Latrine inside an old palace (18th century) (Sassari - Italy)

This study evidenced the presence of parasites in a cesspit of an aristocratic palace of 19th century in Sardinia (Italy) by the use of classical paleoparasitological techniques coupled with next-generation sequencing. Parasite eggs identified by microscopy included helminth genera pathogenic for humans and animals: the whipworm Trichuris sp., the roundworm Ascaris sp., the flatworm Dicrocoelium sp. and the fish tapeworm Diphyllobothrium sp. In addition, 18S rRNA metabarcoding and metagenomic sequencing analysis allowed the first description in Sardinia of aDNA of the human specific T. trichiura and A. lumbricoides species. Their presence is important for understanding the health conditions, hygiene habits, agricultural practices and the diet of the local inhabitants in the period under study.