[chajin]

I thought syphilis had been found among the ancient Romans...

The Science behind Pre-Columbian Evidence of Syphilis in Europe: Research by Documentary

[Tell It Right]

Thanks for the link. It shows that the "evidence" all points to the documentary.

These “findings” then entered the world of peer-reviewed literature through citations of the documentary itself or material associated with the documentary. Here, we demonstrate that the case for pre-Columbian syphilis in Europe that was made in the documentary does not withstand scientific scrutiny. We also situate this example from paleopathology within a larger trend of “science by documentary” or “science by press conference,” in which researchers seek to bypass the peer review process by presenting unvetted findings directly to the public.

[LadyDoc]

there is a similar disease called Yaws not spread by sex that is in Africa that could cause lesions similar to tertiary syphilis.

And one suspects some of the Basque and Scandinavian fishermen who fished for cod near Canada for a century or two before Columbus might have picked up a case or two by stopping on land and visiting local gals.

But it might have spread quickly after Columbus because some of his sailors went home and visited brothels... indeed, the reason the military docs worry about STDs is because one army of mercenaries caught it in Naples in 1495 and were decimated.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/551203

[whitney69]

“I thought syphilis had been found among the ancient Romans...”

Many believe it pre-dates that also. Back before they could treat it, or fully identify it, it has been determined that a lot of it was mis-identfied as leprosy or a plague. Same symptoms, same way it could be passed, and an ultimate nasty death. But that also was before the time of Christ.

In 1997, a 4,000 year-old skeleton was uncovered in India that was found to show traces of leprosy. The discovery was made at a site called Balathal, which is today part of Rajasthan. This is believed to be the oldest known physical case of the disease. Or was it the disease?

wy69

[Cincinnatus.45-70]

I dug into this issue in college in 1966. At that time there was an Arabic medical paper from North Africa that predated Columbus by a hundred years or so that listed symptoms identical to syphilis. Beyond the symptoms, it listed doses of mercury as the cure. In 1966, there were no other known STDs that responded to, much less cured by mercury.

The mercury cure distinguished the Arab-described disease from the similar descriptions by Romans. They were proba ly the same disease, the Romans just didn’t mention a mercury cure.

[fini]

I read the same thing. If I remember correctly, they deduced it from the scaring in skeletons.