Basics of Archaeoparasitology
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Date
2018
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جامعة الشيخ عبدالله البدري
Abstract
Archaeoparasitology, a multi-disciplinary field within paleopathology, is the study of parasites in
archaeological contexts. It includes studies of the protozoan and metazoan parasites of humans in
the past, as well as parasites which may have affected past human societies, such as those
infesting domesticated animals.
Reinhard suggested that the term "archaeoparasitology" be applied to "... all parasitological
remains excavated from archaeological contexts ... derived from human activity" and that "the
term Paleoparasitology be applied to studies of nonhuman, paleontological material."
Paleoparasitology includes all studies of ancient parasites outside of archaeological contexts,
such as those found in amber and even dinosaur parasites.
The first archaeoparasitology report described calcified eggs of Bilharzia haematobia (now
Schistosoma haematobium) from the kidneys of an ancient Egyptian mummy. Since then, many
fundamental archaeological questions have been answered by integrating our knowledge of the
hosts, life cycles and basic biology of parasites, with the archaeological, anthropological and
historical contexts in which they are found.