Bioarchaeology in perspective: From classifications of the dead to conditions of the living

Tourism in the Time of Coronavirus. Fruition of the “Minor Heritage” through the Development of Bioarchaeological Sites—A Proposal

The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are and will continue to be devastating for the tourism sector, especially for the cultural one. It is necessary to reflect on the new strategies to be adopted to deal with the heavy losses that the world of cultural heritage is suffering. The great archaeological attractions will no longer be able to accommodate the prepandemic numbers and therefore we must also think of alternative routes to present the minor heritage of our country. In recent years, our experience has allowed us to realize an open-air museum project in bioarchaeological sites (archaeological cemetery areas characterized by the recovery of human remains) that are part of an archaeological heritage that is little known, but which reserve great dissemination and fruition potential. The design of an archaeological itinerary, even a virtual one, which includes the bioarchaeological sites that we are musealizing, could offer a new visiting experience, especially in this difficult moment for all of us.

The elusive parasite: comparing macroscopic, immunological, and genomic approaches to identifying malaria in human skeletal remains from Sayala, Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD)

Although malaria is one of the oldest and most widely distributed diseases affecting humans, identifying and characterizing its presence in ancient human remains continue to challenge researchers. We attempted to establish a reliable approach to detecting malaria in human skeletons using multiple avenues of analysis: macroscopic observations, rapid diagnostic tests, and shotgun-capture sequencing techniques, to identify pathological changes, Plasmodium antigens, and Plasmodium DNA, respectively. Bone and tooth samples from ten individuals who displayed skeletal lesions associated with anaemia, from a site in southern Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD), were selected. Plasmodium antigens were detected in five of the ten bone samples, and traces of Plasmodium aDNA were detected in six of the twenty bone and tooth samples. There was relatively good synchronicity between the biomolecular findings, despite not being able to authenticate the results. This study highlights the complexity and limitations in the conclusive identification of the Plasmodium parasite in ancient human skeletons. Limitations regarding antigen and aDNA preservation and the importance of sample selection are at the forefront of the search for malaria in the past. We confirm that, currently, palaeopathological changes such as cribra orbitalia are not enough to be certain of the presence of malaria. While biomolecular methods are likely the best chance for conclusive identification, we were unable to obtain results which correspond to the current authentication criteria of biomolecules. This study represents an important contribution in the refinement of biomolecular techniques used; also, it raises new insight regarding the consistency of combining several approaches in the identification of malaria in past populations.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-021-01350-z.

The Bioarchaeology of Health Crisis: Infectious Disease in the Past

Beginning some 10,000 years ago, humans began a dramatic alteration in living conditions relating especially to the shift in lifeway from foraging to farming. In addition to the initiation of and increasing focus on the production and consumption of domesticated plant carbohydrates, this revolutionary transformation in diet occasioned a decline in mobility and an increased size and agglomeration of populations in semipermanent or permanent settlements. These changes in life conditions presented an opportunity for increased transmission of pathogenic microbes from host to host, such as those that cause major health threats affecting most of the 7.5 billion members of our species today. This article discusses the bioarchaeology of infectious disease, focusing on tuberculosis, treponematosis, dental caries, and periodontitis, all of which continue to contribute to high levels of morbidity and mortality among the world's populations today.