families roughly 5,500 years ago. Predating dense urban centers, global trade networks, and flea-driven epidemics, these prehistoric outbreaks occurred long before history books ever thought cities existed to harbor them. The discovery disrupts standard epidemiological histories by demonstrating that devastating pandemics were a feature of remote, sparsely populated ancient landscapes.