Hidden Histories in the Margins of Medieval Manuscripts The recent study on extracting DNA from medieval parchment has turned up a fascinating find: sheeppox virus genomes preserved in ancient manuscripts, dating back over 3,500 years.
This discovery speaks to a broader pattern of how our understanding of infectious diseases has evolved. Historians and geneticists have long known that medieval farms were vulnerable to sheeppox.
The recent research demonstrates just how deeply embedded the disease was in human history.