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Jesse Casana, professor and chair of the department of anthropology “ Share May 03, 2021 by Amy Olson An analysis of fecal samples shows New England rural elites had parasitic infections. In June 2019, the Digging Dartmouth project is set up on the lawn outside Dartmouth Librarys Baker-Berry Library and the former site of the Ripley/Choate House. (Photo by Eli Burakian 00) Jesse Casana, professor and chair of the department of anthropology (on the left); Keira Byno 19; and Elise Laugier, a ...

Researchers in New England excavated an outhouse and rehydrated centuries-old poop to discover that fecal parasites impacted more people than they thought.

200-Year-Old Poop Reveals Even The Rich Had Parasitic Infections KEY POINTS They analyzed three fecal samples found in the privy They found evidence of parasite eggs in all three samples An affluent familys home once stood in the area Even wealthy people werent spared from parasitic infections in the 19th  century. Thats what researchers discovered after finding parasite eggs in 200-year-old poop collected from an area where an affluent familys home once stood. Parasitic infections were quit...

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 HANOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE—According to a statement released by Dartmouth College, evidence of parasitic infection has been found in a privy that belonged to an affluent, nineteenth-century rural household. The layers of waste in the stone-lined privy contained fine imported ceramics, exotic peanut and coffee remains, mineral water bottles, medicine bottles for digestive ailments, and fecal samples. Jesse Casana of Dartmouth College said the ineffective medicine held in the b...

Before the development of advanced plumbing, internal parasites were no respecters of status. Rich and poor, city and country, everyone was subject to unpleasant digestive infestations, at least if the outcome of one dig is to be relied upon. All too often history and archaeology focus on the lives of the wealthy few, ignoring conditions for the vast majority of our ancestors. One exception has been the study of previous generations defecation. Fecal samples have told us quite a lot about by-go...

 E-Mail IMAGE: Hazard & Caswell bottles from an apothecary in Newport, R.I., that contained a medicinal concoction marketed as a cure for digestive and other ailments. view more  Credit: Photo by Austin Chad Hill. In the early 19th century in North America, parasitic infections were quite common in urban areas due in part to population growth and urbanization. Prior research has found that poor sanitation, unsanitary privy (outhouse) conditions, and increased contact with domestic anima...