In Europe wide exhibition on ancient diseases in skeletal and mummified remains are scarce. In the last Congress of the EBJIS held last year in Barcelona a small sample of old infection diseases were showed. Until now, only in the specifically meetings of paleopathology it is possible to see some examples of this archaeological pieces. The knowledge of the frequency, prevalence and evolution of the most important infections that use to affect at bone across the time could be important to evaluate the health status of the population.

From February to August 2009 is been open in the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona a wide exhibition of archaeological pieces that shows a wide range of abnormalities and diseases in skeletal and mummified remains. More than 150 pieces belongings at 35 different institutions around the World are shows to the public. Among theses, 58 pieces are present in the Infection Area; they cover a wide range of time in the Mankind History, from the Neolithic Period to the end of the XIX century. We present a sample of the most important pieces of this ambit as poliomyelitis, Hanssen disease, treponematosis, tuberculosis, brucellosis, pyogenic osteomyelitis in diaphysis of long bones and in the spine, hidatidic cists. The diagnoses of some of them are evaluated by molecular evidence. We also shows the mummies of two children, one with tuberculosis and the other with triquinosis, and an adult mummy from the Tiwanaku Culture possible affected of treponematosis.

Brucellosis is a well known zoonosis transmitted to humans through consumption of raw milk ors in related products. Interhuman transmission is rare. Osteoarticular involvement of brucellosis is not uncommon. The mean averages are around 10% in the Brucella mellitensis and Brucella abortus, so the more severe complications are due to B. mellitensis. Actual prevalence in West European counties is rather scarce but it has not always been as such.

We presented 6 cases of bone affection (all of this focused on the lumbar zone) due to brucellosis recovered from the different burial and different times that was studied morphologically and then verified with molecular analysis. The most ancient case is a vertebral spondylitis from the Calcholitic of Alava (Basque County), the second belongs to a vertebral involvement from the Late-Roman period of the Alicante (5th to 7th century), three other cases were found in different burials (Alava and Sevilla) dated from the High Medieval epoch and the Islamic Medieval period (in the case of Sevilla), the last one is the most bizarre as it is a carpal fusion and vertebral spondylitis from the Medieval cemetery of Monte d’Argento (Fondi, Rome) dated in the 12th century. The actual rates of wrist affection by Brucellosis are over 3.5%. On all the pieces accurate analyses of ancient DNA of Brucella mellitensis were performed.