Contribuições paleoparasitológicas para o estudo dos povos ameríndios

Abstract

Paleoparasitology is an interdisciplinary field focused on the understanding of parasitism dynamics in the past, by searching for parasitic evolutionary forms in archaeological and paleontological material. This area provides insights about the host-parasite relationship, as well as biogeographic and evolutionary aspects of the parasites, on a broader time scale. Studies on parasitic dynamics, in the past and present, also provide great sociocultural perceptions about civilizations, since helminth eggs are biomolecular indicators of socioeconomic, behavioral and environmental conditions. In the present study, a qualitative analysis of articles, which describe the presence of helminths in fossils from pre-Columbian America, was made to understand the main contributions of Paleoparasitology to the archaeological study of the Amerindians. 44 Paleoparasitological references were obtained in four different databases. Other 36 studies were obtained through a non-probabilistic methodology, when they were mentioned in previously read articles. The latter are not necessarily directly related to Paleoparasitology, but they provided a great basis for the discussions proposed here. The Paleoparasitological references revealed a great interface between parasitology, archaeology and antropology. They also provides great insights about sociocultural aspects, such as the persistence of eating habits throughout history, the perception of hygiene and sanitary conditions and the cultural relationship between humans and other animals. Furthermore, studies in archaeological sites, caracterized by the transition between lifestyles, social, political and commercial organizations, reveal how much sedentarization and population concentration are associated to the precariousness of sanitary conditions and the increase of parasitism in America. With the advent of molecular studies, paleoparasitology remains in motion, as a dynamic science, being improved over time and challenging taphonomic limitations and the loss of biological information due to fossilization process.