Parasitological Investigations on Samples from 6 to 28 and 21 to 7 Union Terrace, York

Author(s): A K G Jones

Thirteen small samples of mainly dry sandy archaeologic-al deposits clearly containing large amounts of mortarand other non-faecal material collected from pitsthought to have been originally latrine pits from theUnion Terrace site, York, (YAT codes UT and 1972.18) were examined for parasite ova. Two samples contained poorly preserved ova of the genera Trichuris and Ascaris. The finds demonstrate that parasite ova can survive insediments where organic preservation is extremely poor (examination of the same samples for plant microfossils yielded only a few fig seeds from one sample and noidentifiable remains from the other). The results fromthis site suggests that parasite ova can be preserved inmaterial which at first sight appears to have littlepotential for environmental investigation.

Report Number:
237/1987
Series:
AML Reports (New Series)
Pages:
11
Keywords:
Animal Remains Parasites, Pests and Diseases

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