Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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First Paleoparasitological Report on the Animal Feces of Bronze Age Excavated from Shahr-e Sukhteh, Iran

  • Makki, Mahsasadat (Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Dupouy-Camet, Jean (ACMSFI, Hopital Cochin) ;
  • Sajjadi, Seyed Mansour Seyed (Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research) ;
  • Naddaf, Saied Reza (Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran) ;
  • Mobedi, Iraj (Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Rezaeian, Mostafa (Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Mohebali, Mehdi (Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences) ;
  • Mowlavi, Gholamreza (Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences)
  • Received : 2016.11.29
  • Accepted : 2017.01.15
  • Published : 2017.04.30
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Abstract

Shahr-e Sukhteh (meaning burnt city in Persian) in Iran is an archeological site dated back to around 3,200-1,800 BC. It is located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province of Iran and known as the junction of Bronze Age trade routes crossing the Iranian plateau. It was appointed as current study area for paleoparasitological investigations. Excavations at this site have revealed various archeological materials since 1967. In the present study, sheep and carnivore coprolites excavated from this site were analyzed by means of rehydration technique using TSP solution for finding helminth eggs. Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Capillaria sp., and Taenia sp. eggs were identified, while some other objects similar to Anoplocephalidae and Toxocara spp. eggs were also retrieved from the samples but their measured parameters did not match those of these species. The present paper illustrates the first paleoparasitological findings of Bronze Age in eastern Iran supporting the economic activities, peopling, and communication as well as the appropriate condition for zoonotic helminthiasis life cycle in Shahr-e Sukhteh archeological site.

Keywords

References

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