Ancient Chilean Mummies Yield First Direct Smallpox DNA from Colonial Era
Scientists have extracted variola virus DNA from two 16th-century Chilean mummies, providing the earliest molecular proof of smallpox introduced by Europeans to the Americas.
A team of geneticists and anthropologists has identified variola virus DNA in two naturally mummified bodies from a pre-colonial Inca settlement on Chile's Pacific coast. The victims—a woman in her thirties and a young man—were wrapped in camelid wool and interred with grave goods, a burial practice predating the Inca. Genome analysis shows the virus represents a now-lost lineage positioned between medieval European strains and those that circulated in later centuries, confirming the early spread of smallpox following Spanish arrival.
Lead author Bruno Romero González and co-author Shigeki Nakagome note that the findings illustrate a slowdown in viral evolution during the massive epidemics of the 1500s, followed by renewed change after vaccination began in the late 18th century. The work, appearing in Science, adds direct molecular evidence to historical accounts of the disease that killed up to 90% of native peoples and facilitated Spanish conquest.
Why it matters
The discovery provides concrete proof of how European diseases devastated indigenous societies during colonization.
How the sides frame it
MODERATE AGREEMENTBoth camps report the discovery of smallpox DNA in ancient Chilean mummies, but left-leaning coverage emphasizes the colonial introduction’s human toll and trade-network transmission, while right-leaning coverage highlights the virus’s evolutionary slowdown during 1500s epidemics and later changes after vaccination.
LEFT
Frames the findings as proof of the deadly impact of European-brought disease on Indigenous peoples and as evidence of transmission routes through Indigenous trade networks.
RIGHT
Frames the findings as a scientific illustration of how smallpox evolution slowed during massive epidemics and later resumed after vaccination, emphasizing viral lineage insights.
The left emphasises
- illuminate pathways of disease transmission through Indigenous trade networks
- records the demographic devastation
- virus entered the continent via European settlers
The right emphasises
- illustrate a slowdown in viral evolution during the massive epidemics of the 1500s
- renewed change after vaccination began in the late 18th century
- virus represents a now-lost lineage positioned between medieval European strains and later ones
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