Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States; Microbiology Doctoral Training Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
Andrew Kitchen
Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, United States
Henrike Kiesewetter
Project Troia, Institute of Prehistory, Early History, and Medieval Archaeology, Tübingen University, Tübingen, Germany
Jacob M Enk
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; MYcroarray, Ann Arbor, United States
G Brian Golding
Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
John Southon
Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometer, Earth Systems Science Department, University of California, Irvine, United States
Melanie Kuch
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Ana T Duggan
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
William Aylward
Molecular Archaeology Laboratory, Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States; Department of Classics and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
Shea N Gardner
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, United States
Jonathan E Allen
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, United States
Andrew M King
Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Gerard Wright
Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Makoto Kuroda
Laboratory of Bacterial Genomics, Pathogen Genomics Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
Kengo Kato
Laboratory of Bacterial Genomics, Pathogen Genomics Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
Derek EG Briggs
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, United States
Gino Fornaciari
Division of Paleopathology, Department of Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Hendrik N Poinar
McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States; Molecular Archaeology Laboratory, Biotechnology Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States; Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases), School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
Pregnancy complications are poorly represented in the archeological record, despite their importance in contemporary and ancient societies. While excavating a Byzantine cemetery in Troy, we discovered calcified abscesses among a woman’s remains. Scanning electron microscopy of the tissue revealed ‘ghost cells’, resulting from dystrophic calcification, which preserved ancient maternal, fetal and bacterial DNA of a severe infection, likely chorioamnionitis. Gardnerella vaginalis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus dominated the abscesses. Phylogenomic analyses of ancient, historical, and contemporary data showed that G. vaginalis Troy fell within contemporary genetic diversity, whereas S. saprophyticus Troy belongs to a lineage that does not appear to be commonly associated with human disease today. We speculate that the ecology of S. saprophyticus infection may have differed in the ancient world as a result of close contacts between humans and domesticated animals. These results highlight the complex and dynamic interactions with our microbial milieu that underlie severe maternal infections.
