A Multidisciplinary Analysis of Cesspits from Late Medieval and Post-Medieval Brussels, Belgium: Diet and Health in the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Centuries

Cupere, Bea De; Speleers, Lien; Mitchell, Piers D.; Degraeve, Ann; Meganck, Marc; Bennion-Pedley, Emma; Jones, Ariadin K.; Ledger, Marissa L.; Deforce, Koen

doi:10.1007/s10761-021-00613-8

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The taxonomic diversity of parasites and the dominance of roundworm and whipworm are consistent with previous findings from the Low Countries (Rocha et al 2006;Appelt et al 2014;Deforce et al 2015;Rácz et al 2015;Graff et al 2020;De Cupere et al 2021;Rabinow et al 2023). Roundworm, whipworm and the protozoan Giardia duodenalis are all spread via the faecal-oral route of parasite transmission.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Eggs from a broad range of endoparasites have been identified in soil samples from cesspits in other regions of the Low Countries (Rocha et al 2006;Appelt et al 2014;Deforce et al 2015;Rácz et al 2015;Graff et al 2020;De Cupere et al 2021;Rabinow et al 2023). The presence of these eggs-and the attendant infection by genera or species of parasites that may be identified-can help us to create a picture of parasitic infection and its interplay with social practices such as diet and sanitation in past populations (Mitchell 2015a(Mitchell , 2023.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intestinal parasite infection and sanitation in medieval Leiden, the Low Countries

Rabinow,

Wang,

van Oosten

et al. 2024

Antiquity

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In the absence of written records, disease and parasite loads are often used as indicators of sanitation in past populations. Here, the authors adopt the novel approach of integrating the bioarchaeological analysis of cesspits in an area of medieval Leiden (the Netherlands) with historical property records to explore living conditions. Using light microscopy and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) they identify evidence of parasites associated with ineffective sanitation (whipworm, roundworm and the protozoan Giardia duodenalis)—at residences of all social levels—and the consumption of infected livestock and freshwater fish (Diphyllobothriidae, cf. Echinostoma sp., cf. Fasciola hepatica and Dicrocoelium sp.).

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