Treponematosis in Pre-Columbian Jamaica: a biocultural approach to the human cranium found in Bull Savannah

The first inhabitants of Jamaica are now generally referred to as Taínos. It is likely that they arrived in the island after about 650 AD and were extinct by the end of the 16th century. In 1968, during the exploration of a small cave in Bull Savannah, St. Elizabeth parish, Dr. James Lee found two skulls, teeth, bones, and pottery. The aim of this work is to interpret in a biocultural perspective the one cranium with pathological lesions, such as caries sicca. This adult individual had an artificially modified cranium, a cultural practice common among Taínos, which was studied macroscopically and by radiological and computerized tomography. The radiocarbon dates, obtained by AMS, point to the 10th–11th centuries AD and the stable isotopes analysis revealed either the ingestion of a mixed C3/C4 plant diet or an extensive intake of marine resources, the former being more likely. This is the first cranium to be found in Jamaica with evidence of Pre-Columbian treponematosis, most probably syphilis, which has also been demonstrated in a few cases elsewhere in the Caribbean region. This finding agrees with the ethnohistorical narrative, according to which syphilis existed among the native population, who used plant extracts to treat the disease. This paper contributes to our knowledge about the Taínos and the history of treponematosis in the Americas.     

High-throughput mass spectrometric analysis of 1400-year-old mycolic acids as biomarkers for ancient tuberculosis infection

The cell wall of mycobacteria includes an unusual outer membrane of extremely low permeability. This cell envelope consists of a characteristic cell wall skeleton, a mycoloyl arabinogalactan peptidoglycan complex, and related hydrophobic components that contribute to the cell surface properties. In this study 1400-year-old mycolic acids as unique tuberculosis biomarkers have been extracted and identified for the first time by using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The data suggest that the MALDI TOF MS has potential as a rapid and reproducible technique for the detection and identification of ancient mycobacterial infections.     

Digging deeper into the limits of ancient DNA research on syphilis

The search for the origins of syphilis has a long history in the medical and anthropological literatures. If we know more about the emergence of the pathogen that causes the disease in humans we will understand its evolution through time and space as well as shed light on its current state in living populations. Ancient DNA techniques used to isolate Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum DNA from archaeological human specimens provide direct evidence of its existence in the past. However to date, only Kolman et al. (1999) have been successful in this endeavour, while other attempts have failed (e.g., Barnes and Thomas, 2006; Bouwman and Brown, 2005). Why has there been little success? This paper serves to compliment and add relevant information to Bouwman and Brown's and Barnes and Thomas' discussion concerning our inability to apply ancient DNA techniques to study venereal syphilis in past human populations.Our approach utilized 15 different human specimens from different geographies and different temporal periods: eight samples come from medically diagnosed individuals archived during the American Civil War period; six originate from the United Kingdom and predate 1492 with four of these samples having been previously analyzed by Bouwman and Brown and one sample comes from historic Canada. Human mitochondrial and amelogenin DNA, as well as several genes from the Treponema organism were analyzed revealing the relatively good preservation of human multi-copy and single copy DNA but not treponemal DNA. This study also incorporates a unique molecular experiment using rabbits infected with venereal syphilis to help illustrate that treponemal DNA disseminates to bone early during the first stages of infection but is not present in later stages of the disease using the techniques presented in this study.     

Neurocranial abnormalities of the Gongwangling Homo erectus from Lantian,China

The Homo erectus cranium found at Gongwangling, near Lantian, China, and dated to ≈1.2 ma BP has been analyzed with respect to its evolutionary position. However, the remains, and especially the internal and external surfaces of the neurocranium, present a series of marked abnormalities. These irregularities consist principally of a pronounced cresting and scalloping of the external surface of the frontal bone and anterior parietal bone and a similar alteration of the internal surface of a mid transverse section of parietal bone that connects with the fossilization break across the anterior parietal bone. There is no obvious exposure of diploë on the surfaces. Woo (Vertebrata PalAsiatica 10:1–16, 1966) briefly ascribed these abnormalities to postmortem erosion, and Caspari (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 102:565–568, 1997) has attributed the irregularities of the right supraorbital torus to antemortem trauma. It has been suggested that the pervasive neurocranial alterations might be pathological. Computerized tomography (CT) analysis of the frontal and parietal bones revealed complete radiopacity of the anterior half of the fossil; it is possible to distinguish large frontal sinuses but other details, including in the area of the purported traumatic lesion, are invisible. However, in the posterior frontal bone and preserved portions of the parietal bone the diploë and tables are discernible. Externally on the frontoparietal section and internally on the transverse parietal piece, there are clear erosional lacunae in the associated table, combined with a thin layer of matrix which obscures the eroded diploë externally. The superficial irregularities are therefore due to postmortem taphonomic alterations of the bone and not pathological processes. In addition, it is apparent that the two pieces were embedded in the matrix at different angles, resulting in their differential erosion.     

The parry problem

Injuries classified as parry fractures, normally the result of a direct blow when the forearm is raised to shield the face, are significant in bioarcheological interpretations because the parry fracture is perceived as an indicator of interpersonal (or extramural) violence. It is therefore necessary that these injuries be correctly identified in order to properly interpret the trauma pattern and its social implications for abuse, gender and power relations among ancient people. Common acute forearm fractures are reviewed here and quantitative guidelines that define the parry fracture configuration are presented. The parry criteria include: (1) an absence of radial involvement, (2) a transverse fracture line, (3) a location below the midshaft (<0.5 adjusted distance to the lesion's center), and (4) either minor unalignment (<10°) in any plane or horizontal apposition from the diaphysis (<50%). A sample of 278 adults from northern Sudan dated to the Nubian Bronze Age (ca. 2500–1500 BC) contained 38 individuals with forearm fractures. Of these fractures, 21 out of the 28 ulna injuries were identified as parry fractures using the parry criteria. Fewer females suffered from parry fractures than when ulna injuries were identified by location on the ulna alone. The use of the parry criteria may not always affect the results significantly, but here interpersonal violence directed against women and amongst ancient Nubians was found to be less prevalent than implied in earlier studies. The absence of perimortem parry fractures suggests that the Kermans interred within mass burials were not physically forced to their graves. Chronic ulna stress fractures associated with sports and habitual activities must also be considered as a differential diagnosis of this injury.