Paleoparasitology and Paleogeography - ancient parasite infections in the Old World and its influence in the colonial America.

ARAÚJO ADAUTO, SIANTO LUCIANA, BOUCHET FRANÇOISE, LE BAILLY MATTHIEU, IÑIGUEZ ALENA, LELES DANIELA, FUGASSA MARTÍN, REINHARD KARL, MENDONÇA DE SOUZA SHEILA, FERREIRA LUIZ FERNANDO.

París

Conferencia; XI ICAZ International Conference; 2010

ICAZ

Paleoparasitology results opened possibilities to understand disease transmission in ancient populations. Parasite findings in Old and New World archaeological samples contributed with empirical data to understand the presence of parasite infections and paleothologies in ancient material. Combining with archaeological and anthropological data, among other research fields, it is possible to get consistent results about health, disease, and the way ancient people lived and interacted with environment, and how and to where these infections dispersed. Some parasite species infecting humans today date from African ancestors, shared with great apes. Other parasites were acquired over the human process of biologial and cultural evolution. We present examples of parasite findings in archaeological material both from the Old and New World, and how they are closely linked to the different ways ancient populations explored environment and became infected. Main results point to that the most common helminth parasites were already infecting New World ancient inhabitants before European conquest. However, a paleoepidemiological transition occurred at the time of the conquest. Native Americans were induced to live agglomerated, thus facilitating parasite transmition as examplified by paleoparasitology both in North and South American historical archaeological sites. Therefore, the burden of disease must have changed in short time, leading to clinical problems rarely experimented before.