Merida - The study of a skull deformed by syphillis may prove the disease existed in the Americas before Spaniards arrived on the continent, according to researchers from the National Anthropology and History Institute in Mexico.
Until now, the ruling theory was that syphillis had been introduced to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors. But Dr Alfredo Barrera Rubio said a skull belonging to a individual who lived between 1250 and 1450 BC had been found in the Mayapan archaeological site, 80 km south of Merida and studies revealed the individual had suffered from an advanced form of syphillis.