Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük

Abstract

Abstract

Life History Transitions at the Origins of Agriculture: A Model for Understanding How Niche Construction Impacts Human Growth, Demography and Health

“…An increased parasite burden would also place energetic demands on the host. Recent evidence demonstrates for example the presence of whipworm at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey (245). In sum, the prehistoric impact of pathogens on human populations seems clear, both in the increased burden of infectious disease, and the energetic consequences of the immune response.…”

Livestock faecal indicators for animal management, penning, foddering and dung use in early agricultural built environments in the Konya Plain, Central Anatolia

“…The parasites identified in two human coprolites to date from Çatalhöyük, however, are geohelminths that spread from human to human rather than from animals to humans (Ledger et al 2019). These coprolites are from the late levels of the site from miden deposits in Space 329, Level South P, dating to c. 6410-6150 BC (Ledger et al 2019), a time when isotopic evidence suggests that animals were grazed and kept further away from the settlement, as discussed above (Pearson et al 2007;Henton 2012Henton , 2013. Further analyses of coprolites may reveal evidence of zoonotic parasites that spread from animals to humans, as commonly identified on Neolithic sites in the Mediterranean (Anastasiou and Mitchell 2013) and other traces of disease.…”

“…Further information was then obtained on the defecator's diet and food regime by the identification of a varied range of faunal and vegetal remains in thin-section and in spot samples. The identification of defecators was investigated through biomolecular analyses by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS) targeting both sterols and bile acids to discriminate between animal and human coprolitic materials (Bull et al 2005;Shillito et al 2011Shillito et al , 2013aLedger et al 2019). Further evidence from the analysis of intestinal parasites in coprolites by Ledger et al (2019) has enabled new insights on the health conditions of the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük.…”

“…Futher, the presence of pens for domestic animals and refuse areas cointaining animal dung and human coprolites in close proximity to crowded living spaces bears critical implications regarding hygiene, health and well-being in the community and an increased exposure to pathogenic microorganisms including parasites, bacteria, and viruses and the potential spread of diseases within the settlement (Larsen et al 2019). The parasites identified in two human coprolites to date from Çatalhöyük, however, are geohelminths that spread from human to human rather than from animals to humans (Ledger et al 2019). These coprolites are from the late levels of the site from miden deposits in Space 329, Level South P, dating to c. 6410-6150 BC (Ledger et al 2019), a time when isotopic evidence suggests that animals were grazed and kept further away from the settlement, as discussed above (Pearson et al 2007;Henton 2012Henton , 2013.…”

The evolution of IgE‐mediated type I hypersensitivity and its immunological value

“…71 Once farming and herding developed, human coprolites and pelvic soil from burials in the Near East dating to 7000-10 000 years ago have been found to contain a range of nematode and fluke ova. 72,73 Studies of modern populations have shown that when nomadic hunter-gatherers settle and adopt farming, the prevalence of parasites spread by poor sanitation increases dramatically. Parasites most associated with this change include roundworm, whipworm, hookworm and pathogenic amoeba that cause dysentery.…”