The Lloyds Bank Coprolite
DID YOU KNOW THAT THIS FOSSIL ISN ’ T A COPROLITE … IT ’ S A COPRO-HEAVY !
The Lloyds Bank Coprolite
What can poo tell you ? The answer is A LOT . My name is Dr Chris van Tulleken ( yes , off the telly ), and I ’ m here to talk about a very special poo : the Lloyds Bank Coprolite .
What is The Lloyds Bank Coprolite , sounds like an investment plan ? Ed
The Lloyds Bank Coprolite is the largest fossilised specimen of human poo ever found . It was discovered in 1972 b y a paleoscatologist named Dr Andrew ( Bone ) Jones , during an excavation of a Viking settlement in Jorvik ( modern-day York ). It was found on land where a branch of Lloyds Bank was due to be built , hence the name – nothing to do with banking . It is 20 cm long and 5 cm wide , and it weighs 227 grams . It was erm … ‘ deposited ’ about 1,200 years ago by a very uncomfortable Viking .
Why was it so huge ? Did it come from a giant ?
Poo size is related to body size , but it ’ s much more about your diet and how much fibre you ’ ve eaten . We all know that if we poo each day they tend to be smaller than if we skip a day because we got dehydrated or didn ’ t eat as much fibre . This individual was probably constipated – that means they weren ’ t pooing as often as usual , or they were finding it hard to ‘ go ’. They might have had a stomach ache , or felt bloated and sick .
Woah , what a whopper !
From an analysis of the Lloyds Bank coprolite , it seems like this Viking was living mainly on meat and grains with very little in the way of fruits and vegetables . This isn ’ t necessarily true of everyone living there at the time , as large numbers of fruit pits and vegetable seeds were found at the site , but fruit and veg consumption might have been very seasonal .
AWESOME
ACTIVITIES ALERT
SCAN ME
FUN FACT HORN In 2003 , the poo was accidentally dropped by a teacher on a school trip , and it broke into three pieces ( oops !). It was then glued back together and placed back on display , presumably behind glass .
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