Palaeoparasitological evidence from the Medieval Cemetery of Deraheib in the Nubian Desert (Sudan)

The deep evolutionary relationship between humans and intestinal parasites offers opportunities for the reconstruction of diet and living conditions in archaeological populations. Here, the authors identify eggs preserved in sediment adhering to the surface of the sacrum in Muslim burials from the Southern Necropolis at Deraheib (upper reaches of Wadi al-Allaqi, Sudan, ninth–eleventh centuries AD). Species-level identification is suggested based on egg morphology and religious taboos, revealing a high prevalence of infection by Taenia saginata , the beef tapeworm, and contributing to our understanding of diet, subsistence, climate and health in the medieval Nubian Desert.