Insights from paleomicrobiology into the indigenous peoples of pre-colonial America - A Review

Abstract

This review investigates ancient infectious diseases in the Americas dated to the pre-colonial period and considers what these findings can tell us about the history of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It gives an overview, but focuses on four microbial pathogens from this period: Helicobacter pylori, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Trypanosoma cruzi and Coccidioides immitis, which cause stomach ulceration and gastric cancer, tuberculosis, Chagas disease and valley fever, respectively. These pathogens were selected as H. pylori can give insight into ancient human migrations into the Americas, M. tuberculosis is associated with population density and urban development, T. cruzi can elucidate human living conditions and C. immitis can indicate agricultural development. A range of methods are used to diagnose infectious disease in ancient human remains, with DNA analysis by polymerase chain reaction one of the most reliable, provided strict precautions are taken against cross contamination. The review concludes with a brief summary of the changes that took place after European exploration and colonisation.

Prehistoric earth oven facilities and the pathoecology of Chagas disease in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands

“…Until relatively recently, paleopathologists believed that Chagas disease became a major human problem after Andean animal domestication and the domiciliation of the Chagas disease cycle. Domiciliation involved association of guinea pigs, dogs, humans, and the insect vectors in canewalled human habitations (for review see Araújo et al, 2009;Darling and Donoghue, 2014;Ferreira et al, 2011;Guhl et al, 2014;Coimbra, 1988). It had long been believed that Chagas disease only spread across the rest of Latin America during historic times.…”

Tuberculosis in post-contact Native Americans of Brazil: Paleopathological and paleogenetic evidence from the Tenetehara-Guajajara

“…Some Native American communities may have never been exposed to infection, while others had certainly been in contact with some mycobacteria strains [11]. This study did not determine the source of Tenetehara-Guajajara infection, but we cannot rule out the possibility of African, or worldwide, strains.…”

Q&A: What are pathogens, and what have they done to and for us?

“…Infectious disease played an equally important role in past human migrations. The conquistadores’ sweeping conquests of large swaths of the Americas in the 16 th century was greatly aided by the diseases they brought with them, such as measles and smallpox, to which the indigenous populations had limited immunity [ 22 ]. Conversely, one of the possible reasons Europeans managed to colonize Africa was that they used quinine, an antimalarial drug derived from the bark of the cinchona tree [ 23 ].…”