In 426-430 BC, according to Thucydides, the ancient cosmopolitan city of Athens, Greece was devastated by a plague. The plague decimated the population and was one of the major causes of the loss of the Peloponnesian War to Sparta. Archaeologists have speculated for years on the cause of the plague; Thucydides gave a very detailed description, which he was able to give on the basis of direct personal evidence.
A research team led by Manolis Papagrigorakis examined DNA in three human teeth recovered from a mass grave at the Greek and Roman cemetery at Kerameikos, identified and excavated in the mid-1990s by Efi Baziotopoulou-Valavani, and ran tests looking for several varieties of infectious diseases that match or come close to Thucydides gruesome litany of symptoms. The tests came up positive for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, or typhoid.
The article "DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens" appears in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases and may be purchased at the following link:
ScienceDirect - International Journal of Infectious Diseases : DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens
N.S. Gill, guide to Ancient History, also has some good information on this project: the Plague of Pericles
A research team led by Manolis Papagrigorakis examined DNA in three human teeth recovered from a mass grave at the Greek and Roman cemetery at Kerameikos, identified and excavated in the mid-1990s by Efi Baziotopoulou-Valavani, and ran tests looking for several varieties of infectious diseases that match or come close to Thucydides gruesome litany of symptoms. The tests came up positive for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, or typhoid.
The article "DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens" appears in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases and may be purchased at the following link:
ScienceDirect - International Journal of Infectious Diseases : DNA examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the Plague of Athens
N.S. Gill, guide to Ancient History, also has some good information on this project: the Plague of Pericles
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