Could you ever imagine that mites could become witnesses to history? Well they sure can and they do so just by their very presence. In Cuzco, Peru, new research used the remains of a dung-eating mite to trace the fluctuating trading activity of the Inca Empire, which left no written records.
The Inca did not use the wheel or familiar beasts of burden such as horses, donkeys or mules. Goods were instead transported on the backs of people and llamas. And these mites fed on llama droppings.
llamas in Peru
Fossilized Oribatid mites preserved in sediments at a lake Marcacocha, about 30 miles from the Inca capital of Cuzco gave them the clues.
Chepstow-Lusty of Montpellier University in France said:
We used these dung-eating mites as an indicator of the llama caravans and the volume of trade passing along this route. At times of peak usage, llama trains consisting of up to 1,000 animals each would pass along the valley.
By examining the layers of mud cored from the Marcacocha lake, the team demonstrated a marked increase in the abundance of mite fossils as the Inca Empire expanded from the Cuzco area in the early 1400s. A later, but very sudden drop in the number of mites reflects the cataclysmic indigenous human population collapse with the arrival of the Spanish and their own domesticated animals.
The Inca ruled the largest empire on Earth by the time their last emperor, Atahualpa, was garroted by Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Then, within a century, a population estimated at 30 million was reduced by 90 percent, devastated by newly introduced diseases such as influenza and smallpox.
A microscope image of a fossilised oribatid mite
Because the Inca did not use any form of written language and so did not leave detailed records behind, and because of the destruction of their heritage by the Spanish, many details of the rise and fall of their civilization are not understood. However this study has changed that.
In all likelihood, the tool will help to study growth and decline of other ancient civilizations as well.
Source: Discovery
