MSU scientists crack medieval bone code

Michigan State University ^ | January 3, 2012

[decimon]

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Two teams of Michigan State University researchers – one working at a medieval burial site in Albania, the other at a DNA lab in East Lansing – have shown how modern science can unlock the mysteries of the past.

The scientists are the first to confirm the existence of brucellosis, an infectious disease still prevalent today, in ancient skeletal remains.

The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, suggest brucellosis has been endemic to Albania since at least the Middle Ages.

Although rare in the United States, brucellosis remains a major problem in the Mediterranean region and other parts of the world. Characterized by chronic respiratory illness and fever, brucellosis is acquired by eating infected meat or unpasteurized dairy products or by coming into contact with animals carrying the brucella bacteria.

Todd Fenton, associate professor of anthropology, said advanced DNA testing at MSU allowed the researchers to confirm the existence of the disease in skeletons that were about 1,000 years old.

“For years, we had to hypothesize the cause of pathological conditions like this,” Fenton said. “The era of DNA testing and the contributions that DNA can make to my work are really exciting.”

Here’s how the discovery came about.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Thanks for your personal input. My experience with Bangs was back in 1962 when my mom saw the dogs chewing on a calf. A heffer we had aborted her calf. My mom had me put it in an empty feed barrel till my dad saw it. He immediately made plans to sell the heffer as soon as possible. He had me take the aborted calf way off into the woods and leave it.

Later he bought feed and wanted me to put it in the barrel in which the dead calf had been placed. I reminded him of the calf but he told me to put the feed in there anyway.

I always wondered if it contaminated any other cattle.

A neighbor way off had one of his dairy cattle bang out so they were branded with a B on the left jaw. The entire herd sent to slaughter.