BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA—Molecular analysis of 1,300-year-old human paleofeces recovered from northwestern Mexico’s Cave of the Dead Children has identified several intestinal diseases, according to a Live Science report. The cave was named for children’s bones left by people from the Loma San Gabriel culture that were discovered in the cave in the 1950s. Evidence for hookworm, whipworm, and pinworm infections were previously identified in studies of the paleofeces samples. In the new study, Drew Capone of Indiana University, Joe Brown of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and their colleagues extracted DNA from 10 of the paleofeces samples. They were then able to identify traces of at least one pathogen or gut microbe from each of the paleofeces samples. The most common disease-causing microorganisms were the parasite Blastocystis; multiple strains of the E. coli bacterium; the Shigella bacterium; single-celled Giardia parasites; and pinworms. The scientists suggest that the people of the Loma San Gabriel culture likely practiced poor sanitation between A.D. 600 and 800, resulting in exposure to fecal waste in drinking water, soil, or food. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS One. To read about a previous study of a human coprolite from the cave, go to "Life (According to Gut Microbes)."
