Gastrointestinal parasites in ancient South American camelid feces from the Atacama Desert (Pampa del Tamarugal, Tarapacá, northern Chile)

RAMIREZ, DARÍO ALEJANDRO; HERRERA-SOTO, MARÍA JOSÉ; GONZÁLEZ ANDREU, JOSEFINA; SANTANA-SAGREDO, FRANCISCA; URIBE RODRÍGUEZ, MAURICIO; NORES, RODRIGO

ARCHAEOMETRY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2023

0003-813X

aunal remains from archaeological sites worldwide, especially feces and regurgitated pellets, are usually subjected to paleoparasitological examination, allowing the identification of past animal parasites. In this study, we analyzed 10 samples of South American camelid dung, which played an important role for the ancient human groups in the South-Central Andes, dated between 341 – 1635 cal CE, from the Iluga Túmulos site (Pampa del Tamarugal, Tarapacá, Atacama Desert, Chile). Microscopy examination revealed parasite remains in seven samples, in which oocysts of Eimeria macusaniensis and eggs of Lamanema chavezi/Nematodirus lamae, Trichuris sp., Moniezia sp., capillariids, strongylids and unidentified nematodes were found. Although some of these species pose a potential health risk to camelids, most are not considered to be of major zoonotic importance, which could explain the absence of these parasites on human coprolites from this site analyzed previously. This first paleoparasitolo