Abstract
Paleoparasitological research has made important contributions to the understanding of parasite evolution and ecology. Although parasitic protozoa exhibit a worldwide distribution, recovering these organisms from an archaeological context is still exceptional and relies on the availability and distribution of evidence, the ecology of infectious diseases and adequate detection techniques. Here, we present a review of the findings related to protozoa in ancient remains, with an emphasis on their geographical distribution in the past and the methodologies used for their retrieval. The development of more sensitive detection methods has increased the number of identified parasitic species, promising interesting insights from research in the future.
Highlights
Since the beginning of the last century, paleoparasitology has been focused on understanding the origin and evolution of infectious diseases, relying on archaeological and paleontological material to do so
Protozoa exhibit a global distribution, they are not recovered from archaeological contexts. This scarcity might be related to difficulties in detecting these organisms using traditional optical microscopy and to the sensitivity of parasitic structures, which are less resistant to taphonomic processes, leading to a low estimation of protozoa in the archaeological record
This literature review aims to identify and summarise the geographic distribution of protozoa in the archaeological record, with an emphasis on protozoa associated with humans, including both intestinal and tissue parasites and the methodologies used to study them in ancient remains
Summary
Since the beginning of the last century, paleoparasitology has been focused on understanding the origin and evolution of infectious diseases, relying on archaeological and paleontological material to do so. This literature review aims to identify and summarise the geographic distribution of protozoa in the archaeological record, with an emphasis on protozoa associated with humans, including both intestinal and tissue parasites and the methodologies used to study them in ancient remains.
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