## 4 Recent Applications of Paleoparasitology
### Integration of Paleoparasitology in Paleoecological Reconstructions  
We recently integrated a systematic paleoparasitological investigation in a multi-proxy peat bog core study. The peat bog of Asi Gonia is located at an altitude of 750 m in the White Mountains, Western Crete, Greece. A 6 m core was taken from the deepest part of the bog, and 15 radiocarbon samples were taken, dating the beginning of the site to the first century BCE. Among others, a very important accumulation of fungal spores was observed, particularly marked during the Roman period [58]. Coprophilous and saprophytic fungi are traditionally recognized in paleoecological studies as reliable markers for the presence of herbivorous mammals in past environments, and particularly of rising pastoral pressure in terrestrial ecosystems during the Holocene [59; 60; 61; 62]. Sporadic observations of parasite eggs in palynological studies incited previous researchers to propose the systematization of paleoparasitological research alongside other biomarkers in reconstructions of past environments [63]. However, such systematic studies have not really materialized, either in peat bog core studies or by following the standards of this discipline to avoid egg degradation due to very stringent parabolical methods. Twenty-two sediment samples were collected from this peat bog core. We aimed to test the feasibility of paleoparasitological studies in this kind of context, and, if applicable, to trace animal presence and pastoral pressure in the watershed of Asi Gonia in conjunction with the analysis of pollen grains and coprophilous fungal spores [64]. A total of 19 samples (86%) tested positive for parasite eggs under light microscopy. Despite the relatively small number of eggs (58 observed eggs in the whole sequence), they were particularly well preserved, ranging from the Roman period to the twentieth century, and represented at least nine morphotypes corresponding to five Nematoda genera, two Trentadoa genera, and one Acanthobcephala genus, plus a currently unknown Trichocephalida morphotype. In conjunction with fungal spore and pollen grain records, these results suggest seemingly coeval dynamics for all our biomarkers, showing notably a higher intensity and diversity of coprophilous fungal spores alongside a higher diversity of parasite taxa per sample during a first period ranging from the Roman period in the first c. BCE to 380 CE in an evergreen oak forest landscape. Regarding the zoo-archaeoozological record in Crete, this was tentatively interpreted as the sign of acorn-fed pig-herding in the oak-forested watershed at that time. Interestingly, this pastoral activity, which is still practiced in the Mediterranean, had not been previously suggested for ancient Crete. After this first period, parasitological and fungal remains follow their coeval dynamics through a marked decline in diversity and intensity from 380 to 900 CE. This period also appears to be an ecological tipping point from the former oak forest towards a heather maquis landscape. From 900 to 1850 CE, a renewed and regular rise in coprophilous fungal spores occurred, although their numbers did not attain previous levels of intensity and diversity. Again, parasite eggs appear regularly throughout this period, alongside the disappearance of Acanthobcephala remains (typically associated with pig parasites), and the very occasional appearance of ruminant parasites (_Paramphistomum_ sp. and _Fascida_ sp.). This may be the sign of a decrease in pastoral pressure in conjunction with a change in animal herding towards a more ruminant-based practice in this open environment. The last phase, starting in the mid-nineteenth century is again marked by a sharp decrease in parasite and fungal spore counts, and also corresponds to a new ecological tipping point from a heather maquis toward phrygana steppes.