“…In the Neolithic Old World, skeletons with the infection have been reported in the Near East and North Africa (Ortner, 1979(Ortner, , 1999Strouhal, 1987;El-Najjar et al, 1997;Crubézy et al, 1998;Zias, 1998;Dabernat and Crubézy, 2010), with the potential Israeli evidence dating back to the eighth millennium BC (Hershkovitz et al, 2008). Skeletal TB has also been reported from Neolithic continental Europe (Bartels, 1907;Sager et al, 1972;Dastugue and de Lumley, 1976;Bennike, 1999;Gladykowska-Rzeczycka, 1999;Nuorala et al, 2004;Masson et al, 2013Masson et al, , 2015Köhler et al, 2014;Posa et al, 2015). In Italy, Neolithic evidence of skeletal TB has been reported in the area of Finalese (Finale Ligure, western Liguria), where a number of caves have been excavated since the mid-19 th century (Maggi 1997a(Maggi , 1997b.…”