Accessing Ancient Population Lifeways through the Study of Gastrointestinal Parasites: Paleoparasitology

Abstract

Paleoparasitology is a discipline of bioarchaeology that studies human and animal parasites and their evolution through time. It is at the frontier between biological sciences and the humanities, and aims to provide valuable clues about the lifestyles of former populations. Through examples chosen among recent case studies, we show in this review how paleoparasitology contributes to issues related to food, health, hygiene, organic waste management, and site occupation by ancient populations, but also, in the longer term, to questions of the evolution of the human/animal relationship and the history of diseases. This article provides an overview of this research field, its history, its concepts, and in particular, its applications in archaeology and the history of diseases.

Keywords

• paleoparasitology
• paleoecology
• ancient parasites
• human
• animals
• evolution