Research Training Program

Jamie Hodgkins
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado

Dr. Donald Ortner, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Anthropology

"The RTP program has given me confidence in my abilities as a scientist…Seriously! And a word to the wise, don’t drink raw goat milk or you’ll get brucellosis."

The tale that tail bones tell about the antiquity of the human disease brucellosis

Brucellosis, as a disease which infects humans, is caused by three bacteria in the genus Brucella. This disease infects animals, both wild and domesticated, before being transmitted to humans. Brucella melitensis is the species that primarily affects goats, which are thought to be the second oldest domesticate (domesticated ca. 9,000BP), and is passed to humans through the consumption of milk. Today, brucellosis is prevalent in many Middle Eastern countries, but little is known about the origins of brucellosis as a human disease or about the geographical areas where brucellosis was prevalent in the past. To better understand these concepts a review of clinical literature was made and x-rays of modern cases of brucellosis were examined to understand how brucellosis affects the skeleton. Next, 288 pelvic bones were examined for signs of infection from five different Middle Eastern archaeological skeletal samples. These samples included: two from Egypt (12th dynasty 1991-1782 BCE and 25th dynasty 747-657 BCE), one from Jordan (Bab edh-Dhra 3,150-3,000 BCE), and two from Bahrain island (2,300-2000 BCE and 2000-1700 BCE). The seven pelvic bones that showed possible signs of brucellosis were then X-rayed. It was discovered that one female out of 19 individuals from the 25th dynastic Egyptian collection had an infection in the pelvic region that could have been caused by brucellar infection. This is a prevalence of about 5.2% of Egyptians in this 25th dynasty site and is a rate close to what would be expected in a sample where the disease is endemic.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, Award Number DBI 9820303.

Letter of Gratitude