Parasite Eggs From the Celtic Period

Archaeologists from the University of Basel discovered eggs of intestinal parasites in samples from the former Celtic settlement “Basel-Gasfabrik”, and concluded that its population lived in poor sanitary conditions. Using special geoarchaelogical methods, they found three different types of parasites.
As part of an international project, researchers at the Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science center (IPAS) at the University of Basel examined samples from the “Basel-Gasfabrik” Celtic settlement, at the present day site of Novartis. The settlement was inhabited around 100 B.C. and is one of the most significant Celtic sites in Central Europe. The team found the durable eggs of roundworms (Ascaris sp.), whipworms, (Trichuris sp.) and liver flukes (Fasciola sp.). The eggs of these intestinal parasites were discovered in the backfill of 2000 year-old storage and cellar pits from the Iron Age.

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University of Basel

Source: Universität Basel