World’s largest human poo on display at U.K. museum

It belongs to a Viking man

You may not believe it but the largest human turd ever found belongs to a Viking man and it’s safeguarded in a museum in England where is on display and scientists consider it a valuable jewel.

The piece of poo is 20cm long and 5cm wide. Archaeologists dated back to the ninth century and attributed it to a Viking man in Jorvik, present-day New York because York was formally a Viking settlement back in the 800s. The turd has been given a name: The Lloyds Bank Coprolite because it was recovered by archaeologists in 1972 where now the present Lloyds Bank is located. Currently, the specimen stays at York Archeological Resource Centre.

Researchers believed that the man who took the poo was having a diet that mainly consisted of meat and bread. However, the turd was found to belong to a Viking man who was sick as authorities discovered several hundred parasitic eggs inside it.

“Whoever passed it probably hadn’t performed for a few days, shall we say. This guy had very itchy bowels”, Gill Snape, a student conservator working with the York Archeological Trust said.

In 1991, York Archaeological Trust employee and paleoscatologist (a real profession), Dr. Andrew Jones, made this incredible declaration: “This is the most exciting piece of excrement I’ve ever seen. In its own way, it’s as irreplaceable as the Crown Jewels”.

The record-breaking turd suffered an accident in 2003, though. During a school trip to the York Archaeological Resource Centre, a teacher unintentionally broke the display and the poo came crashing down, cracking into 3 pieces. Fortunately, the officials were able to restore it to its earlier shape.

So, beware when you poop in the woods. Your turd may be the next world’s most famous specimen.

Source news18.com

Image Credit: Linda Spashett (Creative Commons)