New contribution of archaeoparasitology in the Far North of Eastern Siberia: First data about the parasitological spectrum of Stadukhinsky Fort in the 17th-18th centuries

Abstract

Archeoparasitological studies of the territory of northeastern Siberia are very rare. Stadukhinsky (Nizhnekolymsky) Fort ranks high in the history of the development of northeastern Siberia. We report data on the incidence and range of intestinal parasites discovered in samples taken from the occupation layer of Stadukhinsky Fort and human and animal coprolites dated to the 17th-18th centuries.Three types of intestinal parasite eggs were discovered during the research of samples, which most likely belong to Diphyllobothrium sp., Taenia sp. and parasites of Opisthorchiidae family. Abundance of eggs of “fish” parasites suggests in various samples shows that settlers, indigenous populace and dogs consumed insufficiently thermally processed and/or raw fish and also can be evident of the unsatisfactory sanitary condition of the settlement. Consumption of poorly cooked and/or raw fish is most likely typical not only for the population of northeastern Siberia and, probably, for the entire Arctic and Subarctic territory of Eurasia.Taenia sp. eggs in the archeoparasitological spectrum bring the indigenous population of the Northern territories and the Russian settlers together. Nevertheless, the sources of infection may differ.Eggs belonging to the Opisthorchiidae family were, for the first time, found in area so remote from endemic foci of parasitosis. The fact that the eggs of trematodes of this family were found in fecal samples of people living in the Fort suggests two possible places where they could have been infected. One focus is the Ob-Irtysh River basin, another is the Amur River basin.Therefore, this study demonstrated the variety of parasitosis in the population of Stadukhinsky Fort from historical and archaeological points of view. This is important for understanding of the processes of adaptation of the population to the conditions of the Far North of Eurasia.