First Paleoparasitological Report on the Animal Feces of Bronze Age Excavated from Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran

Abstract

Shahr-e Sukhteh (meaning burnt city in Persian) in Iran is an archeological site dated back to around 3,200-1,800 BC. It is located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province of Iran and known as the junction of Bronze Age trade routes crossing the Iranian plateau. It was appointed as current study area for paleoparasitological investigations. Excavations at this site have revealed various archeological materials since 1967. In the present study, sheep and carnivore coprolites excavated from this site were analyzed by means of rehydration technique using TSP solution for finding helminth eggs. Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Capillaria sp., and Taenia sp. eggs were identified, while some other objects similar to Anoplocephalidae and Toxocara spp. eggs were also retrieved from the samples but their measured parameters did not match those of these species. The present paper illustrates the first paleoparasitological findings of Bronze Age in eastern Iran supporting the economic activities, peopling, and communication as well as the appropriate condition for zoonotic helminthiasis life cycle in Shahr-e Sukhteh archeological site.

Worldwide paleodistribution of capillariid parasites: Paleoparasitology, current status of phylogeny and taxonomic perspectives

“…Regarding the findings in goats, the authors discussed that the defeat of tribes in the region by Mongolian troops, followed the establishment of settlements with breeding of herds of these animals nearby, and consequently, the increased frequency of these parasites [40]. In Iran two morphotypes of capillariids were found in sheep coprolites, and assumed as Aonchotheca bovis due the host [41]. In Korea, capillariid eggs with morphometry comparable to Paracapillaria philippinensis , were identified in a human burial from the Joseon Dynasty (17 th century).…”

First molecular data on the human roundworm Ascaris lumbricoides species complex from the Bronze and Iron Age in Hallstatt, Austria

“…Earlier studies on Bronze Age samples from Europe include findings of Ascaris , Trichuris , Ancylostoma duodenale (one of the two human hookworms) and Dicrocoelium dendriticum (the lancet liver fluke) 39 – 41 . Outside Europe, parasite eggs from archaeological excavations dated to the Bronze Age have been reported particularly also from Iran 42 – 44 . In a burial of a Bronze Age cemetery (2600–2200 BC), eggs of D. dendriticum were found, which represent the oldest finding of this parasite in the Near East 42 .…”

Paleoparasitology research on ancient helminth eggs and larvae in the Republic of Korea

“…All these reports were from Europe, and only a few were from Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Several studies were performed in Russia and Iran [76][77][78]. Interestingly, a recent report from Taiwan described the discovery of Eurytrema sp.…”