Hallstatt: 3,000-year-old intestinal parasites of miners analysed

ÖAW/DanielHinterramskogler - Researchers in Vienna have obtained the world's first gene sequences of the human roundworm from the Bronze Age, as well as the first gene sequences from prehistoric parasites in Austria. The analysis was conducted on human faeces from prehistoric miners in Hallstatt. The findings were published by a team from the Medical University Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and the Natural History Museum Vienna in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. An interdisciplinary study of more than 3,000-year-old human faeces has yielded new insights into health and nutrition in prehistory. Researchers from the Medical University Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) and the Natural History Museum Vienna analysed the infestation of prehistoric miners in Hallstatt with intestinal parasites and were thus able to gain insights into their living conditions and eating habits. Bronze Age roundworm sequenced for the first time. -Until recently, prehistoric human faeces was primarily analysed microscopically.