Skip Navigation

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

School of Natural Resources

From Earth to Sky and Everything In Between

Karl Reinhard

Karl J. Reinhard


Hello and bom dia. I am Karl Reinhard, professor in the School of Natural Resources and Fulbright Commission Senior Specialist in Archaeology for 2004-2009.

The main aim of my career since 1980 has been to find explanations for modern patterns of disease in the archaeological and historic record. I developed a new area of specialization, called archaeoparasitology, a new approach to understanding the evolution of parasitic disease. Based on a Fulbright teaching-research award to Brazil in 2001, I helped edit an volume of papers on this topic which can be viewed at <http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/98sup.html>.

I also am looking for an explanation for the development of modern American Indian disease, primarily diabetes, through pathoecology < http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-02/rd/breakdialogue.html/ >, which I am developing with colleagues in Brazil in work funded by the Fulbright Commission of the U.S. State Department and by agencies in Brazil. To achieve this it has been necessary to develop methods for analysis of archaeological material, primarily coprolites (fossilized feces), mummies and skeletons <http://www.unl.edu/Reinhard/>. In 2005, I taught a course on this topic at the Universidade de São Paulo.

With regard to diabetes, I have collected dietary data for the U.S. Southwest that spans a 10,000-year period. These data, when interpreted in context of new nutritional data that have been collected by other researchers, provide important insight into the relationship of succulent-plant use to cultural development and its effect on the evolution of human metabolism.

I have also collected activity-pattern and disease-history data for the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska <http://www.unl.edu/ancestors/>. As a member of the Omaha Tribe Historical Project and a Tribal Council-designated researcher, my goal is the comparison of past lifestyles with modern lifestyles to understand why type II diabetes has reached 70 percent among Omaha Indian adults < http://www.neh.fed.us/news/humanities/2002-11/ancestralbones.html >.

I have also done research in Andean paleoethnobotany, which is the use of plants by ancient peoples. I began this research in 1988 with Chinchorro (an ancient tribe of Chilean Indians) mummy intestinal contents. The research was expanded in 1990, when I participated in NSF-funded excavation and dissection of more than 100 mummies from the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru.

The analysis of several hundred samples resulted in new methods for identification of Andean foods and in the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic reconstruction of diet for the valley. Key results of the study defined the origins of maize agriculture and subsistence specializations in different ecological zones of the valley.

This work was augmented in 1993 when I and my colleagues completed trace elemental analysis of mummies. In 1996, I carried out ethnobotanical studies in Huancayo, Peru, and pioneered a new method of dietary analysis of dental calculus study of a formative skeletal series from Ilo, Peru.

In 1997-1998, with funding from the Universidad de Tarapacá, Chile, I and my students traced the impact of the Inca Empire expansion on diet in ancient Chile. In 1999, I studied plant anatomy microstructure to identify the diet of Chinchorro mummies. In the summer of 2000, I directed the analysis of 25 Chinchorro mummies.

I received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Arizona. I have a master's degree from the University of Northern Arizona and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M. I have been a member of the UNL staff since 1989.

Personnel Information

Name Karl J. Reinhard
University Title Professor
Address 719 Hardin Hall, Lincoln NE 68583-0987
Affiliation (index) Bio Sci | Geosci
Phone 402-472-6858
Fax 402-472-2946
Email kreinhard1@unl.edu
Related Websites http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_12_19/ai_59587201
http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-02/rd/breakdialogue.html/
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/onlinebks/hohokam/titlhoho.htm

Go to Karl's Full Profile

Key Publications

  • Fisher CL, Reinhard KJ, Kirk M, DiVirgilio J, Miller TS (in press) Archaeoparasitology of Historic Albany, New York. Journal of Historic Archaeology.
  • Reinhard KJ, Danielson DR (in press) Pervasiveness of Phytoliths in Prehistoric Southwestern Diet and Implications for Regional and Temporal Trends for Dental Microwear. Journal of Archaeological Science.
  • Baier M, Reinhard KJ (in press) Agave Dietary Reliance and Dental Wear in Prehistoric Mexico. American Journal of Physical Anthropology (revision submitted).
  • Reinhard KJ, Edwards SK, Meier DK (in press) Pollen concentration analysis of Salmon Ruin and Antelope House: Documenting Anasazi Dietary Variation. Journal of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology.
  • Sérgio AM Chaves, Karl J Reinhard (in press) Critical Analysis of Prehistoric Evidence of Medicinal Plant Use, Piauí, Brazil. Journal of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology.
  • Sianto L, Reinhard KJ, Gonçalves MLC, Araújo A (in press) The Finding of Echinostoma (Trematoda: Digenea) and Hookworm Eggs in Coprolites Collected from a Brazilian Mummified Body Dated of 600-1,200 Years Before Present. Journal of Parasitology.
  • Gonçalves MLC, da Silva VL, de Andrade CM, Reinhard K, da Rocha GC , Le Bailly M, Bouchet F, Ferreira LF, and Araújo A (2004.) Amebiasis distribution in the past: first steps using an immunoassay technique. The Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 98:88-91.
  • Iñiguez AM, Araújo A, Vicente ACP, Ferreira LF, Reinhard KJ (2003.) Enterobius vermicularis: Specific Detection by Amplification of an Internal Region of 5S Ribosomal RNA Intergenic Spacer and Trans-splicing Leader RNA Analysis. Experimental Parasitology 102:118-122.
  • Santos SM, Rick FM, Gonçalves MLC, Ferreira LF, Reinhard K, Nascimento F, Araújo A (2003) Louse Infection in Shrunken Heads. Paleopathology Newsletter 121:6 – 9.
  • Araújo A, Jansen AM, Bouchet F, Reinhard K, Ferreira LF (2003) Parasitism, the diversity of life, and paleoparasitology. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 5-11. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/8p.html
  • Bouchet F, Guidon N, Dittmar K, Harter S, Ferreira LF, Miranda SC, Reinhard K, Araújo A (2003) Parasite Remains in Archaeological Sites. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 47-52. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/22p.html
  • Dittmar K, Mamat U, Whiting M, Goldmann T, Reinhard K, Guillen S (2003) Techniques of DNA-studies on prehispanic ectoparasites (Pulex sp., Pulicidae, Siphonaptera) from animal mummies of the Chiribaya Culture, Southern Peru. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98:53-58. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/11p.html
  • Iñiguez AM, Reinhard KJ, Araújo A, Ferreira LF, Vicente ACP (2003) Enterobius vermicularis ancient DNA from North and South American human coprolites Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98:67-69. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/16p.html
  • Martinson E, Reinhard KJ, Buikstra JE, Dittmar K (2003) Pathoecology of chiribaya Parasitism. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 195-205. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/29p.html<
  • Reinhard K, Buikstra J (2003) Louse infestation of the Chiribaya Culture, Southern Peru: variation in prevalence by age and sex. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98:173-179.
    http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/21p.html
  • Reinhard K, Fink TM, Skiles J (2003) A case of megacolon in Rio Grande Valley as a possible case of Chagas disease. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 165-172. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/19p.html
  • Reinhard K, Urban O (2003) Diagnosing ancient diphilobothriasis from Chinchorro mummies. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 191-193. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/27p.html
  • Santoro C, Vinton SD, Reinhard K (2003) Inca expansion and parasitism in the Lluta Valley: preliminary data. Memorias do Instituto do Oswaldo Cruz 98: 161-163. http://memorias.ioc.fiocruz.br/98sup/20p.html
  • Gonçalves MLC, Araújo A, Duarte R, Pereira da Silva J, Reinhard K, Bouchet F, Ferreira LF. (2002) Detection of Giardia duodenalis antigen in coprolites using a commercially available enzyme immunoassay. The Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 96:640-643.
  • Rick F, Rocha GC, Dittmar K, Coimbra Jr. CEA, Reinhard K, Bouchet F, Ferreira LF, and Araújo A (2002) Crab louse infestation in pre-Columbian America. Journal of Parasitology 88:1266-1267.
  • Gonçalves MLC, Araújo A, Ferreira LF, Bouchet F, Reinhard K (2002) Paleoparasitologia: novas perspectivas. Fumdhamentos Publicação da Fundação Museu do Homem Americano 1:54 - 64.
  • Rick FM, Ferreira LF, Araújo A, Reinhard KJ (2002) A Saga do Piolhos na AmŽrica do Sul. Ciéncia Hoje 31:34-40. http://www2.uol.com.br/cienciahoje/chmais/pass/ch185/piolho.pdf
  • Reinhard KJ, Araújo A, Ferreira LF, Coimbra C (2001) American hookworm antiquity. Medical Anthropology 20:96-101.
  • Gonçalves MLC, Araújo AJG, Ferreira LF, Reinhard K (2001) Paleoparasitologia: Pesquisas Recentes com Novas Técnicas In: Arqueologia do Brasil Meridional. Pontifcia Universidade Catolica, Porto Alegre: Rio Grande do Sul. p. 1-9.
  • Araújo A, Ferreira LF, Guidon N, Maues da Serra Freire N, Reinhard KJ, Dittmar K (2000) Ten Thousand Years of Head Lice Infection. Parasitology Today 16:269.

See More Publications