Paleoparasitological Report on the Stool From a Medieval Child Mummy in Yangju, Korea

Abstract

Previous studies have successfully shown evidence for parasitic infections in human remains from various archaeological sites. However, in the case of Korea, since there have been very few paleoparasitological reports published, pre-20th century parasitic infection patterns remain obscure. Therefore, in order to partly fill this gap, we are reporting on a case of paleoparasitic infection from the feces of a 15th century child mummy from Yangju, Korea. In the course of the present study, we found the eggs of Clonorchis sinensis, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Trichuris trichiura in the feces of the mummy. Trichuris trichiura eggs were found in far greater numbers than other parasite eggs; in fact, intact bipolar plugs were clearly observed and even the larvae were still visible in some eggs. The eggs of C. sinensis and A. lumbricoides were also well preserved, though not in as great a number. Since we could find a number of well-preserved larvae-containing eggs, we are encouraged that successful extraction, amplification, and sequence determination of ancient DNA from the paleoparasite eggs might be possible in future studies. With additional paleoparasitological investigation using feces from Korean mummies, we hope that a history of parasite infection in Korea will be reconstructed.

A parasitological paradox: Why is ascarid infection so rare in the prehistoric Americas?

“…Bathurst (2005) also reports many broken A. lumbricoides eggs, and found fragments of A. lumbricoides eggs in Patagonian sediments. Pike (1967) and Seo et al (2007) observed eggs decorticated and uncoated. In different materials examined in our laboratories we also observed broken A. lumbricoides eggs (Figure 1).…”

Taphonomic considerations of a whipworm infection in a mummy from the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit, Vilnius, Lithuania

“…The T. trichiura eggs were thin-walled and variously damaged or deformed in comparison to eggs of the same species recovered from mummies from other sites ( Aspöck et al, 1996;Martinson et al, 2003;Seo et al, 2007;Shin et al, 2009;Kumm et al, 2010). The polar plugs may not have been missing, but rather may not have yet been formed.…”

“…The preservation of eggs in mummies ranges from pristine (Kumm et al, 2010) to excellent (Seo et al, 2007;Shin et al, 2009), deformed (Reinhard and Urban, 2003) to degraded (Searcey et al, 2013). Some whipworm eggs documented by Kumm et al (2010) were fully embryonated which is unexpected in mummy contexts.…”

Animal helminths in human archaeological remains: a review of zoonoses in the past

“…Unlike Japan, in China, where foods are traditionally cooked before eating, C. sinensis, Schistosoma japonicum, and T. solium eggs have been found in archaeological remains dated from 2,300 BP to 2,100 BP 27,72,129,136 . In Korea, C. sinensis eggs have been found in human remains dated to 668 -935 AD and 1,411 ± 42 AD 58,117 . A mummy from 1,650 -1750 AD was also found with Metagonimus yokogawai and Gymnophalloides seoi eggs 118 .…”