First Paleoparasitological Analysis of a Midden in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska): Results and Limits

F. Bouchet (1) , Christine Lefèvre (2) , D. West (3) , D. Corbett (4)

1 URCA - Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne
2 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements
3 KU - University of Kansas [Lawrence]
4 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Excavations on Buldir Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, have revealed the remains of several features dated between the 13th and 17th centuries A.D. Soil from an open-air workshop, represented by 2 excavated pits, and a structure built of whale bones were sampled for evidence of parasites and microfloristic remains. Two groups of helminth eggs (Diphyllobothrium and Ankylostomidae) were identified in samples from the open-air pits; microfloristical remains were found in all samples. This is the first paleoparasitological analysis conducted on an Aleutian midden. The Aleutian Islands, stretching nearly 1,700 km west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula to the Near Islands, mark the limit between the north Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Until recently, most of the islands were inhabited by maritime hunters

Domains: Microbiology and Parasitology; Archaeology and Prehistory

F. Bouchet, Christine Lefèvre, D. West, D. Corbett. First Paleoparasitological Analysis of a Midden in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska): Results and Limits. Journal of Parasitology, 1999, 85 (2), pp.369-372. ⟨10.2307/3285649⟩. ⟨mnhn-02086608⟩