Workshop Organizer: Parasitology and Archaeology: A Workshop in Parasite Recovery and Identification: SAA 85th Annual Meeting Austin, TX, U.S. | April 22 - 26, 2020

2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.; maximum 20 persons; $30 for Annual Meeting attendeesInstructors: Karl Reinhard and Dong Hoon Shin

The workshop will feature two types of demonstrations: microscopes and models. At microscopes, parasite eggs will be shown from Korean mummies, Southwestern coprolites, and historic privies from New England. Tapeworm, roundworm, and flatworm eggs will be viewed. Teaching models of these classes of parasites will be associated with the microscopes to show participants the morphology and size of the adult parasites. Models of pathology, and specimens of modern parasites, will be on display as well. Modern specimens and exhibits will be on loan from the Manter Laboratory of Parasitology, University of Nebraska State Museum. These displays will be organized in distinct sections. First, Dr. Dong Hoon Shins’s display of parasites from South Korean mummies will be complemented with examples of adult fluke slides. Second, the Andean parasites will be on display including tapeworms and lice. The participants can then turn to tapeworms with a model of proglottid anatomy, which they can compare with microscope slides. Third, from the southwestern USA and northwestern Mexico, slides of human pinworm and various other parasites will be visible. Finally, mawworm and whipworm eggs from New England shaft features will round out the practical demonstration. There will be slides representing egg decomposition to address taphonomy. The small posters will present the diversity of parasites found at archaeological sites. The health threats of parasitism will also be addressed in the posters. Field and lab methods will be addressed, focusing on shaft features and the best stratigraphic strategies to locate parasite deposits.