Oct 3, 2017 @ 10:57 AM 5,321
Archaeologists Test Feces From Roman Latrine, Find Roundworm And Dysentery
Kristina Killgrove , Contributor
A latrine from the Roman baths at Sagalassos in Turkey has yielded its stinky secrets: feces contaminated with roundworms and parasites were discovered there by archaeologists interested in ancient health.
Sagalassos was an important urban settlement during the Roman Empire, in the Pisidia region of Asia Minor. Excavation of a large bath complex revealed a communal latrine, a typical feature of Roman bathing establishments, with sewage piping still remaining underground. Testing of the decomposed feces discovered in the pipes showed it was human in origin, while radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments in the sewage placed it between the 2nd to 5th centuries AD.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2017/10/03/archaeologists-test-feces-from-roman-latrine-find-roundworm-and-dysentery/#1adcdfcc35e6
