Tuberculosis Detected in Neanderthal Remains

SZEGED, HUNGARY—According to a Live Science report, a study including biomolecular analysis and morphological observations of two skeletons bearing both Neanderthal and modern human features reveals that both individuals had tuberculosis (TB). Carbon dating of the bones, found in northern Hungary’s Subalyuk Cave in 1932, revealed that the adult died between about 37,000 and 38,000 years ago, while the three- or four-year-old child died between 33,000 and 34,000 years ago. Researchers led by György Pálfi of the University of Szeged found bony lesions likely brought about by TB infection on the adult’s spine and on the interior of the child’s skull. Bone samples from each of the skeletons also tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. Additionally, the researchers confirmed the diagnosis in the child with spoligotyping, a technique used to identify gene sequences of TB in a sample. The presence of the bacterium was confirmed in both individuals with lipid biomarker analysis, which is used to characterize communities of microbes in a sample. Pálfi and his colleagues think that Neanderthals could have contracted TB from hunting and eating infected animals, such as bison, and that the disease may have contributed to their extinction. To read about the ancient spread of tuberculosis, go to "Across the Atlantic by Flipper."