Fossilized Ancient Human Feces With Parasites Reveals the Diet of Stonehenge Builders

Stonehenge is a historical monument built in Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, during the Bronze Age. However, it was not the only artifact that its builders left. A new analysis of fossilized clumps of ancient human feces or also known as coprolites, showed what kind of diet the builders had during that time.

According to Live Science, researchers from the University of Cambridge found eggs of parasitic worms in the feces, suggesting that the builders, who likely come from the ancient village near the Neolithic monument, feasted on undercooked meat. It is the oldest evidence of parasites in the UK that can be traced back to its source.

"Poop Balls" Found in An Ancient Village Near the Stonehenge

The researchers found "poop balls" in a refuse heap at the Neolithic settlement called Durrington Walls, located 1.7 miles (2.189 kilometers) from Stonehenge. Experts believe that the town was home to the builders of the iconic rings of standing stones that may have acted as a solar calendar about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, CNN reported.

Analysis of the 19 coprolites showed that it came from humans and dogs. Researchers found five samples, four of which came from dogs and one from a human, containing the eggs of parasitic worms. Due to this, the team came up with a theory that Neolithic humans who built the monument must have eaten undercooked meat, and its leftovers were likely fed to the dogs.

Study lead researcher Piers Mitchell said that it is the first time that parasites have been recovered from Neolithic Britain and the finding is a great deal. He also identified the type of parasites, which is compatible with previous evidence of the winter feasting on animals when the monument was built.

Stonehenge Builders Ate Internal Organs of Cattle

The team found that the coprolites contained the eggs of capillariid worms that often get lodged in the liver and usually do not appear in the feces when humans get infected, Phys.org reported. But the evidence of it in human feces suggests that the person must have eaten a raw or undercooked infected animal that resulted in its eggs passing through its body.

Archaeologists who found the feces also uncovered pottery, stone tools and more than 38,000 animal bones, wherein 90% of them belonged to pigs, and the rest from cows. It was also where the poop balls were found.

Mitchell said that capillariid worms usually infect cattle and other ruminants, but their excavation reveals that the parasites must have also infected cows.

Study co-author Evilena Anastasiou said that finding eggs of capillariid worms in both humans and dogs suggest that Stonehenge builders must have been feasting on the internal organs of an infected animal and fed their leftovers to their dogs.

Isotopic analysis of cow bones at the site reveals that the animals come from southern Britain, which must also be true for those living and working near the area. They dated the Durrington Walls and found that they matched stage two of the construction of Stonehenge.

"Pork and beef were spit-roasted or boiled in clay pots, but it looks as if the offal wasn't always so well cooked. The population weren't eating freshwater fish at Durrington Walls, so they must have picked up the tapeworms at their home settlements," Phys.org quoted Professor Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist who excavated Durrington Wals between 2005 and 2007.

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