Then and Now: Archeology at Fort Stanwix
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Parasites

Intestinal parasites have been part of human health, or ill-health, for tens of thousands of years. This study was the first to examine an historic hotel of the nineteenth century. In nightsoil deposits in a privy, archeologists can find the eggs of parasites which tells them about what infections people were suffering.
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It is easy to assume that having parasites is a mark of being poor or uneducated, but in the nineteenth century and before, everyone had intestinal parasites. Simply put, they were sick all the time. There was some variation in what kind of intestinal parasites you had depending on your level of wealth or, it turns out, where you live.
Ascarid egg, or roundworm, in a microscopic photograph. There is a connection in terms of socioeconomic level or where you are in the social hierarchy and how much money you had with one kind of intestinal parasite. Roundworms, or ascarids, are somewhat more common in households with a lower economic level.
The infection rate of roundworms varies by household. Roundworm infections were also fairly easy to treat with nineteenth-century medicine, so after treatment most of the roundworm eggs will be expelled from the body and into the chamberpot or privy. Ascarid egg, or roundworm, in a microscopic photograph.
Trichurid egg, or whipworm, in a microscopic photograph. Whipworm or trichurid infection did not vary by how much money you had, but by where you lived. Densely-populated cities, such as New York and Philadelphia, had high levels of whipworm infection rates, while medium-sized cities, such as Rome, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany had moderate rates. Very small cities, such as Ithaca, New York, had low rates.
This is probably due to crowded conditions making easier transmission of the parasites between people. The samples from this study provided needed information about Rome to demonstrate the link between city size and whipworm infection rates. See the comparative table of infection rates. Trichurid egg, or whipworm, in a microscopic photograph.
Nematode egg in a microscopic photograph. This is the egg of a nematode, a relative of the roundworm. Nematodes can be parasites of humans, as this one may have been, but also can parasitize dogs, cats, fish, insects, and many other creatures. It is estimated that there are about 5,000 nematode species that parasitize mammals and humans alone. Trichinosis, which comes from eating undercooked pork, is caused by a nematode. Read more about nematodes.
Not everything found in the parasite study could be identified. This egg, for example, was found at the Stanwix Hall Hotel privy but is from an unidentified species. It might be a human parasite egg that is simply little known or little documented, or it could be from a parasite that had an animal as a host. Archeological studies, while finding answers to one set of questions, will often raise new questions. Unknown parasite egg in a microscopic photograph.

Microscopic images courtesy of Karl Reinhard, Ph.D.

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