Ancient microorganisms offer new clues to the Iceman’s mummification

The DNA identification of the microorganisms that colonized the so-called Tyrolean Iceman in the ancient times can offer a clue to understanding the exact process through which the natural mummification of the 5.100–5.300 year-old body took place. The results suggest that this process was considerably more complex than previously assumed (wind desiccation followed by freezing) possibly involving also a prolonged stage of water immersion of the corpse.     

Brief communication: Twentieth-century replication of an Egyptian mummy: Implications for paleopathology

Replication in a modern human cadaver of ancient Egyptian mummification focused on tools used by ancient Egyptian embalmers, the use of natron (a mixture of sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, and chloride) in the preparation of the mummy, surgical procedures in the removal of the viscera and brain, and histologic examination of the viscera. The first three areas have been reported separately (Brier and Wade [1997] ZAS 124:89–100). In this paper, we demonstrate a degree of histologic preservation comparable to that seen in Egyptian mummies, indicating the effectiveness of ancient mummification and that the histologic appearance of such mummies is little altered by the passage of millennia. Am J Phys Anthropol 107:417–420, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

中国古人类颅内模及脑演化研究进展

颅内模保存有脑表面的形态结构,是脑演化研究的直接证据。中国最早复原和研究的颅内模来自20世纪20年代北京周口店遗址发现的3号猿人头骨;此后虽然中国境内也相继发现了一些古人类的头骨化石,但由于古人类标本非常珍贵,不允许对其进行实体解剖,加上多数头骨破碎或者内部附有地层胶结物,导致颅内模无法成功复原。受技术水平及研究手段的限制,研究者一般只是侧重于化石外表形态结构的研究。高分辨率工业CT和3D软件的应用,可以在不损坏标本的情况下,虚拟复原出化石的内部解剖结构,使得一些重要的古人类化石标本的颅内模被复原出来,促进了脑演化的研究。近年来,本文第一作者采用新技术、新方法复原了南京直立人、柳江人等一些重要的中国古人类头骨的颅内模,通过对其颅容量、脑沟回特征、脑不对称性、脑表面的动、静脉血管压迹、各脑叶的大小、形状及比例的研究,获取了中国古人类脑形态特征变化的数据,为探讨东亚地区古人类的演化提供了参考信息。     

Paleoclimatic Variation and Brain Expansion during Human Evolution

One of the major adaptations during the evolution of Homo sapiens was an increase in brain size. Here we present evidence that a significant and substantial proportion of variation in brain size may be related to changes in temperature. Based on a sample of 109 fossilized hominid skulls, we found that cranial capacities were highly correlated with paleoclimatic changes in temperature, as indexed by oxygen isotope data and sea-surface temperature. Indeed, as much as 52% of the variance in the cranial capacity of these skulls could be accounted for by temperature variation at 100 ka intervals. As an index of more short-term seasonal fluctuations in temperature, we examined the latitude of the sites from which the crania originated. More than 22% of the variance in cranial capacity of these skulls could be accounted for by variation in equatorial distance.     

Scaling of mammalian ethmoid bones can predict olfactory organ size and performance

The relation between size and performance is central for understanding the evolution of sensory systems, and much interest has been focused on mammalian eyes and ears. However, we know very little about olfactory organ size (OOS), as data for a representative set of mammals are lacking. Here, we present a cranial endocast method for estimating OOS by measuring an easily accessible part of the system, the perforated part of the ethmoid bone, through which the primary olfactory axons reach the olfactory bulb. In 16 species, for which relevant data are available, the area of the perforated ethmoid bone is directly proportional to the area of the olfactory epithelium. Thus, the ethmoid bone is a useful indicator enabling us to analyse 150 species, and describe the distribution of OOS within the class Mammalia. In the future, a method using skull material may be applied to fossil skulls. In relation to skull size, humans, apes and monkeys have small olfactory organs, while prosimians have OOSs typical for mammals of their size. Large ungulates have impressive olfactory organs. Relating anatomy to published thresholds, we find that sensitivity increases with increasing absolute organ size.     

Ancient Leishmaniasis in a Highland Desert of Northern Chile

Background

Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease endemic today in many areas of South America.

Methodology

We discovered morphologic and molecular evidence of ancient infections in 4 female skulls in the archaeological cemetery of Coyo Oriente, in the desert of San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile. The boney facial lesions visible in the skulls could have been caused by a number of chronic infections including chronic Leishmaniasis. This diagnosis was confirmed using PCR-sequenced analyses of bone fragments from the skulls of the affected individuals.Leishmaniasis is not normally found in the high-altitude desert of Northern Chile; where the harsh climate does not allow the parasite to complete its life cycle. The presence of Leishmaniasis in ancient skulls from the region implies infection by the protozoan in an endemic area–likely, in our subjects, to have been the lowlands of North-Eastern Argentina or in Southern Bolivia.

Conclusions

We propose that the presence of the disease in ancient times in the high altitude desert of San Pedro de Atacama is the result of an exogamic system of patrilocal marriages, where women from different cultures followed their husbands to their ancestral homes, allowing immigrant women, infected early in life, to be incorporated in the Atacama desert society before they became disfigured by the disease. The present globalization of goods and services and the extraordinary facile movement of people across borders and continents have lead to a resurgence of infectious diseases and re-emergence of infections such as Leishmaniasis. We show here that such factors were already present millennia ago, shaping demographic trends and the epidemiology of infections just as they do today.     

Ethmoidal endocranium in primitive triassic amphibians

Three-dimensionally preserved and chemically prepared skulls and natural casts of representatives of the families Benthosuchidae, Melosauridae, and Capitosauridae yield data on the structure of the ethmoidal endocranium, i. e. of those nasal cranial structures that consisted originally of cartilage. This study demonstrates that the ethmoidal endocranium was principally a dorsoventrally compressed plate, pierced by a broad and oblique canal which communicated anteriorly with the outer dorsal surface by the fenestra endonarina and posteriorly with the mouth cavity by the fenestra endochoanalis(seu foris). The canal was very short, and housed the olfactory organ. The ethmoidal endocranium was connected with the palatoquadrate by the commissura quadratocranialis anterior; there was no lateral ethmoidal commissure, however, in older individuals the anterior section of the palatoquadrate might also contact the postchoanal part of the nasal endocranial skeleton.     

Gut Microbiome of an 11th Century A.D. Pre-Columbian Andean Mummy

The process of natural mummification is a rare and unique process from which little is known about the resulting microbial community structure. In the present study, we characterized the microbiome of paleofeces, and ascending, transverse and descending colon of an 11^th century A.D. pre-Columbian Andean mummy by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and metagenomics. Firmicutes were the most abundant bacterial group, with Clostridium spp. comprising up to 96.2% of the mummified gut, while Turicibacter spp. represented 89.2% of the bacteria identified in the paleofeces. Microbiome profile of the paleofeces was unique when compared to previously characterized coprolites that did not undergo natural mummification. We identified DNA sequences homologous to Clostridium botulinum, Trypanosoma cruzi and human papillomaviruses (HPVs). Unexpectedly, putative antibiotic-resistance genes including beta-lactamases, penicillin-binding proteins, resistance to fosfomycin, chloramphenicol, aminoglycosides, macrolides, sulfa, quinolones, tetracycline and vancomycin, and multi-drug transporters, were also identified. The presence of putative antibiotic-resistance genes suggests that resistance may not necessarily be associated with a selective pressure of antibiotics or contact with European cultures. Identification of pathogens and antibiotic-resistance genes in ancient human specimens will aid in the understanding of the evolution of pathogens as a way to treat and prevent diseases caused by bacteria, microbial eukaryotes and viruses.     

Evidence for Prehistoric Origins of Egyptian Mummification in Late Neolithic Burials

Traditional theories on ancient Egyptian mummification postulate that in the prehistoric period (i.e. the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, 5^th and 4^th millennia B.C.) bodies were naturally desiccated through the action of the hot, dry desert sand. Although molding of the body with resin-impregnated linen is believed to be an early Pharaonic forerunner to more complex processes, scientific evidence for the early use of resins in artificial mummification has until now been limited to isolated occurrences during the late Old Kingdom (c. 2200 B.C.), their use becoming more apparent during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1600 BC). We examined linen wrappings from bodies in securely provenanced tombs (pit graves) in the earliest recorded ancient Egyptian cemeteries at Mostagedda in the Badari region (Upper Egypt). Our investigations of these prehistoric funerary wrappings using a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thermal desorption/pyrolysis (TD/Py)-GC-MS have identified a pine resin, an aromatic plant extract, a plant gum/sugar, a natural petroleum source, and a plant oil/animal fat in directly AMS-dated funerary wrappings. Predating the earliest scientific evidence by more than a millennium, these embalming agents constitute complex, processed recipes of the same natural products, in similar proportions, as those utilized at the zenith of Pharaonic mummification some 3,000 years later. The antibacterial properties of some of these ingredients and the localized soft-tissue preservation that they would have afforded lead us to conclude that these represent the very beginnings of experimentation that would evolve into the famous mummification practice of the Pharaonic period.     

Direct action of radiation on mummified cells: modeling of computed tomography by Monte Carlo algorithms

X-ray imaging is a nondestructive and preferred method in paleopathology to reconstruct the history of ancient diseases. Sophisticated imaging technologies such as computed tomography (CT) have become common for the investigation of skeletal disorders in human remains. Researchers have investigated the impact of ionizing radiation on living cells, but never on ancient cells in dry tissue. The effects of CT exposure on ancient cells have not been examined in the past and may be important for subsequent genetic analysis. To remedy this shortcoming, we developed different Monte Carlo models to simulate X-ray irradiation on ancient cells. Effects of mummification were considered by using two sizes of cells and three different phantom tissues, which enclosed the investigated cell cluster. This cluster was positioned at the isocenter of a CT scanner model, where the cell hit probabilities P(0,1,…, n) were calculated according to the Poisson distribution. To study the impact of the dominant physics process, CT scans for X-ray spectra of 80 and 120 kVp were simulated. Comparison between normal and dry tissue phantoms revealed that the probability of unaffected cells increased by 21 % following cell shrinkage for 80 kVp, while for 120 kVp, a further increase of unaffected cells of 23 % was observed. Consequently, cell shrinkage caused by dehydration decreased the impact of X-ray radiation on mummified cells significantly. Moreover, backscattered electrons in cortical bone protected deeper-lying ancient cells from radiation damage at 80 kVp X-rays.     

Early Evolution of the Vertebrate Eye—Fossil Evidence

Evidence of detailed brain morphology is illustrated and described for 400-million-year-old fossil skulls and braincases of early vertebrates (placoderm fishes). Their significance is summarized in the context of the historical development of knowledge of vertebrate anatomy, both before and since the time of Charles Darwin. These ancient extinct fishes show a unique type of preservation of the cartilaginous braincase and demonstrate a combination of characters unknown in other vertebrate species, living or extinct. The structure of the oldest detailed fossil evidence for the vertebrate eye and brain indicates a legacy from an ancestral segmented animal, in which the braincase is still partly subdivided, and the arrangement of nerves and muscles controlling eye movement was intermediate between the living jawless and jawed vertebrate groups. With their unique structure, these placoderms fill a gap in vertebrate morphology and also in the vertebrate fossil record. Like many other vertebrate fossils elucidated since Darwin’s time, they are key examples of the transitional forms that he predicted, showing combinations of characters that have never been observed together in living species.     

内蒙古林西县井沟子遗址西区墓地人骨研究

本文对内蒙古林西县井沟子遗址西区墓地出土的春秋—战国时期的颅骨进行了人类学的考察,该组颅骨在种族特征上可归入现代亚洲蒙古人种中的北亚人种范围。在若干古代和现代对比组中,井沟子组古代居民的体质特征与汉代扎赉诺尔组、近代蒙古组最为接近。     

内蒙古和林格尔县将军沟墓地人骨研究

本文对内蒙古和林格尔县将军沟墓地出土的14例战国中晚期的颅骨(男性11例,女性3例)进行了人类学的观察和测量,认为该组颅骨在种族特征上可归入现代亚洲蒙古人种中的东亚人种范围。在若干古代和现代对比组中,将军沟组古代居民的体质特征与毛饮合并A组、近代华北组最为接近。     

青铜—铁器时代人类颞下颌关节的形态学研究

本文对采集自河北、山西和内蒙古等地的43例青铜时代和铁器时代颅骨的颞下颌关节进行了形态学研究。上述入骨材料所代表的古代居民,从经济类型上可划分为两大类,分别属于农业民族和游牧民族。研究结果表明,在若干项重要的颞下颌关节形态特征上,青铜-铁器时代居民与现代人差异显著,表明在这些结构上向现代人水平的明显转化可能发生于更晚的历史阶段。从新石器时代到青铜-铁器时代,人类颞下颌关节的若干形态变化与时代发展的同步性并不明显,而主要反映出其与由经济类型所决定的饮食结构之间的密切关系。     

内蒙古清水河县姑姑庵汉代墓地人骨研究

本文对内蒙古清水河县姑姑庵墓地出土的13例汉代的颅骨(男性6例, 女性7例)进行了体质人类学的研究, 该组颅骨在种族特征上可归入现代亚洲蒙古人种中的东亚人种范围。在若干古代和现代对比组中,姑姑庵汉代居民的体质特征与将军沟组、近代华北组最为接近,很可能是来自中原地区的移民或是当地早期中原移民的后裔。     

Palaeopathology: the study of disease in the past

Palaeopathology studies ancient human or animal remains from a pathological point of view, for which techniques and tools such as inspection and light and electron microscopy after adequate rehydration, immunohistochemistry and molecular biology are used. Despite the degradation of tissues, partial preservation of their structure and content after a natural or artificial mummification process often allows the extraction of valuable biological data, which sometimes provides interesting historical information.     

Craniofacial morphology of Jews from the Hellenistic period

Nineteen skulls of an ancient Jewish population from Ein-Gedi, were studied cephalometrically. The material dated to the 1st century AD and most skulls showed some damage. Thus, only eleven parameters could be measured. The results were compared with those obtained from a later local Arab population from the 17th to 18th centuries and with contemporary population standards. Significantly different measurements were obtained for almost all the linear parameters for the three groups: the highest values were found in the contemporary population, followed by the Ein-Gedi population with the smallest values in the Arab sample. The dimensional linear differences can best be explained by different levels of environmental stress leading to growth retardation. Unlike the linear measurements the differences in the angular parameters were less marked, probably reflecting similar growth patterns.     

Evidence based palaeopathology: Meta-analysis of Pubmed-listed scientific studies on pre-Columbian,South American mummies

The aim of this study was to review all Pubmed^®-listed palaeopathological studies performed on pre-Columbian South American mummies. A total of 61 studies were found (1977–2005). Review criteria included e.g. method of examination, method of mummification, palaeopathological diagnoses and individual age of mummies as well as dating, which ranged from 7500 to 500 years BP, mainly (if reported) originating from the Chiribaya and Chinchorro cultures. The average age of the 99 individually reported mummies was about 25 years. Only six studies included computed tomography, thirteen studies used classical radiography as an examination method. Three studies analysed parasite related diseases, especially caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Among all of the reported infectious diseases (n = 9), there were seven studies presenting cases of tuberculosis. The results were also compared inter-culturally. In 61 studies (37 epidemiological and 24 case reports) more than 6400 mummified individuals were analysed. By contrast, meta-analytic data for ancient Egyptian mummies ( Zweifel et al., 2009) included about 3000 analysed individuals in 131 studies (85 case reports and 46 epidemiological studies). In general, ancient Egyptian mummies were shown to be intentionally mummified, whereas the Pre-Columbian American mummies showed a great diversity of spontaneous mummification. However, ritualistic mummification methods were also practised (n = 2). This study's results shall assist to improve evidence-based research in palaeopathology.     

扎赉诺尔汉代墓葬第三次发掘出土颅骨的初步研究

本文对内蒙古自治区呼伦贝尔盟新巴尔虎右旗扎赉诺尔汉代游牧民6族墓葬第三次发掘出土的颅骨进行了人种学研究。五例男性颅骨和三例女性颅骨的种族特征基本相似，均与现代亚洲蒙古人种中的西伯利亚（北亚）蒙古人种最为接近本文材料是对过去已恨表的扎赉诺尔汉代游牧民族颅骨资料的重要补充。