The science behind pre-Columbian evidence of syphilis in Europe: research by documentary

Abstract

This article discusses the presentation of scientific findings by documentary, without the process of peer review. We use, as an example, PBS's "The Syphilis Enigma," in which researchers presented novel evidence concerning the origin of syphilis that had never been reviewed by other scientists. These "findings" then entered the world of peer-reviewed literature through citations of the documentary itself or material associated with it. Here, we demonstrate that the case for pre-Columbian syphilis in Europe that was made in the documentary does not withstand scientific scrutiny. We also situate this example from paleopathology within a larger trend of "science by documentary" or "science by press conference," in which researchers seek to bypass the peer review process by presenting unvetted findings directly to the public.

Figure 1

This woodcut, “The French Disease,” is dated to August 1^st 1496 and is attributed to Albrecht Dürer. It represents one of the earliest known depictions of the disease now recognized as syphilis. The illustration was originally accompanied by a text commentary written by Theodoricus Ulsenius, city physician of Nuremburg, remarking on the recent emergence of the syphilis epidemic in Europe and attributing the origins of the new disease to the conjunction of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn in 1484 (as indicated by the signs of the zodiac above the figure). The close temporal proximity of the production of this illustration to the return of Columbus and his crew provides support for the Columbian Hypothesis.

Figure 2

This illustration was originally featured in a broadsheet in verse, De Pestilentiali Scorra siue Mala de Franzos Eulogium, which was published in September, AD 1496, in Germany, by Sebastian Brant. According to Gilman, the image shows a closed community of syphilitics, three male and one female, being punished by the flagellum Dei (the ‘whip of god’) for their sexual transgressions. The arrows emanating from the hands of Jesus function as agents of infection and signify the martyrdom of the victims, who suffer as a consequence of the fall from Eden. Later re-workings of this illustration place more emphasis on the male sufferer, emphasizing that he (and thus men, overall) are the true victims and women, through their sin, are to blame for the illness. The black spots or ‘blatterns’ (e.g., blisters) on their faces symbolize infection with the disease now known as syphilis and are an indicator of moral blight.

Figure 3

A timeline showing the radiocarbon dates for reported pre-Columbian Old World and New World cases of treponemal disease. This demonstrates that the earliest Old World cases with skeletal lesions that are diagnostic of syphilis or another treponemal disease (e.g., bejel or yaws) cluster tightly around the year AD 1493. This contrasts with reported Old World cases that are not diagnostic of treponemal disease and New World cases with lesions that are diagnostic, which both include specimens that can be securely dated to much older periods. The solid lines represent 95% confidence intervals for the radiocarbon dates, unadjusted for the marine reservoir effect. The dashed lines indicated the range of dates that must be considered after adjusting for the marine effect. Freshwater reservoir effects and some other sources of uncertainty were not incorporated into the adjustments^see .