-Caveat Lector- THE TIMES June 8 1999 BRITAIN Ivory ship rats 'brought Dark Ages to Europe' BY NIGEL HAWKES, SCIENCE EDITOR THE popularity of carved ivory may have triggered the Dark Ages, scientists said yesterday. A plague which ushered in the Dark Ages has been traced to rats brought to Europe aboard trading ships carrying ivory for the Romans. The discovery follows excavations in Zanzibar by archaeologists from Bristol University. The disease spread rapidly across the Mediterranean and into northern Europe in the six years from AD 541, during the reign of the Emperor Justinian. In Constantinople, says Dr Mark Horton, Reader in Archaeology at the university, up to 16,000 people a day were dying. He said officials stopped counting bodies when they reached 260,000. The plague was so severe that it is seen to mark the beginning of the Dark Ages in Europe. Although it was believed to have originated in Africa, the exact location has never been established. Dr Horton's excavations at the port of Unguja Ukuu, in Zanzibar, carried out in collaboration with Abdulrahman Juma, Zanzibar's Director of Antiquities, have found that the port dates back to the 6th century AD. During that time there was a huge appetite for ivory, which could only be supplied from African elephant herds, Dr Horton said. Unguja Ukuu was probably one of the main ports from which it was shipped. The dig has produced typical 6th-century Mediterranean pottery, together with the bones of the black rat, rattus rattus. This rat is not indigenous to Africa, so must have arrived on board trading vessels and come into contact with local rodents, such as the gerbil and pouched rat. The local rodents had become immune to the plague and acted as a reservoir of infected fleas, Dr Horton said. They passed them on to the ship's rats, which then travelled back to the Mediterranean, living in the bottom of the ships alongside the ivory. The deadly rats later found their way to Britain, where the plague reached the South West and Ireland in the 550s. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
