Praca das Armas, Namur, Belgica. Contribuicao de um estudo paleoparasitologico

by Rocha, Gino Chaves

ix The analysis and interpretation of the findings of parasitic helminths from the “Place d’Armes” site, Namur, Belgium was done. The preventive archaeological excavations were carried out between 1996 and 1997 and seven historical periods were considered: galo-roman, carolingian, XI, XII – XIII, XIV – XV centuries A.D., Reinassance up to Modern Times. Thirty-four soil samples from cesspools, latrines and similar structures were studied and revealed many kinds of helminth eggs, taking into account the archaeological records and historical context of the settlement. The sediments were processed by the same rehydration and spontaneous sedimentation techniques used for coprolithes. In addition, ultrasound was employed to dissociate the eggs and sediment particles. Eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides, Ascaris sp., ascarids; Trichuris trichiura, Trichuris sp., Taenia sp.; Capillaria sp., Fasciola hepatica, Diphyllobothrium sp. and Oxyuris equi were identified. The biostatistical analysis revealed significative differences between the dimensions of the eggs of Trichuris sp. samples in relation to the reference average (Confalonieri, 1983). The majority of the samples selected did not belong to T. trichiura population. Taenia sp. eggs identified in medieval latrines samples indicate the ingestion of infected pork or beef with cysticercoid larvae. The presence of Fasciola hepatica eggs suggest the ingestion of raw vegetables contaminated with metacercariae. Diphyllobothrium sp. eggs indicate a fresh-water fish contaminated with plerocercoid larvae. Ascaris sp. and Trichuris sp. eggs indicate oral contamination by human and/or animal excrements. These type of eggs were present along all the historical contexts studied. Most of the eggs found were well preserved. It was also observed that eggs identified as ascarids are, in fact, Ascaris sp. eggs that have lost their outer proteinic shell. Nevertheless, the absence of other helminth eggs doesn’t indicate that other parasites did not take part of the local parasitical spectrum. Key words: paleoparasitology, helminths, parasitic diseases, sediments, archaelogical deposits.