The Buchta-Nakhodka 2 burial ground: Results of archaeoparasitological and macro-remains investigations of samples from the burial grounds of the 6th–13th century CE on the Yamal Peninsula in Russia

Abstract

Buchta Nakhodka 2 is the oldest and most northern burial ground in the territory of Western Siberia. Examination of samples from the anterior aspect of the sacrum and sacral foramina revealed helminth eggs of Diphyllobothrium sp. This discovery proves the existence of intestinal parasites among members of the medieval Buchta-Nakhodka populations who consumed uncooked or slightly-salt-treated fish. The high rate of Diphyllobothriasis that appeared in a present-day population of native peoples inhabiting the same area in the far north of Western Siberia points to a continuation of the dietary habits of the medieval population of Buchta-Nakhodka. The absence of Opisthorchis sp. eggs, combined with other relevant facts, suggests what the primary direction of the Buchta-Nakhodka population's inter-regional trade and cultural exchange was. One hypothesis holds that some time after settlement on the Yamal Peninsula at the end of the 11th century CE, all ties between the Buchta-Nakhodka population and the inhabitants of the Ob-Irtysh Basin were terminated, and that new intra-territorial ties in several different directions were formed. In particular, movement northwards on the Yamal Peninsula and movement southwards toward the Nadym and Taz River basins, at least to the lower and middle reaches, has been corroborated by archaeological data.