Archaeologists Find Intestinal Worms In Burials From The Time Of Hippocrates

DEC 15, 2017 @ 10:07 AM

Kristina Killgrove , CONTRIBUTOR

The tiny Greek island of Kos is known mostly for its most famous denizen: Hippocrates, a physician who lived in the 5th-4th centuries BC and lent his name centuries later to the Hippocratic Oath. But on the nearby island of Kea, archaeologists have tested two dozen ancient burials to see whether they can link the presence of intestinal parasites with the writings of Hippocrates and his followers.

Soil samples from the pelvises of 25 skeletons dating from the Neolithic to Byzantine periods and buried on Kea were analyzed at the University of Cambridge by palaeopathologist Piers Mitchell and his team. The results are published today by the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports in a paper that also includes authors from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Witwatersrand, and the Greek Ephorate of Paleoanthropology and Speleology.

The research team was particularly interested in isolating evidence of intestinal parasites from the soil samples, as the Hippocratic texts describe parasites that could be interpreted as roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), tapeworm segments (Taenia species), and pinworm (Enterobius vermicularis). Making a direct link between parasites discovered in the ancient soil and the Hippocratic texts, however, had never been done before.

In order to look for parasites -- or rather, parasite eggs, which preserve in the archaeological record -- the team studied soil from nine Neolithic burials, one Chalcolithic, two Bronze Age, ten Roman, and three Byzantine burials, to get an idea of the parasite load over several millennia on the island.

More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2017/12/15/archaeologists-find-intestinal-worms-in-burials-from-the-time-of-hippocrates/#19c867836c4e