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Oldest Proof of Leprosy Found in India
The skeleton represents both the earliest archaeological evidence for human infection with Mycobacterium leprae in the world and the first evidence for the disease in prehistoric India.
Conducted by a collaborative team of Appalachian State University researchers, and a team of archaeologists from Deccan College (Pune, India), the study demonstrates that leprosy was present in human populations in India by the end of the mature phase of the Indus Civilization (2000 B.C.).
The finding provides support for one hypothesis about prehistoric transmission routes for the disease.
It also supports the hypothesis that the Sanskrit Atharva Veda, composed before the first millennium B.C., is the earliest written reference to the disease.
In addition, the study revealed that burial traditions in the second millennium B.C. in one northwestern Indian village bear some resemblance to practices in Hindu tradition today.
In the study, the researchers reported on a case of leprosy in a skeleton buried around 2000 B.C. in Rajasthan, India, at the site of Balathal.
From 3700-1800 B.C., Balathal was a large agrarian settlement at the margins of the Indus (or Harappan) Civilization.
The presence of leprosy in India toward the end of this period indicates that M. leprae existed in South Asia at least 4000 years ago.
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