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Archaeoparasitology University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology, Department of 2008 Archaeoparasitology Karl J. Reinhard University of Nebraska at Lincoln, [email protected] Adauto Araújo Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, and the Parasitology Commons Reinhard, Karl J. and Araújo, Adauto, "Archaeoparasitology" (2008). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 22. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthropologyfacpub/22 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Published in Encyclopedia of Archaeology, p. 494-501, ed. by Deborah M. Pearsall. ©2008, Elsevier, Academic Press, New York. Used by permission. Archaeoparasitology Karl J. Reinhard, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA ([email protected]) Adauto Araújo, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Glossary archeoparasitology The study of parasite evidence from ar- cheological sites. acanthocephalan Any of various worms in the phylum cestode Any of the parasitic flatworms of the class Ces- Acanthocephala, also called thorny-headed worms, living toidea, including the tapeworms, having a long, segmented, in intestines of vertebrates having a retractile proboscis cov- flat body equipped with a specialized organ of attachment ered with many hooked spines. at one end. anthelminthic A compound that affects and causes the ex- ectoparasite Parasites such as lice and flies that live on the pulsion of parasitic intestinal worms. body’s outer surface. 494 Archaeoparasitology 495 endoparasite Parasites such as blood flukes and pinworms and also by certain gross pathology they left in their that infect the internal parts of the body. mummified hosts. Helminths are parasitic worms in- helminth Worm that is parasitic on vertebrates, especially cluding nematode roundworms, cestode tapeworms, roundworms and tapeworms, thorny-headed worms, and trematode flukes, and acanthocephalan thorny- flukes. host An organism that provides food and shelter to a para- headed worms. Helminth eggs from some species are site. microparasites laid in thousands within their hosts. Helminth eggs A microscopic organism of medical importance including from humans and domestic animals contaminated an- bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. cient villages. The eggs are very durable and are eas- infestation Parasites that are present on the outside of the ily retrieved from archaeological sediments, copro- hosts, such as ectoparasites, or the contamination of a habitat lites, and mummies. Fleas and lice can be found with arthropods such as mosquitoes, bed bugs, and ticks. on mummies and also in archaeological sediments. infection Parasites that are present inside the host organism, Lice are especially important in mummy studies be- Including helminths and microparasites. nematode Any of phylum Nematoda of elongated cylindri- cause the eggs are cemented on hair shafts. There- cal worms some of which are parasitic in animals and plants, fore, examination of scalps from mummies provides a and others of which are free-living in soil or water. method of quantifying infestations between individ- parasite An organism that lives at the expense of its host by uals and sites. taking energy from the host and sometimes causing pathol- The discipline that focuses on the relationships be- ogy in the host. tween behavior, environment, and parasite infection prevalence Number of hosts in a population infected with a is archaeoparasitology. This field developed from the parasite at any one time. need for a fine-tuned analysis of prehistoric ecologi- protozoa (parasitic) Single-cell organisms, some of which are parasitic and can only reproduce within a host organism. cal and behavioral conditions to assess the factors that Malaria is caused by a protozoa, Plasmodium. Other proto- affected disease. Archaeoparasitology depends on ar- zoan parasites are Giardia and Toxoplasma. chaeological information regarding community size, trematode Referring to flukes, phylum Trematoda, which trade patterns, water sources, subsistence practices, are parasitic flatworms having external suckers for attach- social stratification, environment, medicine use, and ing to a host. many other lines of modern archaeological investiga- vector An animal, usually a biting insect, that is responsible tion. It also depends on biological understanding of for the transmission of a parasitic organism. complex parasite life cycles and other dimensions of parasite ecology. When broadly applied, archaeopar- Introduction asitology defines the rise in parasitic disease associ- ated with the development of complex societies and Parasites are the major cause of ill health and early changes in subsistence strategies. In a more restricted death in the world today. Malaria, sleeping sickness, application, archeoparasitology sheds light on the amoebic dysentery, and hookworm infection are ex- health impact of urbanization and empire expansion. amples of commonplace parasitic diseases that are en- When tightly applied to a single burial or mummy, ar- demic in most parts of the world (see Health, Healing, cheoparasitology shows how habits promote disease and Disease). They were significant threats in prehis- on an individual basis. tory, especially in cultures whose social complexity outstripped the development of effective sanitation, History and Major Themes hygiene, and germ theory awareness. Parasites are organisms that live in or on other or- Aidan Cockburn explored the origins of disease and ganisms called hosts. Parasites derive sustenance and generated interest in archeoparasitology. Cockburn shelter from their hosts and carry out reproduction in theorized that there was a relation between human host tissues and structures. There is a wide amount cultural development and the evolution of infectious of taxonomic diversity among parasites. They range diseases. In the first archeoparasitological study, Re- from single-celled protozoa, such as amoeba, to mul- inhard compared Colorado Plateau Archaic parasit- ticelled arthropods such as fleas. Strictly defined, par- ism to agricultural Puebloan sites. Reinhard verified asites do not include bacteria and viruses. However, Cockburn’s hypothesis that occasional hunter-gath- some epidemiologists refer to bacteria and viruses as erer infections became major agricultural health haz- microparasites. There are two general types of par- ards (Figure 1). The reasons for the emergence of par- asites: ectoparasites such as lice and endoparasites asitic disease were many. Parasitism was limited in such as intestinal worms. hunter-gatherer societies, called bands. Hunter-gath- All types of parasites can be found in archeological erer parasitism was limited by small band size, dif- sites. Protozoa can be identified by traces of antigens fuse regional populations, high band mobility, and 496 Reinhard and Araújo in Encyclopedia of Archaeology (2008) presence of natural anthelminthics in hunter-gatherer to control their parasite burden very effectively while diets.The one factor that could have promoted hunter- others were simply overwhelmed by their pathogens. gatherer parasitism was the consumption of uncooked This topic was explored by a comparison of pinworm vertebrate meat and insects. Parasitism was promoted (Enterobius vermicularis) prevalence in coprolites by in descendent agricultural Puebloan communities a group of specialists in pinworm disease. Pinworm by contaminated water sources, concentrated popu- was chosen as an indicator of general infectious dis- lations, more sedentary life, apartment-style living, ease because it is transferred from person to person absence of effective sanitation, activities centered on and by contamination of living quarters and food water (agriculture), and activities that expanded wet- (Figure 2). Some ancestral Pueblo communities were lands including irrigation of all types. extremely parasitized. In a clinical setting, only 5% of Reinhard recognized that the parasite variation be- feces from pinworm-infected people are positive for tween agricultural Puebloan villages nearly equaled pinworm eggs. The percentages of coprolites positive the variation between agriculturalists and hunter- for pinworm from several sites exceed this and range gatherers. This means that some settlements managed up to 29% (Figure 3). The lowest prevalence was found Archaeoparasitology 497 in small cave sites not containing walled villages. The heavy infections. In such populations, pinworm in- highest prevalence came from large, walled villages fection prevalence reflects serious health risks, when built in rock shelters (Figure 4). Hugot et al. concluded one considers that other pathogens are spread by the that poor air circulation in large populations living same means. Reinhard showed that the prevalence of in complex apartment-style communities resulted in parasitism co-varied with porotic hyperostosis prev- truly impressive levels of pinworm parasitism. In fact, alence at ancestral Pueblo sites where both coprolite some sites have the highest levels of pinworm infec- and skeletons were studied (Figure 5). Porotic hyper- tion recorded for ancient
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