Leprosy in a Late Antique coastal community: Paleogenomic insights from the burial site at Fallward in northern Germany
The coastal settlement of Fallward in northwestern Germany (3rd - 5th century CE) is renowned for exceptionally preserved wooden and textile grave goods, yet the genetic and pathogen landscape of its inhabitants has remained unstudied. We conducted metagenomic analyses on skeletal samples from 11 individuals to investigate their genetic affinities and infectious disease history. Three individuals yielded sufficient data for population genetic analysis: two clustered with northwestern European Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon groups, while one adult male might have originated from a Roman frontier population. This man was also infected with a strain of Mycobacterium leprae belonging to phylogenetic branch 4 and was buried in a boat accompanied by Roman-influenced grave goods, including carved furniture and a military belt. Together, these findings point to possible long-distance connections linking remote communities, such as Fallward to the wider Roman world during Late Antiquity.
The coastal settlement of Fallward in northwestern Germany (3rd - 5th century CE) is renowned for exceptionally preserved wooden and textile grave goods, yet the genetic and pathogen landscape of its inhabitants has remained unstudied. We conducted metagenomic analyses on skeletal samples from 11 individuals to investigate their genetic affinities and infectious disease history. Three individuals yielded sufficient data for population genetic analysis: two clustered with northwestern European Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon groups, while one adult male might have originated from a Roman frontier population. This man was also infected with a strain of Mycobacterium leprae belonging to phylogenetic branch 4 and was buried in a boat accompanied by Roman-influenced grave goods, including carved furniture and a military belt. Together, these findings point to possible long-distance connections linking remote communities, such as Fallward to the wider Roman world during Late Antiquity.