Pathoecology of Two Ancestral Pueblo Villages

Pervasiveness of Phytoliths in Prehistoric Southwestern Diet and Implications for Regional and Temporal Trends for Dental Microwear

Our previous analysis of phytolith content of coprolites showed that calcium oxalate phytoliths from desert food plants caused dental microwear among prehistoric Texas hunter-gatherers. We demonstrated that phytoliths from desert succulents were ubiquitous and abundant in hunter-gatherer coprolites. We found that calcium oxalate phytoliths were harder than human dental enamel. We concluded that...

Parasite Pathoecology of Chacoan Great Houses: The Healthiest and Wormiest Ancestral Puebloans

A Coprological View of Ancestral PuebloCannibalismDebate over a single fecal fossil offers a cautionary taleof the interplay between science and culture

A Coprological View of Ancestral Pueblo Cannibalism Debate over a single fecal fossil offers a cautionary tale of the interplay between science and culture" (2006). Karl Reinhard Papers/Publications. Paper 2.

A tick from a prehistoric Arizona coprolite.

Ticks have never been reported in archaeological analyses. Here, we present the discovery of a tick from a coprolite excavated from Antelope Cave in extreme northwest Arizona. Dietary analysis indicates that the coprolite has a human origin. This archaeological occupation is associated with the Ancestral Pueblo culture (Anasazi). This discovery supports previous hypotheses that ticks were a pot...

Prehistoric Pathoecology as Represented by Parasites of a Mummy from the Peruaçu Valley, Brazil

Paleopathologists have begun exploring the pathoecology of parasitic diseases in relation to diet and environment. We are summarizing the parasitological findings from a mummy in the site of Lapa do Boquete, a Brazilian cave in the state of Minas Gerais. These findings in context of the archaeology of the site provided insights into the pathoecology of disease transmission in cave and rockshelt...