Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük

Marissa L. Ledger, Evilena Anastasiou, Lisa-Marie Shillito, Helen Mackay, Ian D. Bull, Scott D. Haddow, Christopher J. Knüsel, Piers D. Mitchell

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)
217 Downloads (Pure)

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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAntiquity
Volume93
Issue number369
Pages (from-to)573-587
Number of pages15
ISSN0003-598X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2019

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