|
|
Bioarchaeology of the plague epidemics of medieval Europe of the first millennium: history and molecular-biological knowledge
Polakovičová, Nicol ; Brůžek, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Harnádková, Katarína (referee)
This paper outlines the first documented pandemic, Justinianic plague, which emerged in sixth century A. D. It contains basic overview of the disease, it's symptoms, life cycle and possible hosts and transmitters. Next, it focuses on the causative agent of the plague - bacterium Yersinia pestis, it's genome and evolution. The thesis comes to conclusion that the plague accompanies humanity from as early as late neolithic period. For full overview, the paper also contains information on first epidemics of our era - three epidemics, whose names consist of word "plague", although they are not plagues. The paper looks at the first real plague from several angles - it analyses literary sources, tries to find evidence in art, andlast but not least, it looks at recent bioarchaeological research. Outlining of the ongoing debate on severity of the first pandemic is a key part of this thesis.
|
guest ::
