Documenting the Presence of Chagas Disease in Prehistoric North America: Applying the Stockholm Paradigm to Archaeoparasitology (Part II).

The DAMA protocol (Document, Assess, Monitor, Act) is the applied aspect of the Stockholm Paradigm. Evidence from archaeology and history of medicine has a demonstrated value in documenting infection risk for specific study areas. Bioarchaeological remains and historical documents show vivid examples of pathology related to the Chagas disease life cycle. The science of archaeology defines the lifestyles that created risk of triatomine kissing bug infestations and trypanosome protozoa infections. Paleogenetics, in the form of molecular analyses of Trypanosoma cruzi, elucidate the temporal origins of genetic variants and adaptation to human environments. We illustrate how these fields reveal the risk of Chagas disease for the deserts of North America. Paleogenetics define the very ancient spread of T. cruzi in North America that put Paleoamericans at infection risk. Mummy studies and detailed examination of landscape archaeology detail an Archaic lifestyle that put humans at risk. Medical entomological investigations of archaeological parks, with descriptions of observed pathology, fill in the picture of prehistoric agricultural town association with the Chagas disease life cycle. The approach is detailed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]