The Builders of Stonehenge Left Behind Poop, And We Now Know What Was in It

Humans have a long and rich history with parasites, and it is chronicled in our poop.

From Jerusalem to Rome to Greece, archaeologists have been digging through ancient dung to better understand the diet and diseases of long lost civilizations.

Epidemics of parasites were common among the rich and poor in Europe for thousands of years.

These tiny worms were carried by the people who built Stonehenge.

In the settlement of Durrington Walls, the site where archaeologists believe the builders of Stonehenge once lived, researchers have found eggs of parasites in feces.

Four of the five coprolites contained the lemon-shaped eggs of capillariid worms, and one was human.

The worm egg is from Durrington Walls. The bar is 20 micrometers. Evilena Anastasiou.

The fact that eggs were found in human poop gives archaeologists clues as to what Neolithic people might have eaten while they built Stonehenge.

The ancient timekeeping system that still stands to this day was put together by the Durrington community.

The tapeworm could easily end up in the human gut if a cow had it.

The eggs of capillariid worms were found in both human and dog coprolites, which indicates that the people had been eating the internal organs of the other.

The findings are supported by previous archaeological research, which suggests that livestock were routinely slaughtered in wintertime.

Some of the livestock killed in the winter would have been brought from other parts of southern England.

A fifth coprolite from a dog contained evidence of a tapeworm that was likely to affect freshwater fish.

The authors say the finding is "intriguing" because there is very little evidence of fishing in Britain during the Late Neolithic period. It appears a dog got hold of a fish.

Archeologist Piers Mitchell from the University of Cambridge says that this is the first time parasites have been recovered from Neolithic Britain and that it is really something.

The type of parasites we find are compatible with previous evidence for winter feasts on animals.

All of that came from tiny eggs.

The study was published in a journal.