Skeleton find shakes TB theory

The find has forced experts to think again

Britain's earliest known case of tuberculosis has been discovered in a skeleton dating back to around 300BC.

The discovery has led historians to question the theory that TB was first brought into the country around the time of the Roman invasion.

Previously, experts had thought the infectious disease - also known as consumption - came to Britain in 55BC when Julius Caesar landed.

The remains were unearthed in the Dorset village of Tarrant Hinton, near Wimborne Minster, in the 1970s, but the latest DNA testing technology has since led to the discovery of the disease.

Advanced infection

Dr Simon Mays, expert in human remains at English Heritage, said: "This is the earliest case of TB yet found in Britain and it indicates that even in a remote rural settlement the disease was here centuries before the Roman conquest.

"It could have come over from the continent, where we know the disease was present in prehistoric times, through well established trading links with Dorset."

Scientists from English Heritage and Imperial College, London, who examined the skeleton using the latest technology, including DNA tests, found evidence of spinal damage, typical of advanced TB infection.

Further tests confirmed the presence of TB bacillus.

Radiocarbon-dating indicates the man, aged between 30 and 40, died between 400 and 230 BC.

The skeleton is one of two found in oval graves at a small Iron Age settlement overlooking the River Tarrant.

It is hoped future tests will discover if the man was a migrant, as suspected, who brought the disease with him.

The skeleton is due to go on permanent display at the Priest's House Museum, Wimborne.