Archaeoparasitological and Microbiological Studies of the Occupation Layer at the Bronze Age Settlements in Western Crimea

Soils and occupation layers of dwellings and livestock pens located in the western part of the Crimean peninsula were investigated employing methods of ar-chaeoparasitology and soil microbiology. The studies were carried out at several sites, namely, Tyumen-3, Tyumen-7 and Bagai-1. Eggs of two types of helmints, presumably, Dicrocoeliidae and Trichuridae families, were identified in the selected samples. Trematodes of the Dicrocoeliidae family cause dicroceliosis, which is a parasitic disease, predominantly, of sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, etc. This trematode can be dangerous for humans. Trichuridae are roundworms which, depending on species, infest the intestine of humans, sheep, dogs, pigs, etc. Depending on severity of disease, the invasion of this helmint in humans and animals can be characterized by both asymptomatic disease course and clinical manifestations caused by damage to the colon mucosa, intoxication of the organism by excreta, etc. Close correlation between the incidence rate of the Trichuridae family eggs and urease enzyme activity and CFU counts for thermophilic bacteria was found. A high incidence rate of whipworms and increased values of the aforementioned microbiological indicators are linked with conservation conditions of the occupation layer. High incidence of eggs of the trematodes of the Dicrocoeliidae families was found to closely correlate with larger numbers of CFU for saprotrophic bacteria and keratinolytic fungi, this genus of helmints was identified in equal qualities both in livestock pens and dwellings. Hence, this study was the first to prove that such livestock diseases as dicroceliosis and tricho-cephalosis probably were common in the Late Bronze Age.