ABSTRACT
Initially, parasite findings in archaeological material reflected the sporadic collaboration between archaeologists and parasitologists, in which they described the parasites found and gave an interpretation of the findings. The term 'paleoparasitology' originated in Brazil with Luiz Fernando Ferreira, who was studying parasites in archaeological material at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. Parasites preserved in archaeological material help answer questions as to the existence of given parasitic infections in pre-Columbian populations. When the human species emerged in Africa and migrated outside the continent to colonise other parts of the world, it included individuals infected by parasite species inherited from their ancestors. New approaches such as molecular biology techniques applied to diagnosis in paleoparasitology and imaging diagnosis in paleopathology, combined with traditional microscopic diagnostic techniques, have demonstrated parasite findings as biological markers of prehistoric migrations and health conditions in ancient populations. However, paleoparasitological methods have begun to contribute concrete evidence retrieved from archaeological or paleontological remains.
