Ova of Intestinal Parasites

A number of parasites have been detected in micromorphological thin sections. In this chapter, the most frequently encountered and characteristic types of helminth eggs found in thin sections of archaeological sediments from Central Europe are presented: whipworm (Trichuris sp.), hairworm (Capillaria sp.) and roundworm (Ascaris sp.). The colour of parasite eggs in micromorphological thin sections is evaluated by observation in PPL and XPL. In the discussed study, eggs from mineralized coprolites rich in phosphatic matrix of dry sediments as well as eggs found in phosphatic matrix of waterlogged sediments are presented. Even though parasite eggs are time and again identified in micromorphological studies of archaeological sediments, there are only few systematic searches for ova. For palaeoparasitology, micromorphology can only produce limited and rather random observations. However, micromorphology allows for the detection of parasite eggs in circumstances where they are unexpected and can thus help to initiate palaeoparasitological investigations by conventional techniques.