Selectivity of Black Death mortality with respect to preexisting health

DeWitte, Sharon N.; Wood, James W.

doi:10.1073/pnas.0705460105

Cited by 220 publications

(196 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Similarly, it has been shown that epidemic mortality in historic populations was apparently not selective with respect to age and sex among adults [8][9][10][11][12]. Conversely, it was shown that mortality associated with the medieval epidemic was selective with respect to frailty [10,11].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, it was shown that mortality associated with the medieval epidemic was selective with respect to frailty [10,11]. Individuals who were in poor health before the epidemics were more likely to die than were their healthy peers [11].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some scholars base their studies on the paleodemographic assumption that the sex and age distribution of a skeletal sample reflects the constitution of the original population [8,9], others disagree [10]. Modern clinical studies show that plague is not a selective disease.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sex was determined exclusively for the adult population by using standard morphometrical methods [14][15][16]. The sub-adult age at death was established based on the evaluation of the degree of dental mineralization and eruption [17], the measurement of the diaphyseal length of the long bones [18,10], and the evaluation of the degree of epiphyseal fusion of the long bones and hip bone [20][21][22]. When the skeletal state of preservation of each sub-adult was complete enough, the three methods were applied simultaneously.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mortality risk factors show similar trends in modern and historic populations exposed to plague

Rubini¹,

Gualdi‐Russo

Manzon

et al. 2016

J Infect Dev Ctries

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Introduction: Plague has been responsible for two major historic pandemics (6th-8th century CE; 14th-19th century CE) and a modern one. The recent Malagasy plague outbreaks raised new concerns on the deadly potential of the plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis. Between September 2014 and April 2015, outbreaks of bubonic and pneumonic plague hit the Malagasy population. Two hundred and sixty-three cases, including 71 deaths, have been reported in 16 different districts with a case fatality rate of 27%. The scope of our study was to ascertain whether the risk factors for health in modern-day populations exposed to plague and in ancient populations that faced the two historic pandemics varied or remained substantially unaltered. Methodology: The risk of mortality of the Malagasy population with those obtained from the reconstruction of three samples of European populations exposed to the historic pandemics was contrasted. Results: The evidence shows that the risks of death are not uniform across age neither in modern nor in historic populations exposed to plague and shows precise concentrations in specific age groups (children between five and nine years of age and young adults). Conclusions: Although in the post-antibiotic era, the fatality rates have drastically reduced, both modern and historic populations were exposed to the same risk factors that are essentially represented by a low standard of environmental hygiene, poor nutrition, and weak health systems.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Mortality risk factors show similar trends in modern and historic populations exposed to plague

Rubini¹,

Gualdi‐Russo

Manzon

et al. 2016

J Infect Dev Ctries

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, new research is challenging our traditional interpretation of non-specific indicators of stress as measures of health status (Reitsema and McIlvaine 2014), including dental enamel defects (Hassett 2014;Hubbard et al 2009), periosteal reaction (e.g., DeWitte 2014a, 2014bDeWitte and Wood 2008;Weston, 2008Weston, , 2009Weston, , 2012, and porotic hyperostosis (McIlvaine 2013;Piperata et al 2014), as well as specific patterns of pathology that are diagnostic of metabolic conditions such as scurvy (Crandall and Klaus 2014) and anemia (Smith-Guzman 2015), and infections such as leishmaniasis (Marsteller et al 2011). The study of disease progression over the life course also is being examined more broadly in contemporary studies of paleopathology that also draw upon medical sources (e.g., Baker and Bolhofner 2013).…”

Section: Contemporary Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stronger Together: Advancing a Global Bioarchaeology

Baker

2017

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Bioarchaeology is a burgeoning, integrative field that spans the globe. Bioarchaeology is often thought to encompass the study of only the human remains found within archaeological sites, frequently divorced from the contexts in which they were found. The physical remains of people store a record of their biological attributes, providing information on illnesses or trauma they survived or that may have contributed to their deaths, their daily activities, biological affinities, and more. Equally informative are the different ways that people were treated in death by those who survived them. Rather than investigating only the biological remains or studying material culture alone, integrating these components permits a more complete understanding of how people experienced an array of circumstances over the course of their own lives and through multiple generations. Differing subsistence practices, access to resources, exposure to hazards, and changes in economic, political, religious, or environmental factors over time and across vast areas of the world are topics explored by bioarchaeologists. Learning how past peoples were affected by pathogens, climate change, and immigration, for example, provides insight into contemporary issues and ABSTRACTBioarchaeology is a relatively young field that aims to improve our understanding of life, death, and interrelationships among past humans around the globe. The discipline grew out of 1960s American processual archaeology and biological anthropology and emerged as human osteoarchaeology in the UK. Today, bioarchaeology is a vibrant, interdisciplinary field of study that cross-cuts biological anthropology, archaeology, and social theory to situate past peoples within their biological, cultural, and environmental circumstances. The field emphasizes not only the study of human remains but the integrative analysis and interpretation of their context, including the archaeological, sociocultural, and political milieu and the environmental setting in which people lived. The growing interest in bio archae ol o gi cal research has created the need for a new peer-reviewed journal to help unify and advance this discipline around the globe. In this introduction to Bioarchaeology International, we trace the origins of the field and the different "schools" of bioarchaeology that have developed and are now merging as the discipline has matured. We then delineate the purpose and goals of the journal, highlighting how the articles in the first issue contribute to those goals. Finally, as co-editors in chief, we describe our vision for contemporary and future directions in bioarchaeology. With this overview of the field and journal, we wish to stimulate discussion and promote international submissions. We intend for Bioarchaeology International to strengthen this growing field and help promote scholarly and public interest in our collective research.Keywords: archaeology; biological anthropology; biocultural; funerary archaeology; mortuary behavior; osteology; osteoarchaeology; paleopatholo...

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Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

Spaulding

Bohleber

et al. 2017

GeoHealth

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Contrary to widespread assumptions, next‐generation high (annual to multiannual) and ultra‐high (subannual) resolution analyses of an Alpine glacier reveal that true historical minimum natural levels of lead in the atmosphere occurred only once in the last ~2000 years. During the Black Death pandemic, demographic and economic collapse interrupted metal production and atmospheric lead dropped to undetectable levels. This finding challenges current government and industry understanding of preindustrial lead pollution and its potential implications for human health of children and adults worldwide. Available technology and geographic location have limited previous ice core investigations. We provide new high‐ (discrete, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, ICP‐MS) and ultra‐high resolution (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, LA‐ICP‐MS) records of atmospheric lead deposition extracted from the high Alpine glacier Colle Gnifetti, in the Swiss‐Italian Alps. We show that contrary to the conventional wisdom, low levels at or approaching natural background occurred only in a single 4 year period in ~2000 years documented in the new ice core, during the Black Death (~1349–1353 C.E.), the most devastating pandemic in Eurasian history. Ultra‐high chronological resolution allows for the first time detailed and decisive comparison of the new glaciochemical data with historical records. Historical evidence shows that mining activity ceased upwind of the core site from ~1349 to 1353, while concurrently on the glacier lead (Pb) concentrations—dated by layer counting confirmed by radiocarbon dating—dropped to levels below detection, an order of magnitude beneath figures deemed low in earlier studies. Previous assumptions about preindustrial “natural” background lead levels in the atmosphere—and potential impacts on humans—have been misleading, with significant implications for current environmental, industrial, and public health policy, as well as for the history of human lead exposure. Trans‐disciplinary application of this new technology opens the door to new approaches to the study of the anthropogenic impact on past and present human health.

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Selectivity of Black Death mortality with respect to preexisting health

Abstract: frailty ͉ paleodemography ͉ paleoepidemiology ͉ selective mortality

Cited by 220 publications

References 41 publications

Mortality risk factors show similar trends in modern and historic populations exposed to plague

Mortality risk factors show similar trends in modern and historic populations exposed to plague

Stronger Together: Advancing a Global Bioarchaeology

Next‐generation ice core technology reveals true minimum natural levels of lead (Pb) in the atmosphere: Insights from the Black Death

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