Using intestinal parasites to identify the utilization of archaeological structures: A 12th-13th century sewer systems from an Islamic funduq (Murcia, Spain) López-Gijón, Ramón Hernández-Robles, Alicia Duras, Salvatore Celma, Mireia Curto, Ana González-Ballesteros, José Ángel Dufour, Benjamin Le Bailly, Matthieu Eiroa, Jorge A. Bioarchaeology Funduq Sewer and drainage system Islamic Europe Paleoparasitology Paleopathology This work was supported by Murcia City Council in agreement with the University of Murcia, in the Proyecto de revisión y diagnóstico del estado de conservación, estudio pluridisciplinar, adopción de medidas de consolidación y exposición temporal en el yacimiento arqueológico de San Esteban (2018–2023). RLG is currently supported by the InOsteo project (https://doi.org/10.54499/2022.03576.PTDC), funded by FCT (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology). AHR is supported by the Juan de la Cierva grant (JDC2022-049201-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR”. The discovery of specific parasites in archaeological contexts provides unique insights into the hygiene, sanitation, and socioeconomic dynamics of ancient populations, as well as their patterns of mobility. Paleoparasitological evidence offers a window into the spread of infections across different regions and time periods. This investigation leveraged paleoparasitology to explore the utilization of archaeological structures, specifically the water drainage system of a 12th-13th century funduq in the ancient Islamic city of Murcia, Spain. Through a systematic analysis, parasitic findings were compared with archaeological evidence, revealing a strong correlation between the presence of roundworm and whipworm eggs in wastewater channels and their functional role. In contrast, the absence of parasitic eggs in the clean water system further confirmed the distinct purposes of the pipes. This approach confirms paleoparasitology as a powerful tool for interpreting the use of ancient infrastructure. 2025-05-30T06:26:29Z 2025-05-30T06:26:29Z 2025-05-26 journal article R. López-Gijón et al. Journal of Archaeological Science 180 (2025) 106266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106266 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/104350 10.1016/j.jas.2025.106266 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier