Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük

Abstract The early village at Çatalhöyük (7100–6150 BC) provides important evidence for the Neolithic and Chalcolithic people of central Anatolia. This article reports on the use of lipid biomarker analysis to identify human coprolites from midden deposits, and microscopy to analyse these coprolites and soil samples from human burials. Whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) eggs are identified in two coprolites, but the pelvic soil samples are negative for parasites. Çatalhöyük is one of the earliest Eurasian sites to undergo palaeoparasitological analysis to date. The results inform how intestinal parasitic infection changed as humans modified their subsistence strategies from hunting and gathering to settled farming.

[1]  H. Brückner,et al.  Intestinal parasites from public and private latrines and the harbour canal in Roman Period Ephesus, Turkey (1st c. BCE to 6th c. CE) , 2018, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

[2]  E. Rosenstock,et al.  A tale of two tells: dating the Çatalhöyük West Mound , 2018, Antiquity.

[3]  P. Lamberton,et al.  Soil-transmitted helminth infections , 2017, The Lancet.

[4]  A. Papathanasiou,et al.  Infectious disease in the ancient Aegean: Intestinal parasitic worms in the Neolithic to Roman Period inhabitants of Kea, Greece , 2017 .

[5]  J. Poblome,et al.  Intestinal parasites from the 2nd-5th century AD latrine in the Roman Baths at Sagalassos (Turkey). , 2017, International journal of paleopathology.

[6]  D. Fuller,et al.  Agricultural innovation and resilience in a long-lived early farming community: the 1,500-year sequence at Neolithic to early Chalcolithic Çatalhöyük, central Anatolia , 2017, Anatolian Studies.

[7]  N. Côté,et al.  Paleoparasitological investigations on the Neolithic lakeside settlement of La Draga (Lake Banyoles, Spain) , 2017 .

[8]  W. Amelung,et al.  Steroid Biomarkers Revisited – Improved Source Identification of Faecal Remains in Archaeological Soil Material , 2017, PloS one.

[9]  D. Pokutta,et al.  Food, Economy and Social Complexity in the Bronze Age World : A Cross-Cultural Study , 2017 .

[10]  K. Reinhard,et al.  Taphonomic considerations for the analysis of parasites in archaeological materials. , 2016, International journal of paleopathology.

[11]  P. Mitchell.  Assessing the Impact of Sanitation upon Health in Early Human Populations from Hunter-gatherers to Ancient Civilisations, Using Theoretical Modelling , 2016 .

[12]  A. McMahon,et al.  Waste Management in Early Urban Southern Mesopotamia , 2016 .

[13]  P. Mitchell.  Human parasites in the Roman World: health consequences of conquering an empire , 2016, Parasitology.

[14]  H. Mehlhorn.  Animal Parasites , 1943, Springer International Publishing.

[15]  Joshua W. Sadvari,et al.  Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and dietary reconstruction through the life course at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey , 2015 .

[16]  Joshua W. Sadvari,et al.  Bioarchaeology of Neolithic Çatalhöyük: Lives and Lifestyles of an Early Farming Society in Transition , 2015, Journal of World Prehistory.

[17]  I. Hodder,et al.  Getting to the Bottom of It All: A Bayesian Approach to Dating the Start of Çatalhöyük , 2015 .

[18]  P. Mitchell.  Human Parasites in Medieval Europe: Lifestyle, Sanitation and Medical Treatment. , 2015, Advances in parasitology.

[19]  A. Whittle,et al.  Early farmers : the view from archaeology and science , 2014 .

[20]  I. Hodder.  Çatalhöyük: the leopard changes its spots. A summary of recent work , 2014, Anatolian Studies.

[21]  I. Bull,et al.  Neolithic lifeways: microstratigraphic traces within houses, animal pens and settlements , 2014 .

[22]  I. Bull,et al.  BIOMOLECULAR INVESTIGATIONS OF FAECAL BIOMARKERS AT SHEIKH-E ABAD AND JANI , 2013 .

[23]  P. Mitchell.  The origins of human parasites: Exploring the evidence for endoparasitism throughout human evolution. , 2013, International journal of paleopathology.

[24]  P. Mitchell,et al.  Simplifying the process of extracting intestinal parasite eggs from archaeological sediment samples: A comparative study of the efficacy of widely-used disaggregation techniques. , 2013, International journal of paleopathology.

[25]  M. Le Bailly,et al.  Testing new parasite egg extraction methods in paleoparasitology and an attempt at quantification. , 2013, International journal of paleopathology.

[26]  K. Reinhard,et al.  Food, parasites, and epidemiological transitions: A broad perspective. , 2013, International journal of paleopathology.

[27]  Nerissa Russell,et al.  More on the Çatalhöyük mammal remains , 2013 .

[28]  R. Bendrey,et al.  The Earliest Neolithic of Iran: 2008 Excavations at Sheikh-e Abad and Jani , 2013 .

[29]  W. V. Neer,et al.  The exploitation of fish at Çatalhöyük , 2013 .

[30]  J. Pearson,et al.  The human remains I: interpreting community structure, health, and diet in Neolithic Çatalhöyük , 2013 .

[31]  L. Shillito,et al.  Geoarchaeological Investigations of Midden‐Formation Processes in the Early to Late Ceramic Neolithic Levels at Çatalhöyük, Turkey ca. 8550–8370 cal BP , 2013 .

[32]  I. Bull,et al.  The microstratigraphy of middens: capturing daily routine in rubbish at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey , 2011, Antiquity.

[33]  R. Evershed,et al.  Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey , 2011 .

[34]  S. Manolis,et al.  Reconstructing Late Bronze Age diet in mainland Greece using stable isotope analysis , 2010 .

[35]  G. Armelagos,et al.  The Changing Disease-Scape in the Third Epidemiological Transition , 2010, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[36]  Terence A Brown,et al.  The complex origins of domesticated crops in the Fertile Crescent. , 2009, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[37]  L. Garcia.  Diagnostic Medical Parasitology, Sixth Edition , 2007 .

[38]  Mark S Bailey,et al.  Soil-transmitted helminth infections , 2006, The Lancet.

[39]  Peter J Hotez,et al.  Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm , 2006, The Lancet.

[40]  Ian Hodder,et al.  Inhabiting Çatalhöyuk: Reports from the 1995-99 seasons , 2005 .

[41]  David C. Anderson,et al.  Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, 16th Edition , 2005, Neurology.

[42]  F. L. Mort,et al.  Premières données parasitologiques sur les populations humaines précéramiques chypriotes : (VIIIe et VIIe millénaires av. J.-C.) , 2005 .

[43]  G. Guest.  Globalization, health, and the environment : an integrated perspective , 2005 .

[44]  Wendy K. Matthews.  Life-cycle and life-course of buildings , 2005 .

[45]  G. Medley,et al.  Intestinal nematode infections , 2004 .

[46]  R. Evershed,et al.  The origin of faeces by means of biomarker detection. , 2002, Environment international.

[47]  E. Jong.  Intestinal parasites. , 2002, Primary care.

[48]  C. Holland,et al.  The public health significance of Trichuris trichiura , 2000, Parasitology.

[49]  R. Evershed,et al.  Muck ‘n’ molecules: organic geochemical methods for detecting ancient manuring , 1999, Antiquity.

[50]  U. Confalonieri,et al.  Recovery of Parasite Remains From Coprolites and Latrines: Aspects of Paleoparasitological Technique , 1986 .

[51]  E. Markell,et al.  Intestinal nematode infections. , 1985, Pediatric clinics of North America.

[52]  M. Cohen,et al.  Paleopathology at the Origins of Agriculture , 1984 .

[53]  R. Beer.  The relationship between Trichuris trichiura (Linnaeus 1758) of man and Trichuris suis (Schrank 1788) of the pig. , 1976, Research in veterinary science.