García-Roldán, Erileen X.

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    Parasitic eggs in ancient coprolites from archeological sites in Puerto Rico
    (2012) García-Roldán, Erileen X.; Bunkley-Williams, Lucy; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Williams, Ernest; Martínez Cruzado, Juan Carlos; Department of Biology; Pomales, Cristina
    Parasites have accompanied the human species since its origin and through their migrations around the world. Evidence of ancient parasitic diseases has been recovered from ancient human remains since 1910. The present work is the first paleoparasitological study in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Coprolites from the Saladoid and Huecoid pre-Columbian cultures recovered from archeological excavations in the municipalities of Guayanilla and Vieques were analyzed. A process of rehydration and spontaneous sedimentation was used with one gram of each of 34 samples. For each coprolite sample ten microscopic slide preparations of 50 L of sediment and a drop of glycerin were scanned. All parasite eggs and larvae found were measured and photographed. A total of 15 different intestinal parasitic eggs were found. The most common species were: Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis and cestodes. A statistically significant difference was found in richness of parasite species between Saladoid and Huecoid cultures in Vieques. The Jaccard and Whittaker  diversity index showed more similarity between the parasite communities present in the Saladoid culture from both archeological sites. Different stages of hookworm infection were detected in the Saladoid culture from Guayanilla. These findings add evidence for presence of this parasite in preColumbian America as suggested by previous investigations and also provide parasitological evidence for current research on human migrations to the New World.