Archaeoparasitology

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." (p. 233) 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.

Parasites are organisms which live in close association with another organism, called the host, in which the parasite benefits from the association, to the detriment of the host. Many other kinds of associations may exist between two closely allied organisms, such as commensalism or mutualism.

Endoparasites (such as protozoans and helminths), tend to be found inside the host, while ectoparasites (such as ticks, lice and fleas) live on the outside of the host body. Parasite life cycles often require that different developmental stages pass sequentially through multiple host species in order to successfully mature and reproduce. Some parasites are very host-specific, meaning that only one or a few species of hosts are capable of perpetuating their life cycle. Others are not host-specific, since many different hosts appear to harbor and pass on the infective stages of the parasite.

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