Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate five new cases of possible treponematosis in early medieval Denmark. A total of 1018 skeletons from Danish and present day German cemeteries have been examined, and five candidates of pre-Columbian individuals have been selected from three Danish burial sites on Funen, Jutland and Zealand. The five individuals with a possible infection with treponematoses have been analysed anthropological and chemically.Two of the skeletons exhibited cranial lesions, i.e. serpiginous and focal superficial cavitation. The other three only displayed periosteal reactions of varying degrees on the postcranial skeleton. Computed tomography scans showed focal obliteration of the periosteum on the long bones as well as on the affected skulls. Radiocarbon dates and stable isotope analyses indicate that three of the four analysed skeletons predate AD 1493. High levels of mercury in three of the individuals suggest that medical treatment with Hg-containing medicine took place.Considering the climate and geography at the sites, venereal syphilis might be the treponemal disease causing the pathologies on the skeletal remains. However, the historical background, the bone lesions and their prevalence point to the presence of a less aggressive, maybe non-venereal, form of treponematosis. Consequently, the hypothesis that pre-Columbian venereal syphilis existed among the analysed skeletal material is rejected with the help of various archaeometric analyses.
Highlights
Ortner stated that “the presence of syphilis in the Old World before 1500 A.D. remains a very contentious issue...” [1]
In the present study five skeletons were selected amongst 1018 Medieval Danish individuals as potential candidates of pre-Columbian venereal syphilis
The results of our analyses show that those two, Tirup 292 and St
Summary
Ortner stated that “the presence of syphilis in the Old World before 1500 A.D. remains a very contentious issue...” [1]. For centuries researchers have discussed three main theories about the origin of syphilis. One of the hypothesis, namely the existence of a pre-Columbian Treponema pallidum pallidum as the causative agent of venereal syphilis in the Old World has been and still is an on-going matter of dispute cf [2,3,4]. There are two possible finds of non-venereal treponemal disease from pre-Columbian England and Germany. Kuhnen et al [15] present a case of possible treponarid in the skeleton of a knight from early 12th century Germany; and Stirland [16] describes four adult individuals with treponemal bone changes, which Rothschild [17] determined as classical lesions of yaws. Radiocarbon dates of calAD 1025–1290 supported a pre-Columbian time [13]
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