Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE

Abstract

It is a common assumption that – compared with the Mesolithic – the adoption of Neolithic lifeways was accompanied by a higher risk of infection and the development of epidemic diseases. Such a hypothesis seems plausible when considering singular archaeological parameters like increasing population density and palaeopathological indicators of poor health. However, evidence for the far-reaching consequences of epidemics has not yet been examined. Thus, the relevance of infectious diseases as triggers for transformation processes in the Neolithic remains to be identified. By reviewing specific archaeological, genetic and palaeopathological proxies gained from groups of individuals that inhabited the German loess zone from the early to the final Neolithic, we provide a diachronic view of the periods between 5500 and 2500 BCE with regard to postulated indicators of epidemic events. Our analyses of the archaeological proxies suggest major transformations in domestic strategies and mortuary practices, especially in the middle and late Neolithic. Interestingly, mass burials indicative of epidemic events are lacking. Ancient DNA results on pathogens confirm single infections throughout the Neolithic, but there is no clear evidence for diseases of epidemic proportions. The osteological records are not conclusive since the majority of osseous changes are unspecific with regard to the cause and course of infections. We conclude that currently neither biological nor archaeological proxies suggest substantial contributions of epidemics to Neolithic transformations in the German loess zone. This finding contrasts with the general assumption of a higher risk of infection and the development of epidemic diseases during the Neolithic.

Genome-wide study of a Neolithic Wartberg grave community reveals distinct HLA variation and hunter-gatherer ancestry

“…Interestingly, we did not detect any pathogens. This observation is consistent with aDNA-based findings describing only relatively few sporadic cases of infectious diseases for the Neolithic period 46 .…”

Neolithic genomes reveal a distinct ancient HLA allele pool and population transformation in Europe

“…Interestingly, we did not observe any pathogens. This observation is consistent with aDNA-based findings describing only relatively few sporadic cases of infectious diseases for the Neolithic period 44 . Noteworthy is the absence of Yersinia pestis , as lineages of this bacterium have already been postulated for the Late Neolithic and are reported in a Scandinavian case dated to 2900 cal.…”

Mobility and Social Change: Understanding the European Neolithic Period after the Archaeogenetic Revolution

“…The finding of yersinia pestis on Neolithic individuals is not proof of an epidemic, as nothing is known about the virulence or deadliness of the bacterium during that period. On the contrary, the fact that such bacteria have been found only in a small number of Neolithic individuals, spread out over 1500 years over the whole of Eurasia, points to low rates of transmission and mortality, at least to a scenario very different and less dramatic than the late medieval plague of the 14th century (Fuchs et al 2019). As mentioned, the male bias in the influx of steppe ancestry (Goldberg et al 2017) is contentious (Lazaridis and Reich 2017), and an uptick in violence during the third millennium BC cannot be inferred from two mass graves.…”