The Significance of Intestinal Parasite Remains in Pollen Samples from Medieval Pits in the Piazza Garibaldi of Parma, Emilia Romagna, Northern Italy

Abstract

This paper presents the study of parasite remains recovered in pollen samples collected from archaeological layers. Laboratory treatment enabled us to ob- tain very high concentrations of both pollen and parasite eggs from the same samples. The case study of the site of Piazza Garibaldi in Parma, a town in the Po plain, is reported. The site was a sacred area in Roman times and a market square in Medieval times (10th–11th century A.D.). Pollen, seeds, and fruits from the latter phase were collected from four Medieval pits and one cesspit. After a palynological treatment including sieving, floating, and light acetolysis, abundant quantities of parasite eggs were extracted. Human and animal parasite eggs belonging to Trichuris, Ascaris, Taenia/Echinococcus, Capillaria, Dicrocoelium, and Diphyllobothrium were found. The analyses of an- imal and plant remains identified in the same samples suggested that the pit infillings consisted of waste, human and animal excrements, deteriorated plant food, and refuse of grapes. Therefore, parasite remains help the inter- pretation of archaeobotanical data in identifying human behaviors and site functions

Parasitology in an archaeological context: analysis of medieval burials in Nivelles, Belgium

“…The collections of these types of data are relevant to future reconstructions of diet, medicinal plant use, seasonality of death, and other aspects of pathoecology (Ferreira et al, 1983;Jones, 1985;Reinhard et al, 1986;Aspöck et al, 1996;Bouchet et al, 2003;Gonçalves et al, 2003;Santoro et al, 2003;Le Bailly et al, 2006;Fisher et al, 2007;Arriaza et al, 2010;Kumm et al, 2010;Araújo et al, 2011;Bartošová et al, 2011;Brinkkemper and van Haaster, 2012;Florenzano et al, 2012;Jiménez et al, 2012;Reinhard et al, 2012;Reinhard and Pucu, 2013;Searcey et al, 2013;Morrow et al, 2014). However, only the relevant archaeoparasitological methods and results are detailed within this publication.…”

“…The archaeoparasitological record of Europe is characterized by the ubiquity of fecal-borne geohelminths such as the giant intestinal round worms or "maw worms" (A. lumbricoides) and whipworms (T. trichiura) (Bartošová et al, 2011;Brinkkemper and van Haaster, 2012;Florenzano et al, 2012;Reinhard and Pucu, 2013). The physical evidence of these parasites from archaeological contexts is complemented by their presence in medical records and other ancient texts (Cox, 2002).…”

“…Eggs of A. lumbricoides lack any type of opercula. Both of these helminths are recurrent in the European archaeoparasitological literature (Jones, 1985;Aspöck et al, 1996;Kumm et al, 2010;Bartošová et al, 2011;Brinkkemper and van Haaster, 2012;Florenzano et al, 2012;Anastasiou and Mitchell, 2013b;Mitchell et al, 2013;Searcey et al, 2013;Reinhard and Pucu, 2013;Morrow et al, 2014).…”

Paleopathological, Trichological and Paleoparasitological Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains from the Migration Period Cemetery Prague-Zličín

“…(Bartošová et al 2011;Fernandes et al 2005;Florenzano et al 2012;Myšková et al 2014;Rocha da et al 2006;Yeh et al 2014). The main problem of this material lies in the fact that, despite the parasites being found, they cannot be directly assigned to a specific host.…”

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

“…Quantification methods have been specified for coprolites (Reinhard et al, 1986;Sianto et al, 2005;Fugassa et al, 2011;Jiménez et al, 2012), latrines (Jones, 1985;Reinhard et al, 1986Reinhard et al, , 2008Warnock and Reinhard, 1992;Fisher et al, 2007;Florenzano et al, 2012), and skeletons (Fugassa et al, 2006). In contrast to these types of source materials, quantification of parasites from mummies has rarely been done.…”