Paleoparasitological remains revealed by seven historic contexts from "Place d'Armes", Namur, Belgium

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

Gino Chaves Da Rocha²  Stephanie Harter- Lailheugue¹  Matthieu Le Bailly¹  Adauto Araújo²  Luiz Fernando Ferreira²  Nicolau Maués Da Serra-freire¹  Françoise Bouchet¹ 

[1] ,Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública-FiocruzRio de Janeiro RJ ,Brasil

关键词: paleoparasitology;    helminth eggs;    paleoepidemiology;    coprolites;    ancient diseases;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S0074-02762006001000008

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Human occupation for several centuries was recorded in the archaeological layers of "Place d'Armes", Namur, Belgium. Preventive archaeological excavations were carried out between 1996/1997 and seven historical strata were observed, from Gallo-Roman period up to Modern Times. Soil samples from cesspools, latrines, and structures-like were studied and revealed intestinal parasite eggs in the different archaeological contexts. Ascaris lumbricoides, A. suum, Trichuris trichiura, T. suis. Taenia sp., Fasciola hepatica, Diphyllobothrium sp., Capillaria sp. and Oxyuris equi eggs were found. Paleoparasitology confirmed the use of structures as latrines or cesspit as firstly supposed by the archaeologists. Medieval latrines were not only used for rejection of human excrements. The finding of Ascaris sp. and Trichuris sp. eggs may point to human's or wild swine's feces. Gallo-Roman people used to eat wild boar. Therefore, both A. suum and T. suis, or A. lumbricoides and T. trichuris, may be present, considering a swine carcass recovered into a cesspit. Careful sediment analysis may reveal its origin, although parasites of domestic animals can be found together with those of human's. Taenia sp. eggs identified in latrine samples indicate ingestion of uncooked beef with cysticercoid larvae. F. hepatica eggs suggest the ingestion of raw contaminated vegetables and Diphyllobothrium sp. eggs indicate contaminated fresh-water fish consumption. Ascaris sp. and Trichuris sp. eggs indicate fecal-oral infection by human and/or animal excrements.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License