series on health in ancient world part

Series on Health in the Ancient World: Part I

My next series of posts are going to be on various topics in

uncovering health and nutrition in the Greek and Roman world, as I

take a break from my various historical and scientific political

interests.

I became interested in health in the ancient world as of late mostly

because of Dr. Sam Stout's advanced Skeletal Biology course that I am

taking this quarter in the Anthropology department. Coming from an

ancient history/geology background, I know literally NOTHING about

bone biology. I can't even tell you the differences in the bones

themselves--tibia or fibia?--no clue, much less do I have a clue about

bones at a cellular level. But if you know anything at all about me,

you know that my thirst for new knowledge keeps me going, and that by

the end of the quarter, I'll be quite proficient in this field of

study.

Most of the following posts in this series will be based more on

histomorphometric and anthropometric analysis from the Greek and Roman

world, as this ties nicely into the course. My goal is to pull a

research paper out of this series.

So let's get started. The first article is as follows:

Typhoid 'caused fall of Athens' From bbcnews.com

A University of Athens team analysed DNA from dental pulp found in a

burial pit dating back to 430 BC and linked it to the organism that

causes typhoid.

Scientists have long debated the cause of the plague that ended

Athenian dominance of the classical world. The study in the

International Journal of Infectious Diseases says a number of diseases

were suspected as the cause. These included bubonic plague, smallpox,

anthrax and measles as suspected causes of the epidemic which spread

across northern Africa to Egypt, Libya and Greece.

Between 430 and 426 BC the plague killed almost a third of the

Athenian population and its armed forces, along with the city's leader

and mastermind of Athenian glory, Pericles. The research team

investigated DNA material in three randomly selected intact teeth

found in the ancient cemetery of Kerameikos which dates back to the

outbreak of the disease. All teeth were washed and the dental pulp

removed was subjected to a series of DNA tests. The results were

compared with the DNA profiles of a seven disease-causing viruses and

bacteria. An ancient strain of the organism causing typhoid fever was

found to be present in the dental pulp of all three dental samples.

Microbiological evidence

The team said in their research: "For an infectious disease to be

considered as a likely cause of the Plague of Athens, it must, above

all have existed at that time. "Infectious diarrhoeas and dysentery as

described by the ancients, imply that typhoid fever was an endemic

problem in the ancient world."

The team added that it was the first time microbiological evidence

associated with the plague had been analysed. Previously assumptions

about the cause had been based on the narrations of a the 5th Century

Greek historian Thucydides. Earlier research rejected the idea that

typhoid caused the plague because of the symptoms described by

Thucydides did not fit with the modern day typhoid. But the

researchers said inconsistencies maybe explained by the possible

evolution of typhoid fever over time.

Lead author Dr Manolis Papagrigorakis said: "Studying historical

aspects of infectious diseases can be a powerful tool for several

disciplines to learn from."

Dr Daniel Antoine, lecturer in bioarchaeology and dental anthropology

at University College London's Institute of Archaeology, described the

work on DNA as solid and said the results were very interesting.

However, he added: "It would be nice to have another lab repeat this

work on a larger sample from a Greek site of the same period, before

typhoid fever is attributed as the sole 'cause' of the plague, and

thus eliminate the possibility of an isolated outbreak of typhoid

fever."

--I agree with the last statement by Dr. Antoine. There definitely

needs to be more work done in this area in order to be sure of a more

wide-spread typhoid plague. The title of this article is quite

misleading and over-reaching--performing this research at just one

location doesn't prove much. It's interesting that Thucydides is

brought up as being the main source of previous scientific rejection

of the typhoid-as-plague possibility. One can only rely so much on the

ancient authors for reality of situations for all. So, all in all, it

is great to see that such previous assumptions are beginning to be