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Pompeii

forensics

o
Everybody does it,
but no one wants
to talk about it.
Poop, that is.

o
But thanks to
some scientific
detective work,
archaeologists
digging in Pom-

p
peii’s latrines are
revealing new
secrets about the
city’s lifestyle.
By Rachel Sullivan
photo: corbis

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Picking up the Pieces
Separating the contents of the
average Pompeii latrine takes pa-
tience and a keen eye. Hundreds
of bags of material are collected
and taken back to the lab where
they are initially mixed with
water. The fossilised seeds, fish

a rare glimpse into the daily life


scales and charcoal are buoyant
and are easily skimmed off for

of a long-dead civilisation
further analysis. Then the rest
of the material is passed through
fine-meshed sieves that get rid of
the smallest particles and retains

W
fragments 0.5 to four millime-
tres in diameter. These are then
examined under a low-powered
dissecting microscope.
“After a trip through the gut,
often only partial fossilisation
Professor Andy Fairbairn, who
hen most people step specialises in the archaeology of and 2,000 years in a latrine,
in poop, they just human waste – literally in this the fragments can look quite
scrape it off their case – takes a break at Porta transformed,” Dr Andy Fairbairn,
shoes and move on. Stabia, in Pompeii (above). scatological archaeologist, says.
But to archaeologist “Putting them back together is a
Dr Andy Fairbairn bit of a detective job, sometimes
with the University requiring forensic techniques and
of Queensland (UQ), Australia, poop is chemical analysis such as testing
good news, especially when it comes for coprostanol, a cholesterol
from the latrines of the most famous by-product that is used as a bio-
ruins in the world. marker for human faeces.”
“Say ‘Pompeii’ and everyone thinks
of the eruption of Vesuvius that buried
the city in AD 79,” says Fairbairn. But
the eruption didn’t just bury exciting
things such as sumptuous villas and

photos: allison emmerson; andy fairbairn; photolibrary; corbis


richly jewelled female visitors to gladi-
ators’ quarters, it also preserved the The unexpected, massive eruption of Vesuvius buried Pompeii and other nearby cities, leaving a trove of
more mundane artifacts, like offerings buried treasure to be unearthed by historians and archaeologists over a thousand years later.
to Roman household gods. And cess-
pits, or latrines. buried poop might reveal. Fairbairn, bairn. “This was a much less salubri- kitchens so most Pompeiians ate out. evidence is still there, rich and fertile.
In 2005, excavations in the Porta who studied ancient agriculture and ous part of Pompeii than that usually Latrines were few and far between, and It’s these unsavoury morsels that have
Stabia (Stabian Gate) area uncovered plant use at University College London described with images of grand villas in many houses and eateries were locat- Pompeii’s archaeologists so excited. “In
latrines – and their perfectly preserved in England before joining UQ as a senior and the like. It was full of food joints ed right next to the kitchens so that all the past 30 years, archaeology in Pom-
contents. The dig team, led by Dr Steven lecturer in archaeology, had previous selling staples like flat loaves and pies,” of the kitchen refuse could be thrown in peii has moved away from the big ticket
Ellis, Assistant Professor of Classics at experience teasing out nuggets of infor- says Fairbairn, who has now spent four the pit together with human waste. items of temple excavations and the like
the University of Cincinnati in the Unit- mation from prehistoric human rubbish years excavating and analysing dozens “They must have been pretty stinky to the minutiae of what life was like for
ed States and director of the Pompeii such as middens and old cooking pots. of Pompeii latrines. at the time, but today they are just dry ordinary people,” says Fairbairn.
Archaeological Research Project: Porta He fitted the bill perfectly. “We hear a lot about Roman stan- pits,” Fairbairn says with a laugh. He
Stabia, knew the material in the latrines “The dig site is adjacent to the main dards of plumbing, but in this part of is quick to admit that while they still CHANGING TASTES Excavated soil is carefully sifted to identify
was important, but needed someone entrance to the theatre district and Pompeii the arrangements were fairly have an earthy aroma, any poop smells There was a revolution in archaeolo- small shards of pottery and bones – a
who could help determine what long- gladiators’ quarters,” explains Fair- basic,” he points out. Few houses had are long gone. But the archaeological gists’ techniques in the early 1970s painstaking and time-consuming process.

toilet reading 1890: The idea of toilet paper on a roll was popularised. 1710: The earliest known written reference to a bidet. 123 fully-loaded 747s worth of poop: Volume the sewer systems in the United States deal with each day. 1.5 m: Length of large intestine or colon.

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Ancient Pompeii was a normal city of its
time, with residents that went about their
daily business – just as we do today. The
findings in Pompeii reflect that; among
the discoveries are petrified bodies on the
Roman Remains
The Romans are renowned for
streets of the city and household items
such as bowls of olives. their sanitation systems, created
to help combat diseases associ-
ated with contaminated water.
Aqueducts carried fresh water
into crowded cities, providing
clean water for drinking, for the
famous Roman baths and for
their public toilets. Toilets could
be both single (latrinae) and
multi-seater (foricae) and waste
when some archaeologists realised that was carried away through a sys-
there were many preserved items that tem of pipes then dumped in the
hadn’t been systematically studied. river. Although it did have a so-
“Field techniques changed, and now phisticated water supply system,
rubbish, previously ignored, is collect- unlike many other Roman cities
ed,” notes Fairbairn. The development Pompeii did not have a sewer
of new methods of chemical analysis in system. Instead most proper-
addition to the growth of biomolecular ties had latrines that would be
archaeology (an interdisciplinary field cleaned out from time to time.
involving chemistry, bioinformatics, Elite houses usually used cham-
biomechanics, immunological assaying ber pots that slaves emptied
and mass spectrometry, among others) into the toilets in the working

the eruption didn’t just bury exciting things ... has provided fresh insights into the his- areas and kitchen. However, 15
tory of human civilisations, diseases upstairs toilets have been identi-

it also preserved more mundane artifacts


and agriculture. fied by archaeologists, with
The archaeology of food and drink samples of mineralised material
is also expanding, driven by advances taken from the downpipes con-
in forensic and other analytical tech- The material from Pompeii’s latrines are run firming that human waste had
nologies in the ’90s. Fairbairn says this through a flotation machine to separate seeds, passed through.
type of archaeology was originally de- bones and other small items from the soil.
veloped for studies of prehistory that ganic material mixed with wa-
lacked written records, and has led to “In the 250 or so years that archae- ter. “That water contained a lot
some very interesting finds that illumi- ology has been developing as a science, of minerals in solution that
nate life in ancient settlements. understanding has progressed by leaps helped to fossilise and pre-
Sera Baker, an organiser at the Uni- and bounds,” adds Baker. Today’s ar- serve leaves, fruit, seeds,
versity of Nottingham’s annual Food chaeologists can explore sites non- fish scales, bone ends,
and Drink in Archaeology conference, invasively and unlock secrets of diet frogs and even dor-

photos: corbis; leigh lieberman; courtesy andy fairbairn


agrees. She is currently studying ma- through microanalysis of organic mate- mice – a Roman cui-
terials from more than 100 shops in the rials coming from excavation. sine speciality,” he
ancient city of Pompeii. Some ancient cities give up their se- explains.
“The archaeology [of food and drink] crets readily. Herculaneum, which was The archaeolo-
has risen to prominence in recent years also buried in the Vesuvian eruption,
towards exploring areas traditionally had beautifully preserved food stores,
unexamined by classicists and archae- including ash-encrusted loaves of bread
ologists of the 19th and 20th centuries,” and bowls filled with peas. Meanwhile, This fossilised grape
she says. The early diggers understand- Pompeii’s food clues were preserved in seed, which was
ably preferred the magnificence of a more primitive way – down the loo. found in a latrine in
monumental and imperial archaeology, Pompeii, was likely
from a grape eaten
like temples and palaces, but lacked LOADS OF RUBBISH
by a resident of the
diligence towards the understanding of According to Fairbairn, the excavated city just before the
everyday ancient lives. latrines were originally filled with or- volcanic eruption.

150 grams: Amount of poop produced by a child each day. approx. 200 grams: Amount of poop produced by an adult each day. circa 2,600–1,900 BCE: The world’s first flush toilets were invented by people living in Pakistan’s Indus Valley.

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early diggers
preferred the
magnificence
of monumental
and imperial
archaeology, but
lacked diligence
towards the
understanding Bread was a staple back in Roman times. Although bread was primarily the food of plebians, the average working citizens of Rome, it was also eaten by the rich.

of everyday gists have also found a good cross-sec- bones that are found lower down in the sauce and olive oil containers will all

ancient lives
tion of different rubbish that has given archaeological record. be analysed and combined with struc-
an interesting picture of what was go- “Although we still have hundreds tural data and pictorial evidence from
ing on in Pompeii’s economy prior to of samples and years of work ahead, wall paintings to provide a much more
the eruption. this is solid evidence that the city was detailed overall picture of the lives of
“In earlier periods, such as the evolving and engaging in a wider range eruption-era Pompeiians.
4th century BC, people were using ev- of activities; it was moving away from “All this provides a wonderful un-
eryday agricultural products – chaff and the production of goods in dispersed derstanding of what the Pompeiians
grains that you normally find in cities cottage industries to more specialised were eating, how they were preparing
where people are engaged in local agri- industrial production and trading,” as- their food and their manner of eating
cultural production and are using those serts Fairbairn. it,” adds Baker.
things everyday,” Fairbairn says. “But Baker agrees, pointing out that As a ruin, Pompeii offers a rare
over time we find different products many types of food were available in glimpse into the daily life of a long-dead
– cherries, grapes and dates, suggest- the Roman world, especially at Pom- civilisation. Scatological archaeologists
ing wide trade networks, and lumps of peii, due to the fertile volcanic soils. In like Fairbairn believe they can use the
bread, but not the raw grains used to fact, Baker adds, this variety of foods is data discovered to also get an insight
produce the bread.” discussed in the works of ancient Latin into why great societies like the Romans
Other things such as garum – a pun- scholars such as Pliny the Elder. Baker and the Maya ultimately failed.

photos: photolibrary; allison emmerson


gent fish sauce widely used in Roman says that it looks like the Pompeiians “This helps show that if the people
cooking that was usually made in back- ate a balanced, omnivorous diet, prob- don’t understand the environment
yard pits – was still being consumed, ably biased towards vegetables and they inhabit, even the most well-tooled
but the evidence seems to indicate that grains because of the higher cost of civilisation can go down the toilet,”
it was no longer being locally manufac- meat production. But there is still more Fairbairn grins as he says. n
A picture of what life in Pompeii was tured. Researchers discovered the raw poop analysis to come.
like in ancient times can be pieced materials and equipment for producing “Microscopic analysis of organic re-
together from items – or fragments of Further reading:
it in the lower (older) layers but not in mains will reveal much more of what
them – recovered from the ground. • The Pompeii Food and Drink Project
the upper, newer layers. This has been the ancient diet of Pompeii was,” she (www.pompeii-food-and-drink.org)
demonstrated by the disappearance says. Other surviving evidence such as • Latrinae et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World
of the big tanks full of fish scales and loaves of bread, eggs, the remains of fish by Barry Hobson

6–7 m: Length of small intestine. Hundreds of thousands: No. of finger-like projections (villi) in the small intestine. 1775: The first patent for the flushing water closet was issued to Alexander Cummings.

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