This strain of leprosy has never been seen in this part of Europe before, which hints that the individual had traveled and interacted with people from across the Roman world. The man was buried in a wooden boat surrounded by unusual objects, indicating he was a high-status person, according to a research study.
In the study, published online Oct. 15 in the journal iScience, Krause-Kyora and colleagues analyzed the genomes of people buried at the coastal settlement of Fallward. The settlement originated in the first century B.C. but gradually declined and became a cemetery by the fifth century A.D. Among the 200 cremation burials and 60 inhumation burials originally excavated in the 1990s was a distinctive grave made from a wooden boat.
"The grave goods placed in the tomb aroused particular scientific interest," study co-author Hauke Jöns, an archaeologist at the Lower Saxony Institute for Historical Coastal Research, said in the statement. "The man possessed a late Roman military belt, which suggested that the deceased had had connections across great distances."
Archaeologists found a chair made from the trunk of an alder tree near the man's burial. The chair was likely a symbol of authority or power. (Image credit: © Rolf Kiepe, NIhK)A rare form of leprosy
"Genetic analyses confirm that a man buried at Fallward originated from the Danube region," study first author Daniel Myburgh, an ancient DNA researcher at IKMB, said in the statement. "He was also infected with a very rare leprosy pathogen."
But the man showed no signs of leprosy lesions in his skeleton, the researchers said. Leprosy first attacks the nerves and skin, but it can eventually eat away at the bones of the skeleton, particularly affecting the nose, jaw, hands and feet.
RELATED STORIES"Leprosy is a chronic disease," study co-author Almut Nebel, a biologist at IKMB, said in the statement. "Either he was affected by an asymptomatic form of the disease, or the disease had so far only affected soft tissues. He may have travelled long distances whilst carrying the disease."
Either way, the man's skeleton and his grave goods suggest that northwest Germany had long-distance connections in Europe even after the fall of the Roman Empire, according to the statement.
What do you know about the bones in your body? Test your knowledge with our human skeleton quiz.
Hence then, the article about 1 600 year old burial holds remains of man infected with a very rare strain of leprosy in germany was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 1,600-year-old burial holds remains of man infected with a 'very rare' strain of leprosy in Germany )
Also on site :