Europe's largest Copper Age tomb: children's bones show ancient health crisis(phys.org)
phys.org
Europe's largest Copper Age tomb: children's bones show ancient health crisis
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-europe-largest-copper-age-tomb.html
7 comments
cloudflare blocked. :-(
Scientists found evidence tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases ravaged the population.
Actually, no. We don't know anything about the "population" because there are no attempts here to look at what percentage of living people/children were affected. We only know that of those children who died, a lot of them had had these specific indications of these specific illnesses (and we can probably assume that in many cases those were the direct or indirect cause of death).
Respiratory infections (like tuberculosis) in a population that uses indoor open fires for cooking and heat aren't exactly a big surprise; breathing indoor smoke causes chronic respiratory inflammation, which in turn weakens the immune system and makes the lungs more susceptible to infection.
Respiratory infections (like tuberculosis) in a population that uses indoor open fires for cooking and heat aren't exactly a big surprise; breathing indoor smoke causes chronic respiratory inflammation, which in turn weakens the immune system and makes the lungs more susceptible to infection.
Thanks for the quick summary.
I can imagine having a piece of my skull removed without anesthetics, disinfectants, antibiotics and pain relievers