Ancient latrines contain DNA clues about the past

[Jovialis]

As every TV detective rifling through a suspect’s trashcan will tell you, you can learn a lot about a person from their waste. Now, with the help of improving DNA analysis techniques, researchers are seeing what they can learn from particularly old waste: that found in ancient latrines. Their study used DNA analysis to identify parasite eggs from latrines at archaeological sites in Bahrain, Jordan, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Lithuania. The oldest sample, from Bahrain, was from 500 BC. The newest was from a Dutch latrine that would have been used around 1700 AD. By identifying parasites associated with different animals, the research offers a glimpse into what people in these particular places and times ate, as well as which animals they shared their living spaces with.

We spoke with study author Martin Søe to learn more about his findings and the techniques that made them possible.

https://www.researchgate.net/blog/p...t-past-diets-hunting-and-animal-domestication

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0195481