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Diet and Parasitism at Dust Devil Cave

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Karl J. Reinhard ,
J. Richard Ambler  and
Magdalene McGuffie
Karl J. Reinhard
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
J. Richard Ambler
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Magdalene McGuffie
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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Abstract

Analysis of 100 desiccated feces of the Desha Complex (6800–4800 B.C.) from Dust Devil Cave near Navajo Mountain in southern Utah shows high proportions of Chenopodium seed and an absence of parasitic round-worms. Conversely, fecal remains from other sites in the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau show high incidences of parasite infection and low frequencies of Chenopodium. The implications of Chenopodium as a vermifuge are discussed.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 819 - 824
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1985

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References

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