CASE FILE: The Syphilis Enigma
THE SCENE: Hull, England, The Caribbean, Southern Italy
LEAD DETECTIVES: Archaeologists Charlotte Roberts and George Armelagos
In 1492, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in search of gold in the uncharted New World. But what his ships brought back was something entirely different: a disease called syphilis. The sexually transmitted scourge was completely foreign to Europe at that time… or so most scientists thought. But if the horrific illness really did originate in the Americas, what is the explanation for the discovery of a European who was racked with indisputable signs of the disease 150 years before Columbus ever set sail? In SECRETS OF THE DEAD: “The Syphilis Enigma,” a team of international scientists use dendrochronology, carbon dating, tooth enamel analysis, Latin texts, Roman medical records, and social studies, pooling their efforts in search of an explanation. The investigation spans the globe, from a Friary in Hull, England, to the American tropics, to southern Italy, unearthing an astonishing new theory and underscoring the incredible adaptability of the disease.
