Ancient Diseases

SUMMARY: Chapter 11, in Renfrew & Bahn's textbook (Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice), covers the bioarchaeology of people, including what evidence remains, how do we identify gender, life expectancy, age at death, height, weight, facial features, relationships, abilities (e.g., walking), hand usage (left versus right), speech development, behavior, disease, deformity, death, medical knowledge, nutrition, population studies, diversity within populations, evolution, and other aspects.  In my view, this is one of the best college textbooks available, and is invaluable for students, archaeologists, and the public in general, to obtain a top notch overview of approaching and interpreting the archaeological record. UPDATED April 2021: Some re-formatting, minor edits, and some new slides.

Archaeological  excavations in the Fayum Oasis during the late 19th and early 20th century led to the unveiling of hundreds of striking painted mummy portraits. Many represented such profound realism, that they came to be regarded by some as works of exceptional artistic merit,  and quite possibly  the “Rembrandts” of their time. We shall see how the haunting intensity of the eyes, and the impression of  distorted  facial  features executed by the ancient artists, provide a window into the health of individuals that lived nearly 2,000 years ago.
Two cases of progressive facial hemiatrophy (deterioration of the skin and soft tissues on one side of the face), two cases of deviation of visual axes (eyes pointing in different directions) and one case of corectopia (oval-shaped pupils) detected by a team of researchers in 2001 will be examined.

The growth of cities in antiquity is paradoxical: before modern health and sanitation standards, early urban dwellers suffered high mortality as a result of epidemics and chronic diseases arising, respectively, from propinquity and poor sanitation. At the same time, lower-status individuals within those cities would have endured depressed birth rates because, typically, many toiled in partially or fully dependent occupations not conducive to early marriage or stable families. The interplay between these compounding forces implies that early cities would not have been viable over the long term and could not have grown without a continual flow of immigrants. The early cities of Mesopotamia were no exception. In an earlier publication, I argued that the growth of the first centers that emerged in the alluvial lowlands
of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers during the fourth millennium BC was predicated on migratory inflows that
took place, in part, in the context of self-amplifying cycles whereby the replacement of imported commodities with locally made, mass-produced substitutes catalyzed increases in specialization, employment, market size, and trade (Smithian Growth). In this article, I expand on these ideas, explore their applicability to later periods of Mesopotamian history, and consider further iterations of substitution-fueled growth cycles in those periods.

The epidemic that killed Pericles: contextual and paleopathological analysis of the 5th century BCE Plague of Athens via primary resources and modern DNA sequence-based identification strategies of dental pulp from a mass grave at Kerameikos. A novel offering of compelling evidence of Avian Influenza as the causative agent of the Plague of Athens.: 

The 5th Century Plague of Athens saw the deaths of one third of the Athenian population including the leader Pericles while under siege during the Peloponnesian War.  The causative pathogenic agent remains a mystery 2,500 years later.  A methodology encompassing both the critically assessed historical accounts and validated scientific techniques is recommended.  Thucydides, a contemporary writer and survivor, provides the best known clinical observations of the symptomology of the Plague as well as the historical context surrounding it.  Additionally, ancient DNA extraction is quickly allowing the story to unfold.  The utility of dental pulp in reporting on septicemic pathogens from archaeological contexts has substantial potential for identifying unknown pathogen agents, as teeth are often natural reservoirs of disease posthumously.  The conditions, including political decisions that created the conditions necessary for propagated outbreak, are examined.  A thorough analysis of the dental pulp study that has so far been carried out from a mass grave will be critiqued and an alternative explanation for its scientifically sound findings confirming the presence of Salmonella enteric serovar Typhi will be discussed.  An in-depth analysis of alternative pathogens will be examined.  Lastly, evidence for my own theory will be advanced regarding the causative agent of the Plague of Athens.  It is strongly suggested that Avian Influenza, a zoonotic disease, is responsible for the observed deaths of the Athenians under siege.  Further studies, especially those utilizing ancient dental pulp, would help to confirm this theory.

ABSTRACT: The 2003 University of Toronto expedition to Tell Tebilla photographed and recorded, for a joint publication with the Supreme Council of Antiquities, architectural remains, inscribed blocks, a statuette, shawabtis, jewellery, pottery, and other artefacts.  These findings originated from the Supreme Council of Antiquities' excavations within and monitoring of a construction site for a water plant, initiated in 1988 at Tebilla.  The Toronto pottery team processed over 4,000 Late Period, diagnostic potsherds from the 2001 and 2003 seasons at Tebilla. The osteologists examined 36 human skeletal remains from the 2000-2003 seasons, assessing their gender, age, height, diseases, health, and physical indicators of activities in life.  The burials contained relatively healthy individuals with robust physiques, strong hands from continuous work, a female with neck disc degeneration and arm muscle development from carrying heavy loads on her head, few dental cavities, abscesses, a healed broken bone, various diseases, and a fairly healthy diet with fewer carbohydrates than today.  A 1968 satellite image and surface excavation revealed the foundations for a Dynasty 30, fort-temple enclosure wall measuring 235 by 352 metres. The expedition also investigated a large, Late Period structure in the northeast area of the mound. Various chambers had been plundered in the Roman period, providing bone to extract calcium for use in glass production.

Organic remains can be found in many different environments. They are the most significant source for paleoparasitological studies as well as for other paleoecological reconstruction. Preserved paleoparasitological remains are found from the driest to the moistest conditions. They help us to understand past and present diseases and therefore contribute to understanding the evolution of present human sociality, biology, and behavior. In this paper, the scope of the surviving evidence will be briefly surveyed, and the great variety of ways it has been preserved in different environments will be discussed. This is done to develop to the most appropriated techniques to recover remaining parasites. Different techniques applied to the study of paleoparasitological remains, preserved in different environments, are presented. The most common materials used to analyze prehistoric human groups are reviewed, and their potential for reconstructing ancient environment and disease are emphasized. This paper also urges increased cooperation among archaeologists, paleontologists, and paleoparasitologists.

The aim of this study is to determine the species of parasite that infected the population of Brussels during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and determine if there was notable variation between different households within the city. We compared multiple sediment layers from cesspits beneath three different latrines dating from the 14th-17th centuries. Helminths and protozoa were detected using microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We identified Ascaris sp., Capillaria sp., Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Entamoeba histolytica, Fasciola hepatica, Giardia duodenalis, Taenia sp. and Trichuris sp. in Medieval samples, and continuing presence of Ascaris sp., D. dendriticum, F. hepatica, G. duodenalis and Trichuris sp. into the Renaissance. While some variation existed between households, there was a broadly consistent pattern with the domination of species spread by fecal contamination of food and drink (whipworm, roundworm and protozoa that cause dysentery). These data allow us to explore diet and hygiene, together with routes for the spread of fecal-oral parasites. Key factors explaining our findings are manuring practices with human excrement in market gardens, and flooding of the polluted River Senne during the 14th-17th centuries.

چكيده
انديشه ها، باورها و اعتقادات ديني به گونه اي شگرف در زندگي انسان نقش
آفريني نموده اند. تحقيقات مرتبط با تاريخ علم تأثير مستمر اين افكار در علم
پزشكي را محرز داشته است. در ايران باستان با اعتقاد بر اينكه سلامتي موهبتي
است الهي، و درد و بيماري زاييده اهريمنان است، تلاش در جهت حفظ تندرستي
يكي از وظايف ديني انسان به شمار مي رفت. اين باورها و انديشه ها در پزشكي
اسلامي نيز، با استناد بر اينكه انسان شريفترين مخلوقات و بدن او گرانبهاترين
بدنهااست، به وضوح استمرار مي يابد. در اين مقاله به انديشه ها و اعتقادات
ديني در پزشكي ايران باستان و استمرار برخي از اين مضامين و باورها در پزشكي
اسلامي اشاره شده است.
كليد واژگان: پزشكي، باورهاي عامه، اعتقادات، ايران باستان، پزشكي اسلامي

During the approximately 2500 year (late 5 th to the early 2 nd millennium B.C.) history of the site Tepe Hissar, Iran, underwent a number of cultural, economic, and social transformations, accompanied by conflict, population movements, increase in industrial activities, site abandonment and reoccupation. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of these socio-cultural-economic changes on the health of the people buried at Tepe Hissar. This study examined the pathological indicators of nutritional stress and skeletal metabolic disease among 313 adult individuals, by sex and age, within and between populations from the three periods (Hissar I, II and Hissar III). The chi-square test was employed for comparing the significant differences in the prevalence of metabolic disease rates within and between the Tepe Hissar population groups by sex and age category. In the case of small sample sizes not meeting the assumptions of the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test was used. These calculations were conducted both in Excel and SPSS 20. The result showed that males and females from the three periods at Tepe Hissar and from different age groups experienced similar episodes of health and stress during their lives. The prevalence rates indicate that almost half of the individuals from each period experienced skeletal metabolic disease. Statistical analyses did not show any significant increase or decrease in the prevalence of nutritional stress and metabolic diseases among this population with the passage of time. The results of this research indicate that socio-cultural-economic changes and events that occurred at this site, and particularly during Hissar II and III, did not have a significant impact on general health and disease of the population. This research suggests that the society at Tepe Hissar had access to similar levels of food resources and living condition over time from the late 5 th to the early 2 nd millennium B.C. However, the high rate of metabolic bone diseases in each period could have been due to exposure to toxic elements such as lead and arsenic which were widely utilized in metallurgical activities at this site.

Ancient Epidemics: Problems and Contexts, Methods and Evidence
Épidémies antiques : problèmes et contextes, méthodes et documentation

Programme des journées d'étude du programme ANR Pscheet : Pestilence and human societies
emergence, evolution and bio-cultural transformations

Anhima, Paris – en distanciel sur Zoom
vendredi 5 – samedi 6 mars 2021
Pour assister contacter B. Rossignol

The disease dracunculiasis has ravaged human populations for thousands of years (reference to the disease is documented in the Egyptian medical Ebers Papyrus, dating from around 1550 BC.) Current indications suggest that global incidences of the disease have been rapidly declining due to the concerted efforts of national and international health agencies. Here, only 148 dracunculiasis cases were reported worldwide in 2013 (which represents the lowest annual total ever recorded) and only four endemic countries remain: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan. With these countries, the majority of the cases occur in South Sudan. Nonetheless across these regions the number of endemic villages has declined from the peak of 23,735 in 1991 to 79 in 2013.

Human occupation for several centuries was recorded in the archaeological layers of Place dArmes, Namur, Belgium. Preventive archaeological excavations were carried out between 1996/1997 and seven historical strata were observed, from Gallo-Roman period up to Modern Times. Soil samples from cesspools, latrines, and structures-like were studied and revealed intestinal parasite eggs in the different archaeological contexts. Ascaris lumbricoides, A. suum, Trichuris trichiura, T. suis. Taenia sp., Fasciola hepatica, Diphyllobothrium sp., Capillaria sp. and Oxyuris equi eggs were found. Paleoparasitology confirmed the use of structures as latrines or cesspit as firstly supposed by the archaeologists. Medieval latrines were not only used for rejection of human excrements. The finding of Ascaris sp. and Trichuris sp. eggs may point to humans or wild swines feces. Gallo-Roman people used to eat wild boar. Therefore, both A. suum and T. suis, or A. lumbricoides and T. trichuris, may be prese...

The aim of this study is to determine the species of parasite that infected the population of Brussels during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and determine if there was notable variation between different households within the city. We compared multiple sediment layers from cesspits beneath three different latrines dating from the 14th–17th centuries. Helminths and protozoa were detected using microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We identified Ascaris sp., Capillaria sp., Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Entamoeba histolytica, Fasciola hepatica, Giardia duodenalis, Taenia sp. and Trichuris sp. in Medieval samples, and continuing presence of Ascaris sp., D. dendriticum, F. hepatica, G. duodenalis and Trichuris sp. into the Renaissance. While some variation existed between households, there was a broadly consistent pattern with the domination of species spread by fecal contamination of food and drink (whipworm, roundworm and protozoa that cause dysentery). These da...

Life in Ancient Egypt
An Ancient Civilization as Role Model for Evolutionary Research

Table of Contents
–Introduction
–Part 1: Overview History
–Part 2: Political organization
–Part 3: Society
–Part 4: Environment and Climate
–Part 5: Diet
–Part 6: Diseases