Weird Histories 3 | Viking Poo

Introducing the Viking Poo

The Vikings took over York on 2nd January 867 AD. This Viking occupation and influence wasn’t ended in England until just before 1066 and all that. So, almost two hundred years of Viking occupation. You'd expect them to have left some reminders that they had been here.

But the Vikings left very little. There’s this and that, a ship burial at Sutton Hoo, but not much else. Bits of broken jewellery, shards of glass but there’s still no evidence of pottery manufacture. There is, however, perhaps the biggest poo (turd, stool, call it what you will) in the world ever to be put on display. This is very strange but very true.

The Archaeology of the Huge Viking Poo

The poo was excavated from among the contents of a Viking rubbish tip. The archaeologistsresponsible managed to remove the poo from its dump in one piece without any crumbling. Imagine the archaeological skill needed to remove the poo from the old rubbish dump! How amazing that this pooA poo that had survived in one piece for over a thousand years. There are not enough tributes to heap on the people responsible for retrieving the Viking poo.

What the Poo Told us About the Person From Whom it Came

The poo revealed that historians (people who read things to discover history) had got it wrong. These historians had assumed that their diet was mostly carbohydrates. However, by slicing of a slither of the Viking poo, putting it under a microscope and rehydrating it (as in adding water to the slither of poo) the secrets of the diet of Vikings were discovered.

These archaeologists (people who discover remains of people to discover things about history) found that the opposite was the case. Vikings ate more protein than carbohydrates. The archaeologists also assumed something and discovered something about the person who produced the poo and bunged it in the rubbish tip for them to find a millenium later.

The sheer size of the poo (it is truly enormous) suggested that its maker was male. Also, other evidence found in the poo revealed another thing about this particular Viking. It was discovered that he had a very, very, very, very itchy bum!

How do we know that the Doer of the Poo had an Itchy Bottom?  Because the slither of poo under a microscope revealed thousands of worms and as you know, anyone who itches their bottom is likely to have worms. 

Can We See the Poo Now?

Who would like to see the Viking poo? What sort of strange person must you be to want to see any poo let alone a massive one which is a thousand years old and produced by a Viking who disposed of it in a rubbish pit? Actually, the Viking poo is the most popular exhibit in the Jorvig Viking Museum in York. Children find the poo to be extremely entertaining. You know what kids are like.

How to Display a Poo

The Viking poo is displayed on a specially designed plinth. The plinth is plastic and transparent and therefore allows the poo’s viewers to see it from all angles and, in so doing, understand the enormity of this undertaking and archaeological find. 

An artists impression of a Viking invasion - image from Wikipedia

Is the Poo still whole?

The poo appears to be whole but unfortunately it is actually in three separate portions. This is because a few years ago, someone who had permission to study the poo and handle it, dropped it onto the floor where the, now brittle, dry poo, broke up. The poo was however repaired by inserting a rod of steel through the three pieces – very much like you might thread food onto a kebab stick.

Further Activities

1. Google the Viking Museum in York.
2. Look at the BBC.co.uk website and find their Viking timeline.
3. With adult supervision, cut a tomato or a piece of meat into three and thread in onto a kebab stick. Attempt to get the tomato or piece of meat to look whole again – while you are doing this consider the expert skills the person who designed the repair of the Viking poo must have had.

TIP: Substitute the word “poo” with “turd”, “stool” or another technical or vernacular word you are more comfortable with when recounting this tale to children.

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A picture of Danish men in boats from the twelfth century. Does one remind you of anyone? Please comment below. Image care of Wikipedia