Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38198442›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

White plague among the "forgotten people" from the Barbaricum of the Carpathian Basin-Cases with tuberculosis from the Sarmatian-period (3rd-4th centuries CE) archaeological site of Hódmezővásárhely-Kenyere-ér, Bereczki-tanya (Hungary).

Olga Spekker, Attila Kiss P, Luca Kis, Kitty Király, Sándor Varga, Antónia Marcsik, Oszkár Schütz, Tibor Török, David R Hunt, Balázs Tihanyi

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Olga SpekkerAncient and Modern Human Genomics Competence Centre, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.ORCID 0000-0002-0350-1906
Attila Kiss PDepartment of Early Hungarian and Migration Period Archaeology, Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary.
Luca KisDepartment of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Kitty KirályDepartment of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Sándor VargaDepartment of Archaeology, Móra Ferenc Museum, Szeged, Hungary.
Antónia MarcsikDepartment of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
Oszkár SchützDepartment of Archaeogenetics, Institute of Hungarian Research, Budapest, Hungary.ORCID 0000-0001-5521-3044
Tibor TörökAncient and Modern Human Genomics Competence Centre, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.ORCID 0000-0002-2128-1126
David R HuntVirginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Northern District, Manassas, Virginia, United States of America.
Balázs TihanyiDepartment of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.ORCID 0000-0001-5124-4468
University of Szeged · HUEötvös Loránd University · HUOffice of Chief Medical Examiner · USPázmány Péter Catholic University · HU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a bacterial infection that is well-known in the palaeopathological record because it can affect the skeleton and consequently leaves readily identifiable macroscopic alterations. Palaeopathological case studies provide invaluable information about the spatio-temporal distribution of TB in the past. This is true for those archaeological periods and geographical regions from when and where no or very few TB cases have been published until now-as in the Sarmatian period (1st-5th centuries CE) in the Barbaricum of the Carpathian Basin. The aim of our paper is to discuss five newly discovered TB cases (HK199, HK201, HK225, HK253, and HK309) from the Sarmatian-period archaeological site of Hódmezővásárhely-Kenyere-ér, Bereczki-tanya (Csongrád-Csanád county, Hungary). Detailed macromorphological evaluation of the skeletons focused on the detection of bony changes likely associated with different forms of TB. In all five cases, the presence of endocranial alterations (especially TB-specific granular impressions) suggests that these individuals suffered from TB meningitis. Furthermore, the skeletal lesions observed in the spine and both hip joints of HK225 indicate that this juvenile also had multifocal osteoarticular TB. Thanks to the discovery of HK199, HK201, HK225, HK253, and HK309, the number of TB cases known from the Sarmatian-period Carpathian Basin doubled, implying that the disease was likely more frequent in the Barbaricum than previously thought. Without the application of granular impressions, the diagnosis of TB could not have been established in these five cases. Thus, the identification of TB in these individuals highlights the importance of diagnostics development, especially the refinement of diagnostic criteria. Based on the above, the systematic macromorphological (re-)evaluation of osteoarchaeological series from the Sarmatian-period Carpathian Basin would be advantageous to provide a more accurate picture of how TB may have impacted the ancestral human communities of the Barbaricum.

Indexed as

Bone DiseasesTuberculosis, MeningealTuberculosis, OsteoarticularXanthosomaArchaeologyHumansHungaryMemory DisordersVegetables

Identifiers

PMID38198442
PMCPMC10781108
OpenAlexW4390693620

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.