Posted on 05/11/2026 7:49:37 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Researchers led by Elena Klenina and Andrzej B. Biernacki of Adam Mickiewicz University and their colleagues identified intestinal parasites in residues taken from four chamber pots recovered from two archaeological sites in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior, which is located in what is now Bulgaria, according to a La Brújula Verde report. Three of the pots in the study were found in a villa located near the Legio I Italica army camp, where high-ranking officials likely stayed when they visited the region. Cryptosporidium, a protozoan that can cause severe diarrhea, was one of the parasites detected in the second-century A.D. pots from the villa. These vessels also contained evidence of the intestinal tapeworm Taenia, and the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica, which causes dysentery. Inhabitants of the villa may have been infected with parasites originating in contaminated water from a reservoir on the Danube River. Sewer channels from the area are known to have discharged waste water into the Danube, and so the system may have been flooded and compromised during heavy rains. Consumption of undercooked pork or beef, and the use of human waste as fertilizer in fields around the army camp, may have also spread parasites, the researchers explained. The fourth pot, dated to the fourth century A.D., was uncovered in a pottery workshop at Marcianopolis. This vessel was likely used by the owner of the workshop and a group of potters. No traces of parasites were found in this pot, perhaps due to a better-quality water supply, or perhaps the consumption of poultry, which does not host the larval stages of worms that infect humans. Read the original scholarly article about this research in npj Heritage Science. For more about the Roman army in Bulgaria, go to "A Dutiful Roman Soldier."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
Non-parasite infections from natural water sources tended to be addressed with recreational alcohol such as wine. This was true from the beginning of winemaking and beermaking, up until the 20th century pretty much everywhere. Food poisoning due to unsafe food handling still happens, but mostly we know not to leave the potato salad out in the Sun, and keep meats (including fowl) cold, even frozen, and pay attention to how long we’ve had it around. A leftover cooked potato is more dangerous than most stuff in the refrigerator.
There’s a book by Farley Mowat (”Never Cry Wolf”, 1963) about a biologist who studied the role that Arctic wolves play in the ecosystem. He collected wolf scats and soaked them in some sort of vessel, after which he examined the content for berry seeds, rodent bones, etc. When one of the native people stopped by his igloo or whatever it was, he invited the Eskimo to dinner. The Eskimo looked at the contents of the pot and took off.
You climbed that? That thing had no bannisters!
Chicken Itza, is that one of the very steep ones like they have south of Mexico? I climbed the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan in Mexico but it was not all that steep.
It’s pretty steep and the “steps” are about 6” wide and 20” high - I was in great shape and my legs were pretty tired by the time I got back to the bottom. Had to do “sidesteps”, especially on the way down to keep from taking a nose dive.
The overall angle of rise on this pyramid is less than 45 degrees. It has multiple levels, with a flat and wider base at the beginning of each new level. Thus the overall slope is less than 45 degrees while the slope of each subsection may be about 45 degrees. If you ask AI the question, they will give photos of various views of that pyramid. I don’t know how to copy and move to this comment. I climbed this in 1957 or 1958, so it looks somewhat different than it did then.
I then asked photos for Chichen Itza pyramid and pyramids in Guatemala. Tikal is the really steep one I remember seeing before. The level areas that separate each segment of the Pyramid of the Moon make it feel much safer to climb. There were some scary photos of people climbing at Chichen Itza.
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