AN ANCIENT DANISH PRIVY. I posted here about an explanation of the archaeological significance of poop by Anna Rothschild on Gross Science. This article on the Ars Technica website by Annalee Newitz is about the find in southeast Denmark of the remains of a Viking privy. The significance of the privy is controversial. The poop that was found at the site was classified as human when it was determined that it was full of flower pollen, commonly found in honey, suggesting the people using the privy had consumed either honey or mead. (Honey was rarely used for feeding animals).
The controversy stems from the long standing belief of Danish archaeologists that toilets were unheard of in the Danish countryside until the 18th century. It was thought that “in the country, people typically did their business in the barn with their animals.” The researcher who found the privy argues that “animals, which had previously lived under the same roof as humans for thousands of years, were moved out of people’s homes at this time.” The newly found privy, which has been carbon dated to more than a thousand years old, may represent a shift toward greater elegance.