Long after the Roman soldiers left Vindolanda, the fort's sewer system kept a record of what bothered them most. Hidden in the sediment were parasites that show how disease spread through everyday life near Hadrian's Wall.
Researchers studying an ancient sewer at Vindolanda, a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern England, found evidence that its occupants were infected with a variety of intestinal parasites. The analysis revealed eggs of roundworms and whipworms, as well as traces of Giardia duodenum – a discovery that adds a new parasite to the history of Roman Britain. Published in the magazine ParasitologyThe study provides insight into how the disease spread through the Roman military community.
“We suspected that parasites such as roundworms and whipworms, spread by poor sanitary conditions, might be present in the fort on the edge of the empire. However, the discovery of Giardia was a really exciting find as it had only been found in Turkey and Italy until now during the Roman period,” said senior study author Dr Piers Mitchell.
Vindolanda's sewers reveal everyday Roman life
Vindolanda is one of the best preserved Roman military sites in Britain, thanks to the boggy soil that has protected organic material for centuries. Excavations have uncovered everything from inked wooden tablets detailing daily life to thousands of leather shoes.
The same security applies not only to personal belongings. Vindolanda's infrastructure, including parts of the sewerage system, is also in good condition. In this new study, scientists analyzed material from a nine-metre long sewer pipe connected to a public latrine in a bath complex from the third century AD.
“Even though Vindolanda had communal toilets and a sewer system, this still did not protect soldiers from infecting each other with these parasites,” said Dr Patrick Flammer from the University of Oxford in his paper. press release.
Situated in what is now Northumberland, between modern Carlisle and Corbridge, the fort housed infantry and cavalry units tasked with defending northern Roman territory and was later located south of the line of Hadrian's Wall, built in the early second century AD.
Read more: 800-year-old drawing reveals lost Trojan history in Roman mosaic
Parasites in an ancient sewer
Parasite remains appeared throughout the sewer system, suggesting the infections were not isolated incidents. About 28 percent of the samples contained eggs from roundworms or whipworms, parasites that are spread by contact with contaminated food, water or hands.
Whipworm egg obtained from analysis of sewage sludge from a bathhouse complex in Vindolanda.
(Image credit: Marissa Ledger)
Evidence of contamination was also found in the old part of the site. The researchers analyzed a sample from a ditch associated with the first-century AD fort of Vindolanda, built around 85 AD and abandoned just a few years later, and found eggs of both roundworms and whipworms there. This discovery suggests that intestinal parasites were already circulating among soldiers at the site decades before the later bath complex was built.
One sewage sample containing both types of worms was further examined using ELISA, a biomolecular method that detects proteins produced by single-celled organisms. This test revealed G. duodenuma microscopic parasite that causes giardiasis, a disease characterized by long-term diarrhea, fatigue and weight loss.
Novel doctors knew about the existence of intestinal worms, but they had little ability to treat them effectively. As a result, the infection may persist and worsen over time. Outbreaks of giardiasis, often associated with contaminated water, could be especially dangerous during the warmer months, when dehydration could severely weaken soldiers.
What ancient parasites teach us
The findings raise new questions about how intestinal parasites spread across ancient Europe.
“It would be great to study a range of Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age sites across northern Europe to see whether lambdia was present there too, or whether it was absent before the Romans but was introduced into new regions of the empire by their soldiers or traders,” says Mitchell.
Future research aside, the parasites preserved in Vindolanda's sewers provide a sobering glimpse into daily life on the Roman frontier.
Read more: Ancient Romans gave party guests tiny bronze skeletons as a painful reminder to live life
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