Click through and you get a headline that has one more word — "Ancient teeth show history of epidemics is much older than we thought" — a mere 2-letters without which you have a ludicrous second meaning.
From the article, presumably a worthy article by a man who surely didn't write the front-page teaser:
Scientists and archaeologists now believe... that the plague bacteria, which caused the medieval Black Death that killed up to half of Europe’s population, infected humans roughly 5,000 years ago in the Stone Age. The bacteria, after it had entered the bloodstream and likely killed the host, circulated into the pulp chamber of teeth, which kept its DNA insulated from millennia of environmental wear and tear. In the past decade, scientists have been able to extract and analyze that DNA. The Stone Age plague was, however, an ancestor with a slightly different genetic identity....
Kristian Kristiansen, a University of Copenhagen archaeologist and a co-author of the plague study, believes his group’s research illuminates the causes of a Stone Age demographic transformation, called the Neolithic decline, which archaeologists have long studied. Settlements at the time were disappearing faster than they were appearing, and within a few hundred years, most of the population had been replaced by migrants from the Eurasian Steppe. Researchers had only ever hypothesized that disease may have played a role in crippling the native population before it was overtaken, but now they have evidence, Kristiansen says.
“The steppe migrations would not have succeeded without the plague . . . and [those living in what is now Europe] would not all have spoken Indo-European languages,” Kristiansen said. “Later prehistory has been turned upside down to say the least.”
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Well, with any luck they'll be able to reproduce that DNA of the bacteria in the fossilized teeth and, well who knows, in the name of Science! they'll be able to reproduce it and we'll do history all over again. 2020 is certainly not turning out the way I had expected.
Similarly, what became New England had been depopulated by microbial disease immediately before 1620.
Those darn bugs!
James Taranto was a master at finding these “more X than thought” type headlines in the Best of the Web column heyday, especially ones that said “faster than thought,” which he would mock well. That and the other headline cliche “deals blow to” were staples in the BOTW repertoire, usually with a comment like, “That sounds illegal.” Yet another reason or two that journalists and especially page editors should avoid trite phrases and cliche. Unfortunately in the era of internet “news” it seems cliché is caché.
I would have thought viral epidemics preceded mammals. Not sure anyone ever proffered a theory about viral epidemics being something confined to current iterations of "man". This seems another "journalism" tactic of "many are saying". Gives the impression "new" information has been ferreted out by your intrepid journo.
This ambiguous headline may be more intentional than thought.
Back in the 80's when I still read it, the Style section of the WaPoo was notorious for punning or silly, misleading headlines.
So we Basques are some of those survivors of the Ur-plague?
Or at least we are the only large enough "native" European group to have retained our non-Indo-European language since the Neolithic.
I did the lion's share of the paste-up for my college weekly for 1.5 years, in the days after lead type but before computerization. It was strips of photo-processed film held on with wax. The writers and editors never wrote headlines with the copy, but often they'd show up in the final frenzy to try--and usually fail. If by some miracle it fit OK, it was banal or had a typo (typed blind on the headline typesetter).
buwaya said...So we Basques are some of those survivors of the Ur-plague
(Howdy distant cousin...per Ancestry and 23 and me)
People of Celtic origin often have different blood types and resistance to diseases from long ago days. Scots, Irish, Welsh and Basques are among those with high instances of such.
Check out Basque other Celts and RH-negative blood. https://www.rhesusnegative.net/staynegative/popular-questions/where-is-rh-negative-blood-most-frequent/>RH Negative Blood distribution Very interesting.
In 'ancient' times, and even in modern times, it is common for people who are isolated from each other to carry infections that are benign to themselves but lethal to others. Asia has been a source of those infections for a very long time, if not forever due to the isolation and proximity to animals that are not familiar in other areas.
A great book to read about this phenomenon in the "New World" is1491 by Charles Mann also very interesting.
5000 years ago qualifies as ancient..IMO. 300 years ago...not so much.
Mike (MJB Wolf): James Taranto was a master at finding these “more X than thought” type headlines in the Best of the Web column heyday...
I miss "Best of the Web"...used to be a daily must-read for me.
I have another theory that I would love to see explored by archeologists. The ten year siege of Troy came to a head when pestilence began to take a heavy toll on the Achean encampments. The Trojan Horse was a last ditch effort because whatever was killing the Greek siege makers was going to bring an end to their attempt. Troy was located on the same path between Europe and the Asian steppes that the Black Plague is thought to have followed with the Italian merchants. Soon after the siege of Troy, the Bronze Age civilization collapsed in the Mediterranean, followed by a four hundred year dark age that came to an end (I greatly simplify) with Homer. There are other possible explanations for the collapse, including climate change, as it appears that regional rainfall dried up for centuries based on cave proxy evidence, and there was also a large volcano on Crete. Models suggest that denizens of the Bronze Age were driving gas guzzling SUVs just to make matters worse.
I am pretty sure that the Greeks would have burned their dead rather than bury them near their camps, so any possible evidence to support this theory would probably be long lost.
Sorry about the broken links
1491
Rhesus Blood info
I would have thought viral epidemics preceded mammals.
Before the asteroid hypothesis of the K-T extinction event became accepted Robert Bakker was proposing that a land bridge had developed that led to migrations that brought new diseases that wiped out the North American dinosaurs. I recall walking out of a talk he gave and thinking "Interesting hypothesis, but he is wrong".
Grammar is white supremacy.
It is plausible. The remnants of the pre-Indo European peoples would be found, if at all, in the ends, the edges, and in pockets of Europe. And the blood type distribution seems to be that.
The genetic gradients Cavalli-Sforza came up with radiate out of the Basque country, indicating a concentration there.
In the old Basque system of the "ocho apellidos", I am 4/8 Basque. Curiously our children are 3/8 Basque, because of the name of their Mexican great-grandmother.
@Mike (MJB Wolf) @SeanF I immediately thought of James Taranto, too. His replacement at Best of the Web is not nearly as funny or insightful.
This headline reminds me of a headline from a news station here in North Texas a few days ago: "Texas Woman, 80, Survives Coronavirus But Not Her Husband of 60 Years".
Hell, yeah. I can remember reading histories of epidemics back in the late '70's.
Just one more example for me to say that I despise, detest, and distrust the WaPoo. (I love saying that.)
If you happen to come across a stone-age skull, don't eat the teeth.
Migrating from Asia to Europe only takes a few steppes.
Does this mean the Chinese Bio-weapon lab is also 5,000 years old. Those guys invented everything first. Gunpowder was their best one.
Maybe thought Is so old, it’s dying out.
Only among the left of center.
They didn't know what to think about the Plague, since though hadn't yet been invented.
Check out Basque other Celts and RH-negative blood. https://www.rhesusnegative.net/staynegative/popular-questions/where-is-rh-negative-blood-most-frequent/>RH Negative Blood distribution Very interesting.
That site has a lot of words and pictures of breasts but not much information.
"The RhD negative subjects expressed many indices of a worse health status. Men, women or both sexes reported more frequent allergic, digestive, heart, hematological, immunity, mental health and neurological problems.
They also reported the usage of more drugs prescribed by doctors per day, attended more specialized doctors, namely, dermatologists, gynecologists, internal medicine doctors, neurologists, and psychiatrists (men) in the past two years, a higher frequency of headaches and being tired more often than RhD positive subjects.
Incidence of various diseases and disorders also differed between RhD negative and RhD positive subjects, mostly being higher in the former.
RhD negative subjects have increased the risk of developing of certain heart diseases, respiratory diseases and some immunity and autoimmunity related diseases, for example rheumatoid arthritis.
The general pattern suggests that RhD negative subjects could have problems with autoimmunity, could be more resistant to infections of viral origin and could be less resistant to infections of bacterial origin."
I don't know much about the "neolithic decline".
I found What happened to the hunter gatherers of southeastern europe when I searched for "neolithic decline". It's about ten minutes long and worth watching.
I don't think there's any need to hypothesize an epidemic in Europe to explain the end of the Neolithic. It seems like we have a lot of evidence that people who knew how to farm replaced those that didn't. This is colonialism. It's is very similar to what happened in the United States in the last 400 years.
As long as there have been pathogens, there have been pandemics. Any living creature that can be infected is subject to infections and pandemics.
This article just betrays the anthropocentrism of most people, even our present day intellectuals. Viruses and bacteria predate all multicellular organisms by at least a billion years. They are the jetsam and flotsam that all such creatures evolved within.
@mandrewa " a lot of evidence that people who knew how to farm replaced those that didn't"
Yes, but then some steppe people who knew about horses (and chariots) came along later and mostly took over that mixed lot.
I simplify, but David Reich's book, "Who We Are and How We Got Here," lays out this (and other ancestral population changes) based on genetic analysis.
Primordial soup, or as my daughter once put it more tastily, primordial stew.
Yes, but then some steppe people who knew about horses (and chariots) came along later and mostly took over that mixed lot.
Yamnaya, anyone?
Epidemics and rotten teeth! Who da thought that a relationship existed? This teeth deal is much like the relationship established between galactic cosmic radiation and tree rings as explained by Henrik Svensmark:
“There was a consistent and statistically significant relationship between growth of the trees and the flux density of galactic cosmic radiation. Moreover, there was an underlying periodicity in growth, with four minima [the lowest growth rates recorded] since 1961, resembling the period cycle of galactic cosmic radiation. [Hypothetically, explanation of] this correlation [lies in] the tendency of galactic cosmic radiation to produce cloud condensation nuclei, which in turn increases the diffuse component of solar radiation, and thus increases the photosynthesis of the forest canopy.”
Dammit! Got carried away. Disaster in the Sahara resulting from carbon dioxide was yesterday's subject ... sorry.
Epidemics and rotten teeth! Who da thought that a relationship existed? This teeth deal is much like the relationship established between galactic cosmic radiation and tree rings as explained by Henrik Svensmark:
“There was a consistent and statistically significant relationship between growth of the trees and the flux density of galactic cosmic radiation. Moreover, there was an underlying periodicity in growth, with four minima [the lowest growth rates recorded] since 1961, resembling the period cycle of galactic cosmic radiation. [Hypothetically, explanation of] this correlation [lies in] the tendency of galactic cosmic radiation to produce cloud condensation nuclei, which in turn increases the diffuse component of solar radiation, and thus increases the photosynthesis of the forest canopy.”
Dammit! Got carried away. Disaster in the Sahara resulting from carbon dioxide was yesterday's subject ... sorry.
Epidemics and rotten teeth! Who da thought that a relationship existed? This teeth deal is much like the relationship established between galactic cosmic radiation and tree rings as explained by Henrik Svensmark:
“There was a consistent and statistically significant relationship between growth of the trees and the flux density of galactic cosmic radiation. Moreover, there was an underlying periodicity in growth, with four minima [the lowest growth rates recorded] since 1961, resembling the period cycle of galactic cosmic radiation. [Hypothetically, explanation of] this correlation [lies in] the tendency of galactic cosmic radiation to produce cloud condensation nuclei, which in turn increases the diffuse component of solar radiation, and thus increases the photosynthesis of the forest canopy.”
Dammit! Got carried away. Disaster in the Sahara resulting from carbon dioxide was yesterday's subject ... sorry.
With respect to thought professions or preference. I tend to choose diligence of hands over mind. Maybe my childhood imprint. Thought is not easy and requires diligence. I aquired decent enough thought, hidding in college libraries. Not very helpful at construction sites.
The skill of subjective thought to me is not similar as the skill of any thought within objective reality. I do not recall my difficulties with transition post computer code. Thoughts lead by emotions, imprints, bugs in the brain, illness, alien or psionic inteference, maybe excuses for laziness. But I do miss construction, not so much the thoughts.
"Bacteria" is a plural noun. One would expect a fifth-grader to know better. Is this level of incompetence typical in science journalism today? From my experience, the answer is "absolutely."
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