This fossilized Viking Turd is one of the biggest pieces of ancient human faeces ever found.
Human faeces... A very rare find- a complete human stool. Examination under the microscope shows it contains pollen grains, and the remains of cereal bran. It also contains the eggs of Whipworm and Maw-Worm- prasitic nematodes which live in the large intestine.
Staggeringly and average inhabitant of Jorvik may have harboured between 600 and 2500 whipworms. Worms cause stomach aches, diarrhoea and inflammation of the bowel. When the worms are numerous, symptoms may simulate those of gastric and duodenal ulcers.
Horribily, adult wormds can migrate from the instentine and enter other organs where the can cause serious damage, even moving into such places as the ear and the nose of unfortunate sufferers
