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Syphilis was perceived to be a new disease in Europe in the late 15th century, igniting a debate about its origin that continues today in anthropological, historical, and medical circles. We move beyond this age-old debate using an interdisciplinary approach that tackles broader questions to advance the understanding of treponemal infection (syphilis, yaws, bejel, and pinta). How did the causative organism(s) and humans co-evolve? How did the related diseases caused by Treponema pallidum emerge in different parts of the world and affect people across both time and space? How are T. pallidum subspecies related to the treponeme causing pinta? The current state of scholarship in specific areas is reviewed with recommendations made to stimulate future work. Understanding treponemal biology, genetic relationships, epidemiology, and clinical manifestations is crucial for vaccine development today and for investigating the distribution of infection in both modern and past populations.Paleopathologists must improve diagnostic criteria and use a standard approach for recording skeletal lesions on archaeological human remains. Adequate contextualization of cultural and environmental conditions is necessary, including site dating and justification for any corrections made for marine or freshwater reservoir effects. Biogeochemical analyses may assess aquatic contributions to diet, physiological changes arising from treponemal disease and its treatments (e.g., mercury), or residential mobility of those affected. Shifting the focus from point of origin to investigating who is affected (e.g., by age/sex or socioeconomic status) and disease distribution (e.g., coastal/ inland, rural/urban) will advance our understanding of the treponemal disease and its impact on people through time. K E Y W O R D S archaeological biogeochemistry,

Stable nitrogen and carbon isotopes from human bone collagen (n = 20) were used to examine adult diet and infant feeding practices among the Ottoman-period Bedouin at Tell el-Hesi (ca. 1500-1800 CE). Among adults, δ 15 N values point to a diet dependent on animal protein, fitting with ethnohistoric accounts detailing the reliance of these communities on secondary animal products. Nevertheless, differential access to animal protein was evident between males (δ 15 N: x ̅ = 10.7 ± 0.4‰, 1σ) and females (x ̅ = 9.2 ± 0.6‰, 1σ), who consumed proportionally more plant proteins that likely included cereals used to make bread. Carbon isotope values (x ̅ = À 17.4 ± 0.4‰, 1σ) were similar between the sexes and suggest a mixed C 3 -C 4 diet, indicating that domesticated cultivars likely contributed to food intake alongside animal products and were either obtained through trade with more sedentary groups or

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The nature of the Bronze Age transition from the Umm an-Nar (ca. 2700-2000 BC) to the Wadi Suq (ca. 2000-1300 BC) period in the Oman Peninsula has been highly debated by archaeologists, with some characterizing the latter as a time of cultural isolation, social collapse, and/or population replacement following the successful involvement of the area in widespread interregional exchange networks across Arabia and South Asia. The hypothesis that a substantial change in residential mobility, immigration, and diet took place in response to considerable societal changes as reflected by the archaeological record was tested using stable oxygen and carbon isotope analysis. Archaeological human dental enamel from individuals interred in six Umm an-Nar (n = 100) and seven Wadi Suq (n = 16) communal tombs in the United Arab Emirates was used. Oxygen isotope data reveal largely homogeneous ratios indicative of a predominantly local population that acquired water from isotopically similar sources, although the presence of immigrants during both periods suggests that the region was not as isolated as previously held. Carbon isotope data exhibit a substantial temporal shift from an extremely varied to a more restricted diet, demonstrating that while considerable changes in subsistence strategies and social organization took place in the early second millennium BC, population continuity and sustained (although lessened) participation in pan-Gulf trade systems best characterizes this regional transformation.