Identification of Taenia sp. in a natural human mummy (third century BC) from the Chehrabad salt mine in Iran.

Tapeworm eggs from the genus Taenia sp. were identified during the study of mummy remains dated to 2,286 ± 28 BP from the Chehrabad salt mine in northwestern Iran. The presence of tapeworm in this salt mine provides paleopathological information. Moreover, it brings new information on ancient diet, indicating the consumption of raw or undercooked meat. Cultural aspects as well as archaeozoological data are discussed in order to try to detail meat consumption. Paleoparasitological data are rare in the Middle East, and this case study presents the first recovery of parasites in ancient Iran. It constitutes the earliest evidence of ancient intestinal parasites in this country and contributes to the knowledge of gastrointestinal pathogens in the Near East.

Paleoparasitological analysis of samples from the Chehrabad salt mine (Northwestern Iran).

Paleoparasitological analyses were performed on soil samples recovered from an ancient salt mine in Chehrabad, northwestern Iran (2500 and 1500 years BP). Parasite extraction led to the recovery of a large variety of human and animal parasites, including whipworm (Trichuris sp.), roundworm (Ascaris sp.), tapeworm (Taenia sp. or Echinococcus sp.), lancet liver fluke (Dicrocoelium sp.), and horse and human pinworm (Oxyuris equi and Enterobius vermicularis). These results are among the first positive traces of ancient parasitism in Iran, and the analyses carried out on the Chehrabad salt mine thus contribute to the establishment of an ancient parasite database in this country. They also provide additional information about the lifeway of ancient miners, health, sanitary conditions, diet, as well as human and animal relationships during mining activities. Moreover, these results contribute to our knowledge of ancient parasitism in the Middle East, a key region for parasite history and host/parasite relationships.