The finding of helminth eggs in a Brazilian mummy

Coprolites were collected with the aid of a rectosigmoidoscope from a naturally mummified body of a child. The body dates from 3.490 +/- 120 to 430 +/- 70 BP and was found in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The coprolites were rehydrated with a trisodium phosphate solution and concentrated by the spontaneous sedimentation method. Microscopical examination showed eggs the same shape and size as those of Trichuris trichiura and of an ancylostomid.