Tuberculosis in Human Bones from 4000 Years Ago, Iran

Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is a contagious and infectious disease; in the first stage, it destroys the lungs and in the next stage other body organs, such as the spine and long bones. This disease is transmitted through an infected person and due to the weakness of the immune system, the infection intensifies. Tuberculosis has two stages: low activity and high activity. In this article, we have discussed the signs of tuberculosis destruction with high intensity on the bones of prehistory human remains.

The examples of our research are related to human remains from the ancient cemetery of 4000 years ago from Sagezabad region of Qazvin Province of Iran. That period of history coincides with the Iron Age 2 and 3 in the region. People inside the Sagezabad cemetery were very near to early urban (the late rural) society.

By matching the form of bone destruction with international atlases for tuberculosis, we have reached a satisfactory result in this article. Due to the strong penetration of the infection into the bones, destruction in the remains was high, so it has simplified the diagnosis for us.

We found tuberculosis among the bones. This common ancient disease existed even among Neanderthals.