Viking Coprolite Revealed Intestinal Worms

In 1972, the York Archaeological Trust uncovered what may be the largest fossilized specimen of human feces ever found beneath a future Lloyds Bank branch in York, England. The ninth-century coprolite measured 8 inches long and 2 inches wide and came from a Viking-age resident whose diet consisted largely of meat and bread. Several hundred parasite eggs revealed that the person had been riddled with mawworms and whipworms. After the artifact broke into three pieces during a 2003 exhibition, conservators reconstructed it, and it has remained at the Jorvik Viking Centre since 2008.

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