Endemic treponemal disease in late pre-Columbian prehistory: New parameters, new insights

Betsinger, Tracy K.; Smith, Maria Ostendorf; Thorson, Lindsey Jo Helms; Williams, Leslie Lea

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.033

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Further work by Smith & Betsinger () demonstrated differences in treponemal disease frequency in Late Woodland horticultural versus more sedentary Late Mississippian agricultural groups in East Tennessee, and a lower frequency among elites compared to nonelites (Smith, Betsinger, & Williams, ; see also Betsinger & Smith, :245). Treponemal disease frequency, thus, may be related to more than population size and density or degree of sedentism, including factors such as sociopolitical organization, physical structure of settlements, or ethnic differences (Betsinger, Smith, Thorson, & Williams, ). Continuing explorations of these factors in other regions of North America and other parts of the globe are crucial to unraveling the effects of treponemal disease on past communities.…”

Section: Paleopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present

Baker

Crane-Kramer

Dee

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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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,

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Section: Paleopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present

Baker

Crane-Kramer

Dee

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…Treponemal lesions are ubiquitous in late prehistoric, eastern, and south‐eastern North American skeletal samples (Powell & Cook, ). This is arguably due to the increased sedentism and aggregated settlement that co‐occurred with intensive agriculture (post‐1000 CE), as these created conditions conducive to endemic treponematosis (Betsinger, Smith, Helms Thorson, & Williams, ; Smith & Betsinger, ). As only a small proportion of a population (10–13% of cases) affected by treponematosis will manifest tertiary skeletal lesions (Giacani & Lukehart, ), the high prevalence suggests that late Mississippian societies experienced a heavy treponemal disease burden (Smith & Betsinger, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying the Index of Care to the Mississippian period: A case study of treponematosis, physical impairment, and probable health‐related caregiving from the Holliston Mills site, TN

Zuckerman

Kamnikar

Osterholtz

et al. 2019

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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Bioarchaeologists and palaeopathologists have recently turned their attention towards one critical aspect of the study of the history of disease: health‐related caregiving. In response, an approach, the bioarchaeology of care, and, within it, the web‐based Index of Care (IoC) have been developed to enable the identification and interpretation of past caregiving. Here, we apply the IoC to Burial 86, a young adult (18–25 years) female from the late Mississippian period, Dallas cultural phase Holliston Mills site (40HW11; ca. ad 1348–1535), TN. Burial 86 exhibits pathologies specific to treponematosis. They also exhibit a suite of pathologies indicative of physical impairment, including a varus angular deformity in the right tibia that is potentially the result of a malaligned pathological fracture. Following the IoC, we determine that Burial 86 probably experienced moderate clinical impacts on several domains (e.g., musculoskeletal system) with various functional impacts on essential activities of daily living. This means that Burial 86 likely had a disability and likely received caregiving, though it is impossible to determine if the care was efficacious. That care was provided likely reflected the community of Holliston Mills' more egalitarian socio‐political structure, which was unusual for the late Mississippian. It may also reflect Burial 86's agency, the presence of adequate resources at the site, as indicated by high frequencies of high status mortuary artifacts, or a combination of these factors. The mortuary program for Burial 86 does not indicate that they were marked as being different—in status or other social categories—than other community members. This study highlights how bioarchaeological evidence can be used to explore the downstream effects of chronic infections, such as treponematosis, throughout the body and across the life course, and the opportunities for health‐related caregiving in past societies that these processes can potentially create.

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Endemic treponemal disease in late pre-Columbian prehistory: New parameters, new insights

Cited by 2 publications

References 44 publications

Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present

Advancing the understanding of treponemal disease in the past and present

Applying the Index of Care to the Mississippian period: A case study of treponematosis, physical impairment, and probable health‐related caregiving from the Holliston Mills site, TN

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