A new study shows that there were two pits dug into the corner of a home a millennium ago.
Archaeologists find ancient toilets and trash pits to be very nice. They don't have the glamor of a gleaming medieval jewel or intricate Roman mosaic, but they are filled with clues about what the past was like for those without a chest of gold.
Archeologists can tell tales of what people used to eat, how they kept clean, what illnesses they had, and what they cherished.
Researchers found parasites that may have left the Maya plagued by bouts of nausea, weakness, and vomiting.
A study in the Journal of Archaeological Science shows how the pits were full of maize spherulites, a food preparation process essential to making tamales and tortillas.
Archaeologists think that the Maya used the pits as toilets because of the parasites that were found in the pits.
John M. Marston is an associate professor of archaeology and anthropology at Boston University.
“There is nothing that archaeologists like finding more than latrines, toilets…”
He and Emily S. Johnson invented a method for spotting nixtamalization in residues left behind on cooking pots and grinding when they were students.
According to Italy's University of Gastronomic Sciences, the secret to pre-Hispanic nutrition was nixtamalization.
There is a talk about digging into history's toilets, what tamales can teach us about ancient diet, and what else they found in the Guatemalan pits.
Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Boston University have additional authors.
The work was funded by a John G. Owens fellowship, a summer research fellowship, and a graduate school fellowship.
Andrew was a student at Boston University.
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