B J B R JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH 142 J. Biol. Res. 2005 n. I - Vol. LXXX - Rubbettino - Soveria Mannelli Ancient DNA has been recovered from mummified soft tissues opening new avenues of research.Even in the absence of morphological evidence of parasites, ancient infections may be studied in different samples such as faeces, bone, soft tissues and so on.Thanks to the PCR techniques, not only mummified remains, but also skeletonized remains are now available for parasite analysis. We anticipate that it will be possible to recover ancient genetic material to compare with modern specimens and trace evolutionary events through time (Araujo et al., 1998).Actually, Donoghue et al. (2004) have clearly demonstrated results of Mycobacterium tuberculosis evolution through paleoparasitological analysis.A fast progress in this field is bringing clear benefits to paleoparasitology field of research. The aim of paleoparasitological research in Brazil is to understand which parasite infections have been spread from Africa to Europe and Asia with human ancestors, and from the Old to the New World,during the peopling of the Americas up to the time of the Great Navigations. Other goals of our study include understanding the impact, the burden of the disease, and the evolution of host-parasite relationships in pre-historic populations. In Brazil, as elsewhere, skeletons are more often found than preserved corpses. Because of that, molecular paleoparasitologists have turned their attention to aDNA extraction from bones and teeth.Teeth preserve DNA more often because of their resistance to most of the taphonomic factors in the external environment that causes DNA decay. Besides identifying traces of the parasites even in the absence of morphological preservation, the DNA identification support research lines studying the origin and evolution of parasitic diseases. Two interesting examples of Brazilian mummified bodies studied for paleoparasitological purposes are the historical corpses from Itacambira and the Botocudo mummy from Sant´Ana, both from Minas Gerais State.The historical mummies from Itacambira came from a Colonial cemetery close to a church of the eighteenth century, and provided in situ coprolites (Ferreira et al., 1980) positive for Trichuris (Fig. 1).The Botocudo female found in a rockshelter in Sant ´Ana, Rio Novo, today in the National Museum collection, was accompanied by two small mummy bundles of young children.The female was autopsied following standard procedures proposed for the study of Egyptian mummies KEY WORDS: paleoparasitology, coprolites, mummies, paleopathology, ancient diseases Mummified bodies are unexpected finds in archaeological sites of tropical countries. Rain forests and humid climate provide poor environmental conditions to preserve organic remains. However, South American tropical environments also include dry savanna, such as the caatinga and the cerrado Brazilian biomes, as well as cold Highlands, where naturally mummified human bodies have been found in archaeological sites. Unique environmental conditions created in some historical sites also helped to preserve organic remains, some of which have been studied in our laboratories.This kind of environmental condition is found mainly in the Brazilian northeast, but also in Central Brazil, especially in Minas Gerais State, where the oldest mummified corpse in Brazil is dated to near 3,000 years ago. Some mummifies from Minas Gerais have been studied by the paleoparasitologist team in Rio de Janeiro. One of them was a partially mummified female body found in the site Gruta do Gentio II, Unaí, Minas Gerais State.The body was completely wrapped in plant tissue, covered with leaves and other funeral rituals. Using a forceps we get extracted samples with minimal damage to the corpse, as earlier reported by Ferreira et al. (1983a). Parasitological studies are easily carried out with coprolites extracted from mummies.This is because coprolites from mummies have a known zoological origin. Coprolites found free in archaeological sediments are not so easily identified as human. Morphology, food remains, specific parasites and other aspects such as archaeological context must be used to determine the zoological origin of coprolites from domestic or trash contexts.The morphology of fecal samples of modern animals can be used to identify animal coprolites and separate them from human’s,as done in the Brazilian northeast (Chame, 2003). Paleoparasitology in Brazil is mainly concerned with internal parasites, but ectoparasites have also been studied. Head and crab lice have been found in mummies and scalps dated up to 11,000. Shrunken heads, trophy heads, naturally mummified remains and even hairs found free in the archaeological soils have been searched for parasites with positive results in the recent years (Araujo et al., 2000; Rick et al., 2002; Santoro et al., 2003). Mummy Studies and Parasite Infections in Brazil Adauto Araújo 1 , Karl Reinhard 2 ,Alexandre Fernandes 1 , Luciana Sianto 1 , Marcelo Luiz Carvalho Gonçalves 1 , Sheila Maria Mendonça de Souza 1 , Luiz Fernando Ferreira 1 1 Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Escola Nacional de Saude Publica, R Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480, 21041-210, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. 2 School of Natural Research Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA