The first known case of a terrible disease in Neanderthals was revealed during the analysis of prehistoric bones

Scientists continue to find answers to the extinction of ancient man

Neanderthals who lived in central Europe about 35,000 years ago suffered from tuberculosis, a new DNA analysis of their bones has shown. This is the first time the disease has been identified in an ancient human, raising questions about whether tuberculosis contributed to their extinction.

In two scientific studies published in the journal Tuberculosis, an international team of researchers analyzed the skeletal remains of two Neanderthals discovered in a cave in Hungary in 1932, and another tested them for the presence of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

Subaluk Cave, located in the Bükk Mountains in northern Hungary, has been repeatedly used as a refuge by animals and humans over the centuries and is considered an extremely important Middle and Late Paleolithic site. The bones found near the entrance belonged to an adult woman and a child, approximately 3-4 years old at the time of death.

Researchers have long speculated that the remains represented some of the last Neanderthals in central Europe. Radiocarbon dating of the remains in early 2023 confirmed that the child died about 33-34 thousand years ago, while the adult died earlier, about 37-38 thousand years ago. The remains contain additional information about their lives and deaths.

“Signs of skeletal infection were found in both Neanderthals, including bone lesions along the adult’s spine and on the inner surface of the child’s skull,” the team said in the report.

These skeletal changes, called lytic lesions, reflect bone loss, which results in the formation of holes that are filled with new bone. These types of metastases can occur due to a number of diseases such as cancer, and their location and structure in the bodies of Subalukian Neanderthals strongly suggests a diagnosis of tuberculosis, said the team led by Györdem Palffy of the University of Szeged in Hungary.

To test this diagnosis, a research team led by Una Lee from the University of Birmingham in the UK took bone samples from two skeletons and analyzed them for DNA from the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. Both were positive.

“Based on both morphological observations and their biomolecular support, we can conclude that tuberculosis was widespread in central Europe during the late Pleistocene, approximately 36-39 thousand years ago,” Palfi said.

The discovery of tuberculosis in Neanderthals raises an additional question: how did they get it? Evidence of tuberculosis in large animals throughout ancient Europe, especially bison, suggests the answer: Neanderthals, who hunted and consumed these animals, probably contracted tuberculosis from them. Thus, the disease posed a danger “both because of the direct health risks and because of the destruction of carnivore populations,” Lee concluded.

Paleopathologist Corey Filipek told Live Science that the research “provides an interesting perspective beyond our own species’ understanding of disease” and that it “may provide insight into how human behavior has allowed these pathogens to invade our disease landscape.”

However, Filipek cautioned that a comprehensive non-destructive analysis should always be carried out first, “especially given the rarity of the Neanderthal material.”

Future developments in this area could provide new evidence of the diseases that affected Neanderthals and perhaps the reasons why they went extinct, according to the research team.