Archaeoparasitology in the System of Human Ancient Studies: Terminology and Theoretical Foundations

Abstract

Introduction. This article examines the terminology and theoretical-methodological foundations of archaeoparasitology.

Materials and methods. The study is based on an analysis of Russian and international scholarship in paleoparasitology, archaeoparasitology, paleopathology, pathoecology, and anthropology. It includes a critical assessment of the key concepts and theoretical-methodological foundations of archaeoparasitology.

Results. The study demonstrates that the term paleoparasitology is most appropriately applied to the study of parasites from paleontological contexts and to the biological and evolutionary aspects of the parasite-host system, whereas archaeoparasitology is more suitable for research on parasites recovered from archaeological material associated with humans and human activity. It is further argued that archaeoparasitology occupies an interdisciplinary position at the intersection of archaeology, parasitology, bioarchaeology, and paleopathology, while also possessing its own specific objects of study, diagnostic logic, and reconstructive framework.

Conclusion. Archaeoparasitology should be regarded as an independent interdisciplinary field aimed at reconstructing parasitic diseases, ways of life, and the economic and cultural environment of ancient populations. Its most productive theoretical foundation is proposed to be the combination of the pathoecological approach with the concept of anthropogeocenosis.

Funding. The work was carried out within the framework of the state assignment «Study of human paleopopulations in the context of the analysis of natural and anthropogenic ecosystems of Western Siberia and adjacent territories (ZWRZ-2026-0029) № 126022618022-2».

References

Abegg C., Desideri J., Dutour O., Besse M. More than the sum of their parts: reconstituting the paleopathological profile of the individual and commingled Neolithic populations of Western Switzerland. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021, 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01278-4

Agosta S.J., Brooks D.R. The Major Metaphors of Evolution: Darwinism Then and Now. Cham, Springer, 2020. XVII, 273 p. (Evolutionary Biology: New Perspectives on Its Development; vol. 2). ISBN 978-3-030-52086-1. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52086-1

Agosta S.J., Janz N., Brooks D.R. How generalists can be specialists: resolving the «parasite paradox» and implications for emerging disease. Zoologia, 2010, 27, pp. 151–162. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-46702010000200001

Alekseev V.P. Anthropogeocenoses: essence, typology, dynamics. Priroda, 1975, 7, pp. 18–23. (In Russ.).

Alekseev V.P. Essays on Human Ecology. Moscow, Nauka Publ. 1993. 189 p. (In Russ.).

Andrianov B.V. The Non-Sedentary Population of the World. Moscow, Nauka Publ. 1985. 280 p. (In Russ.).

Appleby J., Mitchell P.D., Robinson C., Brough A., Rutty G., Harris R.A., Thompson D., Morgan B. The scoliosis of Richard III, last Plantagenet King of England: diagnosis and clinical significance. The Lancet, 2014, 383(9932), p. 1944. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60762-5

Appleby J. Ageing and disease risk factors: A new paleoepidemiological methodology for understanding disease in the past. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2023, 44, pp. 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2023.11.004

Araujo A., Reinhard K., Bastos O.M., Costa L.C., Pirmez C., Iñiguez A., Vicente A.C., Morel C.M. Paleoparasitology: perspectives with new techniques. Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, 1998, 40, pp. 371–376. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0036-46651998000600006

Araújo A., Reinhard K.J., Ferreira L.F. Palaeoparasitology: human parasites in ancient material. Advances in Parasitology, 2015, 90, pp. 349–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/BS.APAR.2015.03.003

Araujo A.J.G., Ferreira L.F., Confalonieri U.E.C. A contribution to the study of helminth findings in archaeological material in Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 1981, 41, pp. 873–881.

Aristova E.S., Chikisheva T.A. A case of pituitary dwarfism in an individual buried in a Scythian-period kurgan in the territory of Tuva. Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2006, 3, p. 139. (In Russ.).

Beer S.A. Biology of the Causative Agent of Opisthorchiasis. Moscow, KMK Scientific Press Ltd. 2005. 336 p. (In Russ.).

Bellomo G., Carotenuto G., Lauria G., Miccichè R., Sìneo L. Problems of differential diagnosis in paleopathology. Medicina nei Secoli: Journal of History of Medicine and Medical Humanities, 2021, 33 (2), pp. 315–328.

Boutin A. Exploring the social construction of disability: an application of the bioarchaeology of personhood model to a pathological skeleton from ancient Bahrain. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2016, 12, pp. 17–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2015.10.005

Breev K.A. Application of the negative binomial distribution to the study of parasite population ecology. Methods of Parasitological Research. Leningrad, Nauka Publ. 1972. 70 p. (In Russ.).

Brooks D.R., Hoberg E.P., Boeger W.A. The Stockholm Paradigm: Climate Change and Emerging Disease. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2019. 298 p.

Brothwell D. Tumors: problems of differential diagnosis in paleopathology. In: A Companion to Paleopathology. Oxford, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012, pp. 420–433.

Bugmyrin S.V., Ieshko E.P., Anikanova V.S., Bespyatova L.A. Features of parasite-host relationships between the nematode Heligmosomum mixtum (Schulz, 1952) and the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus Schreber 1780. Parazitologiya, 2005, 39 (5), pp. 414–422. (In Russ.).

Buzhilova A.P. Analysis of pathological traits in individuals buried in the stone mausoleums of the Kazan Kremlin. In: Mausoleums of the Kazan Kremlin: An Experience of Historical and Anthropological Analysis. Kazan, Panorama-Forum Publ. 1997. pp. 110–121. (In Russ.).

Buzhilova A.P. Adaptive processes in the ancient population of Eastern Europe: based on paleopathological data. Dr. Hist. Sci. Diss. Moscow. 2001. 451 p. (In Russ.).

Camacho M., Araújo A., Morrow J., Buikstra J., Reinhard K. Recovering parasites from mummies and coprolites: an epidemiological approach. Parasites & Vectors, 2018, 11, pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-018-2729-4

Chai J.Y., Seo M., Shin D.H. Paleoparasitology research on ancient helminth eggs and larvae in the Republic of Korea. Parasites, Hosts and Diseases, 2023, 61 (4), p. 345. https://doi.org/10.3347/PHD.23085

Côté N.M-L, Le Bailly M. Palaeoparasitology and palaeogenetics: review and perspectives for the study of ancient human parasites. Parasitology, 2018, 145 (5), pp. 656-664. https://doi.org/10.1017/S003118201700141X

De Boni U., Lenczner M.M., Scott J.W. Autopsy of an Egyptian mummy. 6. Trichinella spiralic cyst. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1977, 117 (5), p. 472.

Dobrovolskaya M.V. Study of paleoanthropological materials in the context of an archaeological site: the current stage. Kratkie Soobshcheniya Instituta Arkheologii, 2021, 262, pp. 129–141. (In Russ.).

Dutour O. Paleoparasitology and paleopathology. Synergies for reconstructing the past of human infectious diseases and their pathocenosis. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2013, 3 (3), pp. 145–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2013.09.008

Ferreira L.F., Reinhard K.J., Araújo A. Foundations of Paleoparasitology. Rio de Janeiro, Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, 2014. 484 p.

Fornaciari G., Gaeta R. Paleoparasitology of helminths. In: Helminth Infections and Their Impact on Global Public Health, 2014, pp. 29–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-1782-8_2

Fornaciari G., Vitiello A., Giusiani S., Giuffra V., Fornaciari A., Villari N. The Medici Project: first anthropological and paleopathological results of the exploration of the Medici tombs in Florence. Med Secoli, 2007, 19 (2), pp. 521–543.

Hoberg E.P., Brooks D.R. Evolution in action: climate change, biodiversity dynamics and emerging infectious disease. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015, 370 (1665), 20130553. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0553

Hussein K., Matin E., Nerlich A.G. Paleopathology of the juvenile Pharaoh Tutankhamun: 90th anniversary of discovery. Virchows Archiv, 2013, 463 (3), pp. 475–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-013-1441-1

Kliks M.M. Paleoparasitology: on the origins and impact of human helminth relationships. In: Croll N.A., Cross J.H., eds. Human Ecology and Infectious Diseases. New York, Academic Press, 1983, pp. 291–313.

Leštinová K., Soldánová M., Scholz T., Kuchta R. Eggs as a suitable tool for species diagnosis of causative agents of human diphyllobothriosis (Cestoda). PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2016, 10 (5), e0004721. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004721

Letyagin A.Yu., Savelov A.A., Polosmak N.V. High-field magnetic resonance imaging of an anthropoarchaeological object from kurgan 1 of the Ak-Alakha-3 burial ground (Ukok): results and interpretation. Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology of Eurasia, 2014, 4 (60), pp. 83–91. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.15372/SSMJ20180402

Leung T.L.F. Fossils of parasites: what can the fossil record tell us about the evolution of parasitism? Biological Reviews, 2017, 92 (1), pp. 410–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12238

Levin M.G., Cheboksarov N.N. Economic-cultural types and historical-ethnographic areas: toward the formulation of the problem. Sovetskaya Etnografiya, 1955, 4, pp. 3–17. (In Russ.).

Litvin V.Yu., Korenberg E.I. Natural focality of diseases: development of the concept by the end of the century. Parazitologiya, 1999, 33 (3), pp. 179–190. (In Russ.).

López-Gijón R., Duras S., Maroto-Benavides R., Mena-Sánchez L., Camarós E., Jiménez-Brobeil S. Two cases of cystic echinococcosis reported from al-Andalus cemeteries (southern Iberia): insights into zoonotic diseases in Islamic Medieval Europe. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3253

Loreille O, Bouchet F. Evolution of ascariasis in humans and pigs: a multi-disciplinary approach. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 2003, 98 (1) pp. 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0074-02762003000900008

Malkhazova S.M., Mironova V.A. Natural focal diseases in Russia. Priroda, 2017, 4, pp. 37–47. (In Russ.).

Mednikova M.B., Petrova K.A., Chechetkina O.Yu. Differentiation of the population of the Dzhetyasar archaeological culture according to paleopathological data: based on materials from the excavations of the Altyn-Asar 4 burial grounds. Nizhnevolzhskiy Arkheologicheskiy Vestnik, 2023, 22 (2), pp. 97–111. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2023.2.5

Morrow J.J., Reinhard K. The paleoepidemiology of Enterobius vermicularis (Nemata: Oxyuridae) among the Loma San Gabriel at La Cueva de los Muertos Chiquitos (600–800 CE), Rio Zape Valley, Durango, Mexico. Comparative Parasitology, 2018, 85 (1), pp. 27–33. https://doi.org/10.1654/1525-2647-85.1.27

Ortner D.J. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. 2nd ed. San Diego, Academic Press, 2003. 645 p.

Pavlovsky E.N. Guide to Human Parasitology with the Doctrine of Vectors of Transmissible Diseases. Vol. 1. Moscow; Leningrad, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ. 1946. 523 p. (In Russ.).

Pavlovsky E.N. The current state of the doctrine of natural focality of diseases. In: Natural Focal Diseases of Humans. Moscow, Meditsina Publ. 1960. pp. 6–40. (In Russ.).

Pavlovsky E.N. The state of the doctrine of natural focality of human diseases. In: Natural Focality of Human Diseases and Regional Epidemiology. Leningrad, Nauka Publ. 1955. pp. 17–26. (In Russ.).

Poulin R., Randhawa H.S. Evolution of parasitism along convergent lines: from ecology to genomics. Parasitology, 2015, 142 (S1), pp. S6–S15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182013001674

Reinhard K.J. Diet, Parasitism, and Anemia in the Prehistoric Southwest. PhD dissertation. College Station, Texas A&M University, 1988. 201 p.

Reinhard K.J. Parasitology as an interpretive tool in archaeology. American Antiquity, 1992, 57 (2), pp. 231–245.

Reinhard K.J., Araújo A. Synthesizing parasitology with archaeology in paleopathology. In: Buikstra J.E., Roberts C.A., eds. A Global History of Paleopathology. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012.

Reinhard K.R. Bionomic disruptions and the health of Arctic people: an adventure in retrospective pathoecology. American Journal of Public Health, 1974, 64, p. 13.

Robbins S.G., Buikstra J.E. From ONE Health to ONE Paleopathology: Deep-Time Perspectives on Health in the Face of Climate and Environmental Change. Encyclopedia 2025, 5, 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia5010013

Roberts C., Manchester K. The Archaeology of Disease. 3rd ed. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 2005. 354 p.

Ruffer M.A. Note on the presence of «Bilharzia haematobia» in Egyptian mummies of the twentieth dynasty (1250–1000 B.C.). The British Medical Journal, 1910, 1 (2557), p. 16. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.2557.16-a

Ruffer M.A. On pathological lesions found in Coptic bodies (400–500 A.D.). Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology, 1913, 18, pp. 149–162.

Searcey N., Reinhard K.J., Egarter-Vigl E., Maixner F., Piombino-Mascali D., Zink A.R., Bianucci R. Parasitism of the Zweeloo Woman: dicrocoeliasis evidenced in a Roman period bog mummy. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2013, 3 (3), pp. 224–228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2013.05.006

Shin D.H., Lim D.-S., Choi K.-J., Oh C.S., Kim M.J., Lee I.S., Kim S.B., Shin J.E., Bok G.D., Jy C., Seo M. Scanning electron microscope study of ancient parasite eggs recovered from Korean mummies of the Joseon Dynasty. Journal of Parasitology, 2009, 95 (1), pp. 137–145. https://doi.org/10.1645/GE-1588.1

Slepchenko S., Reinhard K. Paleoparasitology and pathoecology in Russia: investigations and perspectives. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2018, 22, pp. 39–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.03.005

Slepchenko S.M. Possibilities of archaeoparasitology in anthropological reconstruction: methodological aspects. Cand. Biol. Sci. Diss. Tyumen; Moscow. 2018. 203 p. (In Russ.).

Slepchenko S.M. Archaeoparasitology as a new source for reconstructing migrations of ancient populations: possibilities, results, and prospects. Vestnik Arkheologii, Antropologii i Etnografii, 2021, 3 (54), pp. 147–162. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.20874/2071-0437-2021-54-3-12

Søe M.J., Nejsum P., Fredensborg B.L., Kapel C.M. DNA typing of ancient parasite eggs from environmental samples identifies human and animal worm infections in Viking-age settlement. Journal of Parasitology, 2015, 101 (1), pp. 57-63. https://doi.org/10.1645/14-650.1

Suby J. Paleopathological research in Southern Patagonia: an approach to understanding stress and disease in hunter-gatherer populations. Latin American Antiquity, 2020, 31, pp. 392–408. https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2020.5

Toyne J., Turner B. Linking isotope analysis and paleopathology: an Andean perspective. International Journal of Paleopathology, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2019.11.002

Waters-Rist A.L., Faccia K., Lieverse A., Bazaliiskii V.I., Katzenberg M.A., Losey R.J. Multicomponent analysis of a hydatid cyst from an Early Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherer from Lake Baikal, Siberia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014, 50, pp. 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.06.015

Wiscovitch-Russo R.A., Santiago-Rodriguez T.M., Toranzos G.A. Deciphering diets and lifestyles of prehistoric humans through paleoparasitology: a review. Genes, 2023, 14 (2), p. 303. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14020303

Yamskov A.N. Concepts of economic-cultural types and historical-cultural areas: the contribution of Soviet ethnography to cultural-geographical regionalization. Geograficheskaya Sreda i Zhivye Sistemy, 2023, 2, pp. 19–46. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.18384/2712-7621-2023-2-19-46