MSFS Day 5: Of Parasites and Powerpoints

Notes from the Field School: July 27th, 2016

Students inspect more mummies at Santa Lucia.

Today was devoted primarily to teaching the students all about infectious diseases, specifically those caused by agents that can be detected from archaeological contexts. However, before we began our day of infectious diseases, we returned to the crypt for a second look at yesterday's mummies and for a first look at the last of the mummies we'd yet to observe. Closer inspections of yesterday's coffins revealed evidence of arthropod activities among some of the individuals. Students reviewed their observations of the mummies themselves by describing their individual group's findings to the class.

Students describe their observations to one another and
discuss the significance of their discoveries.

Afterward, the mummies were placed back onto their shelves and the last three mummies were subjected to visual inspections. This last group of mummies included a child mummy and two members of the clergy as identified by the tattered remains of a priest's collar and a religious official's vestments. Careful examinations revealed signs of aging, potential infections, and, once again, arthropod activity.

Once the students had described their new discoveries to the class, discussed the significance of these discoveries, and placed the mummies back onto their shelves, everyone returned to the classroom, leaving the mummies to await further observations by students in next summer's MSFS. Karl then led a discussion of major themes and theories in the field of parasitology that relate to the study of parasites from archaeological remains. The students interacted with the parasitologists in the room (Karl, Elisa, and myself) by generating thoughtful and relevant questions. It was an excellent discussion that set the tone for an afternoon that would be devoted to discussions of infectious organisms.

The class discusses the prevailing theories in parasitology and how they apply to archaeological materials.

Lunch was a delicious spaghetti in a chili oil with fresh parmesan cheese  served alongside bread, ham, and cheese. The meal concluded with a slice of chocolate gelato cake with a wafer crust. It was wonderful, as has become normal for our culinary experiences of Sicily.

The afternoon session began with a basic overview of ectoparasites delivered by me (Johnica). I spoke about the types of ectoparasites found in association with humans and about the methods used for recovering these kinds of organisms from archaeological samples. The identification and imaging methods for these organisms were also discussed. I ended with a discussion of louse quantification techniques. To demonstrate these techniques, I had students form groups and pretend to count the number of lice on one another using proper methods. The number of "lice" found on each student was determined by the number represented on an electronic die that was "rolled" for each step of the analysis. Students then entered their "data" and we calculated the average number of lice per 2 square centimeters and generated a graph of our data.

Johnica talks to students about ectoparasites in archaeological materials.

Students check one another for "lice" to learn about louse quantification techniques.
Left: Erik looks for lice on Ruth. Right: Caleb counts Erin's paper faux lice.

Next, Elisa gave the students a presentation regarding her proposed dissertation work. She explained previous work on the recovery of bacterial aDNA from ancient bones of both humans and of an extinct ground sloth. She then discussed how she plans to collect ectoparasites to test for pathogenic bacteria and protozoans that could have affected human populations of the past. Students had excellent questions for Elisa that stimulated a nice discussion before the next presentation.

Elisa tells students about her dissertation work in Brazil.

The day concluded with a presentation given by Mari regarding her work with ancient viruses. She began by talking about her home country, Finland, to orient us to her study region of the world. She then talked about how she became interested in the relatively new area of archaeovirology. She described her methods for extracting evidence of viruses from historic bones belonging to World War II soldiers and historic Lithuanians and shared with us the results of her analyses. Her presentation also generated a lively discussion on the role of viruses in the daily lives of people of the past.

Mari tells students about her dissertation work in Finland.

Another yummy dinner with traditional Sicilian cuisine!

As is tradition, dinner was delicious. Tonight we were served a traditional bruschetta alongside sausages wrapped in bread. We were also given a local salami that has been traditionally eaten in the Piraino area, a place we will be visiting in a few days to see more mummies! We ended with fruit and espresso before adjourning to the classroom for an evening of Italian lessons.

Katia arrived for our third day of language lessons after dinner. Today, we covered ways to discuss foods and how to talk about things to do. We discussed how to interact in a variety of social situations and shared our experiences of Santa Lucia with Katia using almost exclusively Italian words. We are all learning very quickly and are enjoying our time with our excellent teacher!

Written by  Dr. Johnica J. Morrow (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)