Ancient Smallpox DNA in Chilean Mummies Confirms European Colonists Brought Virus to Americas

Research has uncovered direct molecular proof that smallpox was introduced to the Americas by European colonizers, leading to severe impacts on Indigenous communities. This revelation emerged from the examination of mummified remains of two probable Inca individuals interred in northern Chile during the initial Spanish colonial era. Discovered at Camarones 9 in 1957, bone samples analyzed in the 1990s contained well-preserved DNA of smallpox, closely linked to European variants, suggesting an outbreak occurred between 1492 and 1631 C.E. This finding bolsters the hypothesis that the virus was brought by the Spanish, who captured the Inca emperor in the early 1530s. The study, published in Science on July 30, included insights from co-author Constanza de la Fuente Castro, who explained that these findings clarify skin lesions once thought to be caused by arsenic.