Ancient latrines. (Credit: Søe et al (2018)) Archaeologists might not get into the field to go digging through ancient toilets. But, that's just what a team from the University of Copenhagen did, and with good reason, too. What goes into human mouths must come out, and the leavings can offer a glimpse into ancient lifestyles. Especially interesting, as it turns out, are findings that aren't even human. The parasites that live and reproduce in our bodies say a lot more about us than we think. A menagerie of parasites infests modern humans, including nearly 300 species of worms and more than 70 species of protozoa. Knowledge of our hungry co-inhabitants is found in some of the earliest written documents, such as the Ebers papyrus, an ancient Egyptian scroll from 1500 BC that described intestinal parasites.
Given the long history that parasites share with humanity, scientists are finding that analyzing ancient ...
