ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Justinian plague and its subsequent outbreaks were major events influencing Early Medieval Europe. One of the affected communities was the population of Saint-Doulchard in France, where plague victim burials were concentrated in a cemetery enclosure ditch. This study aimed to obtain more information about their life-histories using the tools of isotope analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Dietary analysis using carbon and nitrogen isotopes was conducted on 97 individuals buried at Le Pressoir in Saint-Doulchard, with 36 of those originating from the enclosure ditch. This sample set includes all individuals analyzed for plague DNA in a previous study. Mobility analysis using strontium isotope analysis supplements the dietary study, with 47 analyzed humans. The results are supported by a reference sample set of 31 animal specimens for dietary analysis and 9 for mobility analysis. RESULTS: The dietary analysis results showed significantly different dietary behavior in individuals from the ditch burials, with better access to higher quality foods richer in animal protein. 87Sr/86Sr ratios are similar for both studied groups and indicate a shared or similar area of origin. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that the ditch burials contain an urban population from the nearby city of Bourges, which overall had a better diet than the rural population from Saint-Doulchard. It is implied that city's population might have been subjected to high mortality rates during the plague outbreak(s), which led to their interment in nearby rural cemeteries.
Subject(s)
Carbon Isotopes , Diet , Nitrogen Isotopes , Plague , Plague/history , Plague/epidemiology , Plague/mortality , Humans , Carbon Isotopes/analysis , Female , History, Medieval , Male , Nitrogen Isotopes/analysis , France/epidemiology , Adult , Animals , Diet/adverse effects , Diet/history , Adolescent , Child , Young Adult , Middle Aged , Child, Preschool , Cemeteries , Strontium Isotopes/analysis , InfantABSTRACT
In the period between 5,300 and 4,900 calibrated years before present (cal. BP), populations across large parts of Europe underwent a period of demographic decline1,2. However, the cause of this so-called Neolithic decline is still debated. Some argue for an agricultural crisis resulting in the decline3, others for the spread of an early form of plague4. Here we use population-scale ancient genomics to infer ancestry, social structure and pathogen infection in 108 Scandinavian Neolithic individuals from eight megalithic graves and a stone cist. We find that the Neolithic plague was widespread, detected in at least 17% of the sampled population and across large geographical distances. We demonstrate that the disease spread within the Neolithic community in three distinct infection events within a period of around 120 years. Variant graph-based pan-genomics shows that the Neolithic plague genomes retained ancestral genomic variation present in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, including virulence factors associated with disease outcomes. In addition, we reconstruct four multigeneration pedigrees, the largest of which consists of 38 individuals spanning six generations, showing a patrilineal social organization. Lastly, we document direct genomic evidence for Neolithic female exogamy in a woman buried in a different megalithic tomb than her brothers. Taken together, our findings provide a detailed reconstruction of plague spread within a large patrilineal kinship group and identify multiple plague infections in a population dated to the beginning of the Neolithic decline.
Subject(s)
Farmers , Genomics , Pedigree , Plague , Population Dynamics , Yersinia pestis , Female , Humans , Male , Cemeteries/history , Farmers/history , Genome, Bacterial/genetics , History, Ancient , Phylogeny , Plague/epidemiology , Plague/history , Plague/microbiology , Plague/mortality , Scandinavian and Nordic Countries/epidemiology , Time Factors , Virulence Factors/genetics , Yersinia pestis/genetics , Yersinia pestis/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
COVID-19 brought back to the attention of the scientific community that males are more susceptible to infectious diseases. What is clear for other infections-that sex and gender differences influence both risk of infection and mortality-is not yet fully elucidated for plague, particularly bubonic plague, although this knowledge can help find specific defences against a disease for which a vaccine is not yet available. To address this question, we analysed data on plague from hospitals in different parts of the world since the early eighteenth century, which provide demographic information on individual patients, diagnosis and course of the disease in the pre-antibiotic era. Assuming that the two sexes were equally represented, we observe a worldwide prevalence of male cases hospitalized at any age, a result which seems better explained by gender-biased (thus cultural) behaviours than biological sex-related factors. Conversely, case fatality rates differ among countries and geographic macro-areas, while globally, lethality appears slightly prevalent in young females and older adults (regardless of sex). Logistic regression models confirm that the main risk factor for bubonic plague death was the geographical location of the cases and being older than 50 years, whereas sex only showcased a slight trend.
Subject(s)
Plague , Plague/history , Plague/epidemiology , Plague/mortality , Humans , Male , Female , Sex Factors , Age Factors , History, 18th Century , Middle Aged , History, 20th Century , Adult , Risk Factors , COVID-19/mortality , COVID-19/epidemiology , History, 19th CenturyABSTRACT
Los legados testamentarios destinados a dotar a doncellas de la Casa Pía de la Misericordiade Sevilla provenían de diferentes lugares, algunas de las Indias o América hispana. Algunosenviaban para dotar a jóvenes pobres y otros a parientes. Uno de los casos más interesantesencontrados en la documentación fue la de un sevillano que vivía en Lima, capital del Virreinatodel Perú, que envió dinero para fundar una dotación para dotar a doncellas pobres. Lo singular delcaso es que coincidió el ingreso de esta dotación con la gran peste de 1649 que causó la peormortandad que recuerde la ciudad. Este dinero se empleó no para la voluntad del testador, sinopara otros fines más necesarios en aquellos momentos.(AU)
The testamentary legacies were destined to endow the families of the Casa Pia de laMisericordia of Seville from different places, some of the Indies or Hispanic America. Some sentto provide poor young people and others with relatives. One of the most interesting cases found inthe documentation was a subservient living in Lima, Viceroyalty of Peru, who sent money to obtaina date to send poor maidens. The singular thing of the case is that it coincided with the entry ofthis stage with the great plague of 1649 that caused the worst mortality that the city remembers.This money was not used for the will of the testator, but for other purposes more in memorablemoments.(AU)
Os legados testamentários destinados a dotar as donzelas da Casa Pía de la Misericordia deSevilha vieram de diferentes lugares, alguns das Índias ou da América hispânica. Alguns enviadospara equipar jovens pobres e outros para parentes. Um dos casos mais interessantes encontradosna documentação foi o de um sevilhano que morava em Lima, capital do Vice-Reino do Peru, queenviou dinheiro para fundar uma doação para fornecer donzelas pobres. O que há de único no casoé que a entrada deste fundo patrimonial coincidiu com a grande praga de 1649 que causou a piormortalidade na cidade lembra. Esse dinheiro não foi usado para a vontade do testador, mas paraoutros fins mais necessários à época.(AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , History, 17th Century , Plague/history , History , Plague/mortality , Relief Work , Spain , PeruABSTRACT
Existe todavía incertidumbre entorno al diagnóstico y a la naturaleza de la peste; algunos estudiosos se han visto forzados a abandonar las certezas y poblarlas de dudas: de creer que la Peste Negra medieval era en realidad la peste bubónica (aunque con características inusuales) a constatar que tenemos pocas evidencias para apoyar el retrodiagnóstico. Este artículo profundiza en este sentido, no sólo revisando la producción historiográfica, sino también aportando nuevas interpretaciones que cuestionan hipótesis anteriores a través de la indagación llevada a cabo sobre las imágenes coctáneas, cotejadas con los datos procedentes de las más recientes investigaciones. Se analizan dos tipos de fuentes primarias: tratados de la peste renacentistas, redactados por cuatro médicos italianos: Michele Savonarola, Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo Fioravanti y Gioseffo Daciano; eiconográficas: un manuscrito ilustrado del Decamerón de Giovanni Boccaccio y una Haggadah hebrea del siglo XIV. Los resultados obtenidos se confrontan con las investigaciones sobre ADN y micropaleobiológicas más actuales (AU)
There is still uncertainty about the diagnosis and nature of the plague; some scholars have been forced to abandon certainties and be filled with doubts: from believing that the mediaeval Black Plague was, in reality, the bubonic plague (although with unusual characteristics) to stating that there is very Little evidence to support a retro-diagnosis. This article looks at this in depth, not only reviewing the historiography but also giving new interpretations which question previous hypotheses through research on images of the time, comparing them to the most recent investigative data. Two primary sources are analysed: Renaissance treaties written by four Italian doctors: Michele Savonarola, Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo Fioravanti and Gioseffo Daciano; and iconography: an illustrated manuscript of the Decameron by Giovanni Boccacicio and a Hebrew Haggadah from the XIV century. The results are compared to the most recent research on DNA and in micropaleontology (AU)
Subject(s)
Plague/epidemiology , Plague/history , Plague/diagnosis , Plague/etiology , Plague/mortality , Plague/transmission , Plague/genetics , Yersinia pestis/virology , History of Medicine , History, Medieval , Physician's Role , Quarantine , Religion and ScienceABSTRACT
Francisco Gavaldá (1618-1686) fue el autor en 1651 del primer estudio social y estadístico sobre la peste que sufrió la Europa occidental durante los años centrales del siglo XVII, concretamente la de Valencia en 1647. Fue, en efecto, el primero que la estudió, no sólo estadísticamente, sino también desde una perspectiva social, denunciando que afectaba sobre todo a los pobres, con total independencia de los intereses de los poderosos
In 1651, Francisco Gavaldá (1618-1686) authored the first social statistics study on the bubonic plague which scourged western Europe in the mid-seventeenth century, specifically the plague having racked Valencia in 1647. Gavaldá was, in fact the first to study the plague not only statistically, but also from a social standpoint, denouncing the fact that it especially affected the poor, totally independently of the interests of the powerful