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Image Credit: Díaz-Navarro et al., International Journal of Paleopathology (2026)
Signs of Respiratory Disease in Copper Age Children in Iberia
A new palaeopathological study has found widespread skeletal evidence of health stress and respiratory infection-related changes among non-adults buried at Camino del Molino, a major Copper Age collective burial site in southeastern Iberia. The site, located in Caravaca de la Cruz in Murcia, Spain, is considered the largest known Chalcolithic collective burial in Europe and dates mainly to the 3rd millennium BC.
The research examined 48 articulated non-adult skeletons from the burial site. Because these individuals were preserved in anatomical position, the study offered a rare opportunity to observe different lesions across the same skeletons and assess whether they appeared together.
Researchers recorded porous skeletal lesions, including cribra orbitalia, cribra cranii, and cribra femoralis, as well as skeletal changes often associated with respiratory infections. These included endocranial changes, new bone formation, and signs of hypervascularisation in vertebrae, the ischium, and the sacrum.
The results show that 91.7% of the individuals had at least one skeletal alteration. Porous skeletal lesions were present in 89.6% of the sample, while respiratory infection-related changes appeared in 68.8%. Both types of changes occurred together in 66.7% of the individuals studied.
The study found that individuals with porous skeletal lesions were significantly more likely to show respiratory infection-related changes. This pattern suggests that prolonged or repeated infections may have played an important role in childhood illness within this Copper Age community.
The lesions appeared across all age groups, but some patterns were more frequent among infants and early adolescents. No clear differences were detected between females and males. The researchers note that these skeletal changes are not enough on their own to diagnose a specific disease, but their co-occurrence may point to respiratory infections, possibly including tuberculosis.
The findings highlight the difficult living conditions faced by children and adolescents in prehistoric farming communities, where infections, nutritional stress, indoor smoke, crowding, and environmental exposure may have contributed to poor health. The study also emphasizes the importance of population-level analysis rather than relying on isolated skeletal lesions.
Future biomolecular research will be needed to confirm whether specific pathogens, including those responsible for tuberculosis or other respiratory diseases, were present in the Camino del Molino population.
Published on: 30-05-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
