Only recently was it determined that two of the world's most devastating plagues, the plague of Justinian and the medieval Black Death, were caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen. Use of paleomicrobiological techniques led to this discovery. This work is just one example of the historical mysteries that this emerging field has helped to clarify. Others, such as when tuberculosis began to afflict humans, the role of lice in plague pandemics, and the history of smallpox, are explored and further illuminated in Paleomicrobiology of Humans. Led by editors Michel Drancourt and Didier Raoult, the book's expert contributors address larger issues using paleomicrobiology. These include the recognition of human remains associated with epidemic outbreaks, identification of the graves of disasters, and the discovery of demographic structures that reveal the presence of an epidemic moment. In addition, the book reviews the technical approaches and controversies associated with recovering and sequencing very old DNA and surveys modern human diseases that have ancient roots. Essentially, paleomicrobiologists aim to identify past epidemics at the crossroads of different specialties, including anthropology, medicine, molecular biology, and microbiology. Thus, this book is of great interest not only to microbiologists but to medical historians and anthropologists as well. Paleomicrobiology of Humans is the first comprehensive book to examine so many aspects of this new, multidisciplinary, scientific field.

Only recently was it determined that two of the world's most devastating plagues, the plague of Justinian and the medieval Black Death, were caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen. Use of paleomicrobiological techniques led to this discovery. This work is just one example of the historical mysteries that this emerging field has helped to clarify. Others, such as when tuberculosis began to afflict humans, the role of lice in plague pandemics, and the history of smallpox, are explored and further illuminated in Paleomicrobiology of Humans.Led by editors Michel Drancourt and Didier Raoult, the book's expert contributors address larger issues using paleomicrobiology. These include the recognition of human remains associated with epidemic outbreaks, identification of the graves of disasters, and the discovery of demographic structures that reveal the presence of an epidemic moment. In addition, the book reviews the technical approaches and controversies associated with recovering and sequencing very old DNA and surveys modern human diseases that have ancient roots.Essentially, paleomicrobiologists aim to identify past epidemics at the crossroads of different specialties, including anthropology, medicine, molecular biology, and microbiology. Thus, this book is of great interest not only to microbiologists but to medical historians and anthropologists as well.Paleomicrobiology of Humans is the first comprehensive book to examine so many aspects of this new, multidisciplinary, scientific field.

Contributors viiIntroduction xiAcknowledgments xiii1 Demographic Patterns Distinctive of Epidemic Cemeteries in Archaeological Samples 1Dominique Castex and Sacha Kacki2 Characterization of the Funeral Groups Associated with Plague Epidemics 13Stéfan Tzortzis and Michel Signoli3 Paleogenetics and Past Infections: the Two Faces of the Coin of Human Immune Evolution 21Laurent Abi-Rached and Didier Raoult4 A Personal View of How Paleomicrobiology Aids Our Understanding of the Role of Lice in Plague Pandemics 29Didier Raoult5 Sources of materials for Paleomicrobiology 39Gérard Aboudharam6 Paleomicrobiology Data: Authentification and Interpretation 51Michel Drancourt7 Human Coprolites as a Source for Paleomicrobiology 59Sandra Appelt, Michel Drancourt, and Matthieu Le Bailly8 Ancient Resistome 75Abiola Olumuyiwa Olaitain and Jean-Marc Rolain9 The History of Epidemic Typhus 81Emmanouil Angelakis, Yassina Bechah, and Didier Raoult10 Paleopathology of Human Infections: Old Bones, Antique Books, Ancient and Modern Molecules 93Olivier Dutour11 Past Bartonelloses 107Pierre-Edouard Fournier12 Paleomicrobiology Of Human Tuberculosis 113Helen Donoghue13 Paleomicrobiology of Leprosy 131Mark Spigelman and Mauro Rubini14 Past Intestinal Parasites 143Matthieu Le Bailly and Adauto Araújo15 Paleopathology and Paleomicrobiology of Malaria 155Andreas Nerlich16 History of Smallpox and Its Spread in Human Populations 161Catherine Thèves, Eric Crubézy, and Philippe Biagini17 Cholera 173Donatella Lippi, Eduardo Gotuzzo, and Saverio Caini18 Human Lice in Paleoentomology and Paleomicrobiology 181Rezak Drali, Kosta Y. Mumcuoglu, and Didier RaoultIndex 191