A Bronze Age man buried in a monumental tomb in southwestern Russia around 5,300 years ago likely suffered from a chronic urinary tract infection associated with a grape-size stone consistent with a kidney or bladder stone, researchers report. The stone-like object, found among the skeleton's hand bones during laboratory analysis, may have contributed to his death.
Archaeologists identified the stone-like object in the burial of a man in his 40s from a kurgan cemetery in the Stavropol Upland region. The burial was part of an ancient steppe funeral tradition involving a large dirt mound over a grave. The researchers published their findings Sept. 30 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.
The brownish object measured about 0.8 inches (2.1 centimeters) in diameter, roughly the size of a grape, with several protrusions and a crystal-like interior visible through a small crack. X-ray fluorescence and X-ray powder diffraction analysis revealed calcium and phosphorus as main components, along with whitlockite, a rare calcium salt strongly associated with bacterial infections.
Study lead author Natalia Berezina, an anthropologist at Lomonosov Moscow State University, told Live Science in an email that the man lived with a chronic urogenital infection. It was not a brief episode, she said; his last years were probably marked by considerable and more or less constant pain.
The researchers concluded the stone most likely originated as a kidney stone secondary to chronic upper urinary tract infection. They noted the man may have dealt with chronic or recurrent UTIs, which can alter urine acidity and promote mineral accumulation.
It remains unclear whether the urinary tract issues contributed to his death. If the stone had obstructed a ureter, it could have caused kidney swelling, secondary infection or sepsis, conditions frequently fatal before antibiotics. Other possibilities for what caused the stone include a bacterial prostate infection or a sexually transmitted infection.
The man's skeleton showed signs of a physically demanding life: he was well muscled but had degenerative joint disease in his spine, shoulders, hips, hands and feet, and healed fractures in his right shoulder, ribs and forearm. Berezina said these were people who worked with cattle and heavy wagons on the open steppe, and the injuries reflect that.
The researchers wrote that the man suffered from a painful and debilitating chronic urogenital infection that would have significantly impacted his quality of life.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The find is one of the oldest known examples of kidney stones in the archaeological record, showing that urological diseases have affected humans for millennia.
- The use of whitlockite as a biomarker for chronic infection offers a new tool for identifying disease in ancient remains.
- Understanding ancient health conditions provides insight into the daily lives and mortality risks of Bronze Age steppe societies.
Background
Kidney and bladder stones (calculi) are hard masses of minerals such as calcium-containing salts. Whitlockite, a rare calcium salt found in the stone, is strongly associated with bacterial infections in the human body. Prior to modern antibiotics, complications from such stones were often fatal. The burial comes from a kurgan cemetery, part of a widespread steppe funeral tradition that involved constructing large mounds of earth over graves.
Key Perspectives
Natalia Berezina (anthropologist, Lomonosov Moscow State University): The man lived with a chronic urogenital infection. His last years were probably marked by considerable and more or less constant pain.
Berezina (on the man's society): These were people who worked with cattle and heavy wagons on the open steppe, and the injuries that follow from that are the injuries we find.
The researchers (in their paper): They described the stone's most probable origin as a renal stone secondary to chronic upper urinary tract infection, and concluded that the individual suffered from a painful and debilitating condition.
What to Watch
- Further analysis of the skeleton may reveal additional signs of infection or disease, such as lesions on bones linked to chronic UTI.
- Archaeological surveys at nearby kurgan cemeteries could yield more examples of calculi or other ancient disease biomarkers.
- Continued research into whitlockite as a diagnostic marker may expand its use in paleopathology.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
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- SupportedA grape-size calculus may have contributed to the man’s death.Latest from Live Science: “The researchers aren't sure why the man had urinary tract issues or whether it contributed to his death. ... If the stone had obstructed the man's ureter ... it may have caused kidney swelling, a secondary infection or sepsis.”
- SupportedThe object was consistent with a kidney or bladder stone.Latest from Live Science: “Archaeologists identified a grape-size object consistent with a kidney or bladder stone in the man's burial.”
- SupportedThe object was about the size of a grape.Latest from Live Science: “The brownish object was round with several protrusions and measured about 0.8 inches (2.1 centimeters) in diameter, or roughly the size of a grape.”
- SupportedThe man was buried about 5,300 years ago in a Bronze Age burial in southwestern Russia.Latest from Live Science: “inside was the skeleton of a man who was in his 40s when he died around 5,300 years ago.”
- SupportedThe burial was in a kurgan cemetery, part of a steppe tradition involving a large dirt mound over a grave.Latest from Live Science: “The burial was part of a kurgan cemetery, an ancient steppe funeral tradition that involved constructing a large mound of dirt over a grave.”
- SupportedResearchers found the stone-like object among the skeleton’s hand bones during laboratory analysis after excavation.Latest from Live Science: “But during a laboratory analysis after the skeleton was excavated, researchers noticed an odd stone-like object in the collection of hand bones.”
- SupportedBerezina said the man lived with a chronic urogenital infection and that his last years were probably marked by considerable, more or less constant pain.Latest from Live Science: “"He lived with a chronic urogenital infection," study lead author Natalia Berezina, an anthropologist at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia, told Live Science in an email. "It was not a brief episode," she said. "His last years were probably marked by considerable and more or less constant pain."”
- SupportedThe object’s main components were calcium and phosphorus, and it contained whitlockite, a rare calcium salt strongly associated with bacterial infections.Latest from Live Science: “X-ray fluorescence analysis revealed that the main components of the object were calcium and phosphorus. Then, they used X-ray powder diffraction analysis to identify the crystal structures. ... Whitlockite is strongly associated with bacterial infections in the human body”
- SupportedThe researchers considered a kidney stone secondary to chronic upper urinary tract infection the most probable origin.Latest from Live Science: “"On the balance of the available evidence, we regard a renal [kidney] stone secondary to chronic upper urinary tract infection as the most probable origin," the researchers wrote.”
- SupportedThe stone may instead have been caused by a bacterial prostate infection or a sexually transmitted infection.Latest from Live Science: “Other possibilities for what caused the stone include a bacterial infection of the man's prostate gland or even a sexually transmitted infection.”
- SupportedThe man had degenerative joint disease in his spine, shoulders, hips, hands and feet, and healed fractures in his right shoulder, ribs and forearm.Latest from Live Science: “His bones showed that he was well muscled but was also dealing with degenerative joint disease in his spine, shoulders, hips, hands and feet. He had a series of healed fractures in his right shoulder, ribs and forearm.”
- SupportedBerezina said the man’s injuries reflected the physically demanding work of people who handled cattle and heavy wagons on the open steppe.Latest from Live Science: “"These were people who worked with cattle and heavy wagons on the open steppe," Berezina said, "and the injuries that follow from that are the injuries we find."”
