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Volume 17, Number 5—May 2011
Historical Review

Evidence of Tungiasis in Pre-Hispanic America

Vicente MacoComments to Author , Manuel Tantaleán, and Eduardo Gotuzzo
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; and Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru

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Table 2

Characteristics of Incan anthropomorphic vessels depicting tungiasis in Peru

Culture
 Historic period*
 Where found
 Year of first reproduction (reference)
 Current location†
 Author, year of publication (reference)
Chimu c. AD 1200–1470 Pachacamac Valley 1907 (25) American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA Ashmead, 1907 (21), Moodie, 1920 (23), d’Harcourt, 1939 (26)
Chimu c. AD 1200–1470 Chicama Valley 1924 (20) Museum in Lima, Lima, Peru Tello, 1924 (25), Ashmead, 1910 (30)
Maranga c. AD 150–650 Las Palmas, Surquillo Never Museum Foundation Amano, Lima, Peru‡ Weiss, 1984 (29)

*Estimated flourishing period of the culture.
†The 2 vessels described by Ashmead, and subsequently reproduced by Moodie and d’Harcourt, and the fragment identified during this study are not publicly exhibited.
‡This piece, no. 1219, is stored with many other vessels that represent diseases of the ancient Peruvians.

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