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Silk Road

Ancient feces provides earliest evidence of infectious disease being carried on Silk Road

Intestinal parasites as well as goods were carried by travelers on the iconic route, say researchers examining an ancient latrine. Ref. Source 5n.

Road Silk

The Silk Road is legendary.

It is entirely possible that Marco Polo traveled that route nearly 1200 years after the last recorded use. Being mostly a land route, walking being the most common means of travel, that is a whole lot of walking.

Also nice to know that as a species, humans don't keep anything to themselves. We share everything.

Silk Road History & Civil Business Politics

Unfortunately, we also share diseases which is what the article is focusing on. It acted as a hub to spread sickness from one region to the next.

Road Silk

Well I didn't specifically come out and say that.

But we as humans are our own worst enemies. We create more problems for ourselves than could ever be brought about by just natural causes alone,.

Road Silk

I was referring to the original post which says that it wasn't necessarily about your post even though I do agree with the sharing part.

Silk Road

I am not surprised to learn this. From my undergraduate days (And probably before) I recall speculation that plague and any number of other things migrated into Europe from elsewhere. For me the surprise was how old the Silk Road is. Communication along such a long route 2000 years ago is amazing.
I was, of course, aware that there was travel between the Mediterranean basin and China in the middle ages, but aside from hearing of the discovery of certain Christian writings in Chinese dated to about 600 AD there was little evidence of the communication this implies.
Yes, Alexander pressed into India. Yes, items of Wootz steel made it into Europe. That something of a network existed I've never doubted. But this implies that not only were individuals travelling great distances, but that it was common enough that the route would be a vector for infectious disease.
It brings back the wonder I experienced when I saw photographs of a jade Buddhist statue found in Scandinavia that had made its way there prior to 1300. At a stroke it shattered the notion that human life was mostly isolated and communication between vastly different geographies and cultures was non-existent.

"We create more problems for ourselves than could ever be brought about by just natural causes alone,." -- Malcolmshaw

I'm inclined to disagree with you, with respect. I have taken the perspective that we are not so divorced from natural causes as we would like to think. We are not separate from nature from at least one perspective. There is a gestalt at work that western culture seems to ignore.