Paleoparasitological analysis of XVIII century humans remains from a slave cemetery of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

LAUREN HUBERT JAEGER, VERÓNICA TAGLIORETTI, MARTÍN FUGASSA, ADAUTO ARAÚJO, ONDEMAR DIAS NETO, ALENA MAYO IÑIGUEZ

Lima

Congreso; IV Paleopathology Association Meeting In South America. Perú; 2011

Universidad

Rio de Janeiro city was the capital and the main commercial center of Brazil during the colonial period, as a consequence the city suffered massive urbanization. The transatlantic slave trade brought to Brazil more than 3 million African slaves. The Praça XV cemetery was a slave burial place during the colonial period, dating from the early 18th century. It was located in the port area of Rio de Janeiro city bay. A paleoparasitological analysis was performed in human remains dated from the 18th century collected from the archaeological Praça XV cemetery. The skeletal series is stored at the IAB-Institute of Brazilian Archaeology (Instituto de Arqueologia Brasileira). The samples are in good state of preservation, with evidence of washing and brushing. Sediment samples were removed from the sacral foramina of 10 individuals. The sediments constituted mainly of sand were rehydrated in 0.5% trisodium phosphate solution during 72h at 40C. The paleoparasitological investigation was conducted by spontaneous sedimentation previous to microscopic analysis. The results revealed that 7/10 of individuals were infected by intestinal helminths and/or protozoa. Trichuris sp., Ascaris sp. and Taeniidea eggs were found in 5 individuals and protozoa cists were observed in 2 individuals. It is known that the slave population was subject of poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions that allowed the spreading of infectious diseases. The human remains retrieved from this archaeological site provided an opportunity to study infectious disease during the Brazilian colonial period, there had been an absence of data related to this period, and with good preservation of the material. This study showed the importance of the analysis of sediment from human remains preserved in museum or scientific collections, even after they were washed. This is the first report of intestinal parasites recorded for the Rio de Janeiro during the Brazilian colonial period.