Research Article
Contributions of ectoparasite studies in archaeology with two examples from the North Atlantic region

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2013.07.004Get rights and content

Highlights

  • We provide a summary of the applications of ectoparasitic studies in archaeology.

  • Bird fleas (Siphonaptera, Ceratophyllidae) are identified from eiderdown production sites in Iceland.

  • Human and animal lice help to reconstruct hygienic practices in ancient Greenland.

Abstract

Human and animal ectoparasites are often recovered from archaeological contexts being examined for preserved insect remains. Records of human lice, fleas and bedbugs are used to reconstruct past sanitary conditions and practices, as well as their geographic distribution and that of the pathogens for which they may be vectors. Ectoparasites of domesticated and wild animals may be considered proxy indicators for the presence of those animals whilst also inferring activities such as wool processing. This paper summarizes the contribution of ectoparasite studies in archaeology and presents two original case studies from Iceland and Greenland.

Introduction

Archaeoentomology is a sub-discipline of environmental archaeology that focuses on the study of insect remains preserved in archaeological sediments. As it has been demonstrated that most insects did not evolve over the last 2 million years, most of the species identified from ancient deposits still exist today (Coope, 1978, Elias, 2010). The archaeoentomological approach is thus based on using the habitat preferences of species recovered from ancient deposits to infer past ecological conditions (see Kenward, 1978). This approach, initially used for palaeoecological studies (Coope, 1959), was first applied to archaeological investigations of sites in the United Kingdom (e.g. Coope and Osborne, 1968, Osborne, 1969). Such studies have since been expanded to others parts of the world (e.g. Andrieu-Ponel et al., 2000, Bain, 2001, Bain and King, 2011, Böcher and Fredskild, 1993, Buckland et al., 1983, Buckland et al., 1992, Hall and Kenward, 1990, Hellqvist, 1996, Kenward and Hall, 1995, Martinson et al., 2003, Panagiotakopulu et al., 2007, Panagiotakopulu et al., 2009, Ponel et al., 2000).

Beetles (Coleoptera) are the most commonly studied insects in archaeology, largely due to their hardened exoskeletons that make them resistant to post-burial decay. Remains of other insects and arthropods may also be preserved in archaeological sediment; especially in waterlogged, anoxic, frozen or arid conditions (Elias, 2010). The archaeoentomological record commonly includes not only mites (Acari) (e.g. Cheptow-Lusty et al., 2007, Schelvis, 1997) and flies (Diptera) (e.g. Panagiotakopulu, 2004a, Skidmore, 1996), but also ectoparasites, a group of parasites that live on the body of their hosts (Markell et al., 1999). The term ‘ectoparasite’ refers to an ecological rather than taxonomic group, composed of insects, arachnids and crustacean species that live as adults on or in close proximity to the skin, the fur or the feathers of vertebrate animals from which they derive their food (Hopla et al., 1994, Marshall, 1981). This paper presents an overview of the contributions of studies of ectoparasites to various archaeological questions. After a discussion of the current body of research on archaeological ectoparasites, two original case studies are presented. The first concerns the identification of an ‘entomological signature’ for activities in Iceland related to eiderdown production using bird fleas, while the second uses the spatial distribution of lice to examine the hygienic practices of Polar Inuits in Greenland.

Section snippets

Ectoparasites in archaeology: summary of the evidence

The human ectoparasites most commonly recovered from archaeological deposits include the human louse Pediculus humanus Linnaeus and the human flea Pulex irritans Linnaeus (e.g. Bain, 2004, Buckland and Sadler, 1989, Kenward, 2009, Mumcuoglu, 2008). The former was identified from many sites located in the Near East (e.g. Fletcher, 1994, Mumcuoglu and Zias, 1988); Europe (e.g. Girling, 1984, Hall and Kenward, 1990, Kenward and Hall, 1995, Schelvis, 1994), the North Atlantic Islands (e.g. Amorosi

Case study 1: Bird fleas as indicators of eiderdown residues and production sites in Iceland

The analysis of insect remains preserved in the floors of a 19th-century turf house at Vatnsfjörður, in northwest Iceland (Fig. 1) recovered 159 fleas (Fig. 2a) from a single room, interpreted as a cellar. The fleas were not identified to species level at the time of the initial publication of results (Forbes et al., 2010), but subsequent research (Forbes, 2013) identified most specimens to the Ceratophyllidae family (Traub et al., 1983), which includes species feeding on the blood of birds and

Case study 2: Lice as indicators of practices related to hygiene in historic northwest Greenland

Conflicting descriptions concerning the hygiene of Polar Inuits or Inughuit were published at the turn of the last century. European and American explorers in the Arctic mention numerous parasites and the poor hygiene of these northern peoples (Hayes and Shaw, 1860, Henson and Peary, 1912, Kane, 1856, M’Dougall, 1857, Peary, 1898, Peary and Peary, 1893, Ross, 1819, Vaughan, 1991). Contrastingly, anthropologists and ethnologists such as Knud Rasmussen and Erik Holtved describe delousing as a

Conclusion

The potential for the study of ectoparasitic arthropods recovered from archaeological sites has been previously demonstrated by archaeoentomologists around the world. Their research suggests that the study of ectoparasites allows for an appreciation of past hygiene and sanitary conditions, while also providing means to identify domestic areas within houses, the species of domestic animals that were present on a site, and traces of particular activities such as delousing and wool processing. Two

Acknowledgements

Research conducted on Icelandic bird fleas was done as part of a doctoral project (VF) funded by the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission. The Research Budget of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen provided additional funding for the fieldwork. This work was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Karen Milek and Dr. Andrew J. Dugmore, to whom thanks are also due. Residents at Æðey and Vatnsfjörður, who provided access to the sites and buildings, as well as Dr. Richard

References (110)

  • T. Amorosi et al.

    Site status and the palaeoecological record: a discussion of the results from Bessasstaðir, Iceland

  • T. Amorosi et al.

    An archaeozoological examination of the midden at Nesstofa, Reykjavík, Iceland

  • T. Amorosi et al.

    They did not live by grass alone: the politics and palaeoecology of animal fodder in the North Atlantic region

    Environmental Archaeology

    (1998)
  • V. Andrieu-Ponel et al.

    Palaeoenvironment and cultural landscapes of the last 2000 years reconstructed from pollen and coleopteran records in the Lower Rhône Valley, Southern France

    The Holocene

    (2000)
  • N. Annandale

    The Faroes and Iceland: Studies in Island Life

    (1905)
  • B. Arriaza et al.

    Severe head lice infestation in an Andean mummy of Arica, Chile

    Journal of Parasitology

    (2012)
  • A.M. Bailey et al.

    Head lice and body lice: shared traits invalidate assumptions about evolutionary and medical distinctions

    Australian Journal of Medical Science

    (2003)
  • A.L. Bain

    Archaeoentomological and Archaeoparasitological Reconstructions at Îlot Hunt (CeEt-110): New Perspectives in Historical Archaeology (1850–1900). British Archaeological Reports, S973

    (2001)
  • A.L. Bain

    Irritating intimates: the archaeoentomology of lice, fleas and bedbugs

    Northeast Historical Archaeology

    (2004)
  • A.L. Bain et al.

    Asylum for wayward immigrants: historic ports and colonial settlements in northeast North America

    Journal of the North Atlantic Special Volume

    (2011)
  • B. Berglund

    Fugela feðerum in archaeological perspective – eider down as a trade commodity in prehistoric northern Europe

    Acta Boreal

    (2009)
  • J. Böcher et al.

    Plant and arthropod remains from the palaeo-Eskimo site on Qeqertasussuk, West Greenland. Medd. om Grøn

    Geoscience

    (1993)
  • G. Brinck-Lindroth et al.

    The Fleas (Siphonaptera) of Fennoscandia and Denmark

  • P.C. Buckland

    The North Atlantic environment

  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    Ectoparasites of sheep from Stóraborg, Iceland and their interpretation

    Hikuin

    (1989)
  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    A biogeography of the human flea, Pulex irritans L. (Siphonaptera: Pulicidae)

    Journal of Biogeography

    (1989)
  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    Norsemen at Nipáitsoq, Greenland: a palaeoecological investigation

    Norwegian Archaeological Review

    (1983)
  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    Palaeoecological investigations at Reykholt, western Iceland

  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    An insect's eye-view of the Norse farm

  • P.C. Buckland et al.

    Insect remains from GUS: an interim report

  • J.R. Busvine

    Insects, Hygiene and History

    (1976)
  • A.J. Cheptow-Lusty et al.

    Evaluating socio-economic changes in the Andes using oribatid mite abundance as indicators of domestic animal densities

    Journal of Archaeological Science

    (2007)
  • T. Clay

    Phthiraptera

  • A. Cockburn et al.

    Mummies, Disease, and Ancient Culture

    (1998)
  • G.R. Coope

    A late Pleistocene insect fauna from Chelford, Cheshire

    Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

    (1959)
  • G.R. Coope

    Constancy of insect species versus inconstancy of quaternary environments

  • G.R. Coope

    Report on the Coleoptera from an eleventh-century house at Christ Church Place, Dublin

  • G.R. Coope et al.

    Report on the coleopterous fauna of the Roman well at Barnsley Park, Gloucestershire

    Transactions – Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society

    (1968)
  • K. Dittmar de la Cruz et al.

    Paläoparasitologische Analyse von Meerschweinchenmumien der Chiribaya-Kultur (900–1100 AD)

    Berl Munch Tierarztl Wochenschr

    (2003)
  • K. Dittmar et al.

    Techniques of DNA-studies on prehistoric ectoparasites (Pulex sp., Pulicidae, Siphonaptera) from animal mummies of the Chiribaya Culture, Southern Peru

    Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz

    (2003)
  • R.W. Doughty

    Eider husbandry in the North Atlantic: trends and prospects

    Polar Record

    (1979)
  • C. Dupont-Hébert

    Contexte économique de la ferme islandaise prémoderne (16ème-19ème siècles) des Vesfirðir: une analyse zooarchéologique à la recherche de marqueurs de stress

    (2012)
  • F. Dussault

    Hygiène et considérations hygiéniques des Inughuits du nord-ouest du Groenland. Étude archéoentomologique des sites d’Iita, Cap Grinnell et Qaqaitsut au Groenland

    (2011)
  • S.A. Elias

    Advances in Quaternary Entomology

    (2010)
  • M. Eppinger et al.

    Genome sequence of the deep-rooted Yersinia pestis strain Angola reveals new insights into the evolution and pangenome of the plague bacterium

    Journal of Bacteriology

    (2010)
  • B.M. Fagan

    Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent

    (2000)
  • I. Fletcher

    A tale of hair, wigs and lice

    Egyptian Archaeology

    (1994)
  • V. Forbes

    Evaluation of archaeoentomology for reconstructing rural life-ways and the process of modernisation in 19th and early 20th-century Iceland

    (2013)
  • V. Forbes et al.

    Reconstructing aspects of the daily life in late 19th and early 20th-century Iceland: archaeoentomological analysis of the Vatnsfjörður farm, NW Iceland

    Archaeologia Islandica

    (2010)
  • G.W. Gill et al.

    Electron microscopy of parasite remains on the Pitchfork Mummy and possible social implications

    Plains Anthropologist

    (1985)
  • Cited by (15)

    • Automontage microscopy and SEM: A combined approach for documenting ancient lice

      2020, Micron
      Citation Excerpt :

      Detailed methods forthis type of analysis are presented elsewhere (Arriaza et al., 2013a; Reinhard and Buikstra, 2003). By mapping louse discoveries, researchers provided insight into geography and time depth of louse distribution (Araújo et al., 2000; Dittmar, 2000; Dutra et al., 2014; Forbes et al., 2013, 2014; Fornaciari et al., 2009; Horne, 1979; Mumcuoglu and Hadas, 2011; Mumcuoglu et al., 2003; Mumcuoglu and Zias, 1988; Rick et al., 2002; Santos et al., 2003; Zias and Mumcuoglu, 1991). For these studies, stereomicroscopy was used to sort lice from archaeological source material such as textiles, sediment (archaeological soils), and scalp/hair samples.

    • Earliest record of the spinose ear tick, Otobius megnini (Dugès) (Ixodida: Argasidae), from the Paisley Caves site (Oregon, USA), with implications for prehistoric human ectoparasitism

      2020, Journal of Archaeological Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      The identification and analysis of ectoparasites in archaeological contexts is a fascinating facet in the study of human prehistory, as it speaks to the health and quality of life of ancient people and/or the animals with which they interacted, as well as the environment in which they lived. The most commonly recovered archaeological ectoparasites are fleas, lice, and bed bugs (for a comprehensive review, see Forbes et al., [2013]). However, the recovery of ticks in these contexts is relatively rare.

    • Duck fleas as evidence for eiderdown production on archaeological sites

      2015, Journal of Archaeological Science
      Citation Excerpt :

      However, the only site where large numbers of bird fleas were recovered from archaeological layers is Vatnsfjörður, where late 19th and early 20th century deposits produced nearly 200 specimens (Forbes et al., 2010). Thanks to the excellent preservation conditions of organics in these sediments, many flea abdomens were found and it was possible to confidently identify 58 of these to C. garei, the duck flea (Forbes, 2013; Forbes et al., 2013). The recovery of duck fleas at Vatnsfjörður not only allowed the first identification of eiderdown production on an archaeological site, but also demonstrated that where suitable preservation conditions occur, bird flea abdomens and genitalia can be preserved and identified.

    • Human Parasites in Medieval Europe: Lifestyle, Sanitation and Medical Treatment

      2015, Advances in Parasitology
      Citation Excerpt :

      These have been recovered from soil sediment, textiles, mummies and combs. Head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis), body lice (Pediculus humanus corporis) and crab/pubic lice (Phthirus pubis) have been found in countries such as Britain, Iceland, Greenland, the Netherlands and Italy (Kenward, 2001; Mumcuoglu, 2008; Fornaciari et al., 2009; Forbes et al., 2013). Fleas (Pulex irritans) were also widespread and have been recovered from excavations in Britain, Iceland, Ireland, France, Greenland and the Netherlands (Buckland et al., 1998; Kenward and Hall, 1995; Sadler, 1990; Schelvis, 1994; Yvinec et al., 2000).

    • Insects, activity areas and turf buildings' interiors: An ethno-archaeoentomological case study from 19th to early 20th-century verá, northeast Iceland

      2014, Quaternary International
      Citation Excerpt :

      Seaweed, grain and animal products such as eiderdown are known carriers of specific insect taxa. They have been used in previous studies as proxy evidence for the presence of these materials on Icelandic archaeological sites (e.g. Buckland et al., 1991a; Amorosi et al., 1992, 1994; Vickers et al., 2005; Forbes et al., 2013), but were not identified at Þverá. Importantly, this study represents the first attempt to combine ethnoarchaeological and entomological data to test the hypothesis that it would be possible to differentiate human living quarters from animal buildings on the basis of archaeoentomological evidence.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text