Suspected bacterial disease in two archaeological horse skeletons from southern England: palaeopathological and biomolecular studies

Bendrey, Robin; Taylor, G. Michael; Bouwman, Abigail; Cassidy, Joseph P.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2007.11.002

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…As brucellosis was one of the likely differential diagnoses for the lytic vertebral lesions, the extracts from Sk15 were also tested for Brucella spp . bacteria using a real-time PCR method for the multi-copy IS 711 element [51]. This assay was also negative.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Detection and Strain Typing of Ancient Mycobacterium leprae from a Medieval Leprosy Hospital

et al. 2013

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Nine burials excavated from the Magdalen Hill Archaeological Research Project (MHARP) in Winchester, UK, showing skeletal signs of lepromatous leprosy (LL) have been studied using a multidisciplinary approach including osteological, geochemical and biomolecular techniques. DNA from Mycobacterium leprae was amplified from all nine skeletons but not from control skeletons devoid of indicative pathology. In several specimens we corroborated the identification of M. leprae with detection of mycolic acids specific to the cell wall of M. leprae and persistent in the skeletal samples. In five cases, the preservation of the material allowed detailed genotyping using single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). Three of the five cases proved to be infected with SNP type 3I-1, ancestral to contemporary M. leprae isolates found in southern states of America and likely carried by European migrants. From the remaining two burials we identified, for the first time in the British Isles, the occurrence of SNP type 2F. Stable isotope analysis conducted on tooth enamel taken from two of the type 3I-1 and one of the type 2F remains revealed that all three individuals had probably spent their formative years in the Winchester area. Previously, type 2F has been implicated as the precursor strain that migrated from the Middle East to India and South-East Asia, subsequently evolving to type 1 strains. Thus we show that type 2F had also spread westwards to Britain by the early medieval period.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Detection and Strain Typing of Ancient Mycobacterium leprae from a Medieval Leprosy Hospital

et al. 2013

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“…For example, an Iron Age horse skeleton excavated from Basingstoke (UK), displayed evidence of a systemic infection which was suggested to be caused by either tuberculosis or brucellosis, or both (Bendrey 2008a). The application of aDNA techniques to this skeleton (along with another articulated Iron Age horse skeleton from Kent (UK) displaying similar lesions), failed to recover equine aDNA or specific pathogen DNA related to either disease (Bendrey et al 2008). …”

Section: Human Health and Diseasementioning

confidence: 92%

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

Upex

Dobney

2011

A Companion to Paleopathology

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From the earliest hunters, through the advent of domestication to the most recent outbreak of swine flu, animals and humans have had a long and complex relationship. Anthropology and archaeology (more specifically the disciplines of zooarchaeology and paleopathology) provide a key temporal framework for the exploration and understanding of this relationship and the wide range of questions that are encompassed by it. Paleopathological studies in ancient human and nonhuman species can be broadly defined as the study of past health, disease and injury, through the analysis of calcified tissue, primarily bones and teeth. However, compared to human paleopathology, animal paleopathology has received little or no serious attention within the wider fields of archaeology and even zooarchaeology. The reasons for this are varied (and discussed in more detail below), but are principally related to the more complex, intensive taphonomic processes that animal bone assemblages often undergo compared to human remains. As we hope this brief chapter will highlight, the study of animal paleopathology has the potential to add a great deal of information to our understanding of the past. Whilst perhaps the most obvious area of study relates to the spread and management of human diseases, this is just the "tip of the iceberg".

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“…In addition, Brucella aDNA has been demonstrated in an adult female with vertebral lytic lesions from Iron Age Siberia dated to 360-170 B.C. (Bendrey 2008). Brucella spp.…”

Section: Diseases Of the Past And Adna Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Promise, the Problems, and the Future of DNA Analysis in Paleopathology Studies

Spigelman

Shin

Gal

2011

A Companion to Paleopathology

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Suspected bacterial disease in two archaeological horse skeletons from southern England: palaeopathological and biomolecular studies

Cited by 25 publications

References 24 publications

Detection and Strain Typing of Ancient Mycobacterium leprae from a Medieval Leprosy Hospital

Detection and Strain Typing of Ancient Mycobacterium leprae from a Medieval Leprosy Hospital

More Than Just Mad Cows: Exploring Human‐Animal Relationships through Animal Paleopathology

The Promise, the Problems, and the Future of DNA Analysis in Paleopathology Studies

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