[Sca-cooks] Parasitic worms

[Daniel Phelps]

> An odd addition to the conversation... period evidence of infestation of
> parasitic worms from my "hole" article:
>
> "Page 127 of Mr. Hall's book "The Viking Dig" shows a picture of a plank
> perforated in its middle by a single large slightly elliptical hole which
> the author has successfully dated to the 12th century.  As the plank was
> found in what was identified by its contents to be a 12th century cess pit
> and the hole the plank contains was of the proper dimensions his analysis
of
> the artifact and its surroundings strongly suggested to him its function.
> Mr. Hall states that the eggs of gut worms with which the whole population
> of York was infested were found in huge numbers, mainly in cess-pits,
> (italics added) during the dig.  Additional evidence regarding the
excretory
> nature of the materials within the specific pit in question further
> confirmed its purpose.  The author thus identified the plank to be a privy
> seat which had apparently been originally placed over the cess pit in
which
> it was found and then, due to misadventure, lost into its stygian and
> presumably odoriferously pungent depths."
>
> There was a picture of one of the gut worm eggs.
>
> Daniel
>