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This is a coprolite.
A feces fossil. Petrified poop. And the third and final scatological entry to be published for a spell.
These trace fossils - coprolites - can
provide archaeologists valuable information and clues about the diet of the
living creature that produced it.
The
paleofeces sample pictured above is a fossilized human turd known as the Lloyds Bank Coprolite. It is likely the largest and most valuable on record. It dates back to approximately the 9th century
and the person responsible is believed to be a Viking. It currently rests at the Jórvík Viking Centre
in the city of York, England.
Analysis
has revealed that the individual to whom this belongs consumed large amounts of
meat. The stool sample also contained
eggs from parasitic roundworms including: Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and Ascaris lumbricoides (maw worm). Yeech!
You can
learn more about this coprolite - including how it earned its name - and additional background on the study of fossilized poop here.
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