Gluten-Free Rome: Celiac disease in the bioarchaeological record

Abstract

Celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder triggered by consumption of the gluten protein, is theorized to have originated alongside the domestication of wheat during the European Agricultural Revolution, ca. 8 000 BCE (Freeman 2013). Human conditions that primarily affect soft tissue, like celiac disease, do not leave tangible evidence on the skeleton and therefore it is difficult to prove their presence. However, recent analyses have employed a suite of macroscopic, molecular, and chemical techniques to establish that a Roman Imperial (100–300 CE) individual from Cosa, Italy, likely suffered from celiac disease. This paper analyzes the works of these researchers and argues that this case study exemplifies modern bioarchaeology, which frequently requires an arsenal of methods beyond visual observation. Using similar syntheses of techniques bioarchaeologists can possibly identify celiac disease in individuals predating 100 CE, recreating the origins of celiac disease as well as tackling other previously ‘impossible’ research questions in this field.

Gluten Detection Methods and Their Critical Role in Assuring Safe Diets for Celiac Patients

“…But it is also responsible for numerous foodborne disorders, which remained one of the major causes of premature deaths in the most resource-deprived parts of the world since the prehistoric-times [3,[5][6][7][8]. Given its vast influence on human health, domestication of bread wheat and its subsequent industrialization has been considered a "mistake of evolution" that created conditions for human diseases related to gluten exposure [7,9,10]. The word "gluten" refers to a complex mixture of proline and glutamine-rich seed-storage proteins that serves as fuel for multiple disorders [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”