In a scientific first, an international team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States has found evidence to suggest that at least one species of animal was passing...
The Aztecs , a once-flourishing civilization in central Mexico, faced a devastating onslaught in the mid-16th century. While initially attributed to European diseases like smallpox, recent DNA...
Thomas Jeffries /The Conversation The mention of ancient Egypt usually conjures images of colossal pyramids and precious, golden tombs. But as with most civilizations, the invisible world of...
Bacterial poisoning via food and water – but also via contact such as kisses – caused a lot of suffering during the Stone Age. Diseases that today can be treated with antibiotics were then fatal, a...
Leigh Hopper /University of Southern California You might think age-related dementia has been with us all along, stretching back to the ancient world. But a new analysis of classical Greek and Roman...
Researchers have created the world's largest ancient human gene bank by analyzing the bones and teeth of almost 5,000 humans who lived across Western Europe and Asia up to 34,000 years ago. By...
Archaeologists from several universities in England teamed up to analyze the skeletal remains of more than 400 individuals who were buried in a medieval cemetery that belonged to St. John the...
When the Black Death or bubonic plague epidemic ravaged London between the autumn of 1348 and the spring of 1350, it may have wiped out as much as half the city’s population. While the victims of...
In the late 15th and 16th centuries, England was gripped by a deadly disease known as Sudor Anglicu s or English sweat. This malady, unlike the Black Death , did not grant immunity to survivors. In...
Surviving the Black Plague in the 14th-century Europe necessitated avoiding crowded areas, curtailing the spread of the Bubonic plague through airborne transmission. Keeping a safe distance from...
Researchers have conducted a groundbreaking study using imaging data from over 30,000 participants in the UK Biobank to gain insights into the genetic basis of human skeletal proportions and their...
The Arctic's permafrost is thawing due to human-induced climate change , resulting in dire consequences. In Siberia, a mysterious anthrax outbreak claimed lives and led to the burning of thousands of...
Researchers have discovered a link between Neanderthal genetic material and an unusual health disorder that affects modern humans. The disorder in question is Dupuytren’s disease, a.k.a. Viking’s...
A team of researchers from Denmark and Italy have stumbled upon a treasure trove of artifacts at an ancient Roman hospital site in Rome brimming with medical supplies. This Renaissance-era trash dump...
In a “first-of-its-kind” fascinating osteoarchaeological study, scientists have found that anemia was common in ancient Egyptian children who had been mummified . Through the use of CT scans, it was...
The answers to decades-long questions about the health issues suffered by famed classical music composer Ludwig van Beethoven have been found in the most unexpected of places. Thanks to in-depth...
Human history has undergone countless epidemics, some which have been nipped in the bud due to sparse populations, some due to prudent medical interventions. Some, like the recent COVID-19 pandemic...
The medical field has advanced significantly compared to where it was fifty years ago, let alone over 1,000 years ago. Although modern technology has allowed us to understand more about the human...
Pandemics and plagues seem to be the flavor of this decade, occurring at regular intervals throughout history. Some pandemics have been nipped in the bud due to effective collective action or by...
When the Spanish crossed the Atlantic and started arriving in hordes to begin their conquest and plunder of the Americas, they had a weapon in their arsenal that they had not anticipated: disease...
In 1494, King Charles VIII of France launched an all-out war against the republics of the Italian peninsula, a watershed moment in history. Within months, 50,000 soldiers from his army had fled, not...
We may have a lot more to thank (or curse) our ancestors for than we realize. When the Black Death or the bubonic plague swept through Europe 700 years ago, it literally killed 50% of the population...
The history of medicine is an amazing tale. Not only that, but a peek beneath the covers can hopefully help us understand some of the bizarre worldviews confronting us today in the realm of...
It wasn’t until the 1970s that scientists developed an effective cure for leprosy . Up until then this terrible disease was feared not just for its awful symptoms, but also for the stigma that came...