Identification of microbial pathogens in Neolithic Scandinavian humans. Identification of microbial pathogens in Neolithic Scandinavian humans

With the Neolithic transition, human lifestyle shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. This change altered subsistence patterns, cultural expression, and population structures as shown by the archaeological/zooarchaeological record, as well as by stable isotope and ancient DNA (aDNA) data. Here, we used metagenomic data to analyse if similar transitions in the microbiome composition could be found in 25 Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers and 13 Neolithic farmers from several Scandinavian Stone Age cultural contexts. Two pathogenic species of the genus Neisseria were identified in individuals from both Mesolithic and Neolithic hunter-gatherers and represent the earliest findings of these species. Salmonella enterica, a bacterium that may have been the cause of death for the infected individuals, was only found in Neolithic samples from Battle Axe culture contexts. Several species of the bacterial genus Yersinia were found in Neolithic individuals from Funnel Beaker culture contexts as well as from later Neolithic context. Transmission of e.g. Y. enterocolitica may have been facilitated by the denser populations in agricultural contexts.

伴随新石器时代转型，人类生活方式从狩猎采集转向农耕生产。这一变革改变了人类的生存模式、文化表现形式与人口结构，相关证据可见于考古学、动物考古学记录，以及稳定同位素与古代DNA（ancient DNA, aDNA）数据。本研究借助宏基因组数据，针对来自多个斯堪的纳维亚石器时代不同文化背景的25名中石器时代、新石器时代狩猎采集者与13名新石器时代农耕者的微生物组组成是否存在类似转型展开分析。研究在中石器时代与新石器时代狩猎采集者个体中，均检出奈瑟菌属（Neisseria）的两种致病菌种，这也是该类菌种目前已知的最早发现记录。而可能导致感染者死亡的肠炎沙门菌（Salmonella enterica），仅在战斧文化背景的新石器时代样本中被检出。耶尔森菌属（Yersinia）的多个菌种，在漏斗杯文化背景以及较晚新石器时代文化背景的个体样本中被检出。例如小肠结肠炎耶尔森菌（Yersinia enterocolitica）的传播，或因农耕社会更为密集的人口而得以促进。