My eldest son Erik, I have discovered, was once charged with showing York's famous fossilized turd to parties of school children.We lived in Bury St Edmunds at the time, but Erik came up to York to do some of his work experience, in Year 11. He got a place as a guide/explainer at ARC, the York Archaeological Resource Centre, now called DIG. Among his duties, was the the job (no pun intended) of explaining to kids all about the Viking turd, then on display there. He was even responsible for the manufacture of scores of "I've held a Viking Poo" badges so they could purchase a souvenir of the experience.
"From what I can remember, the poo was done in a bin," said Erik. "The bin would have been like a pit in the ground, and the poo was preserved by the other things around it. Had he - or she - done it in a latrine, it would have been lost forever. Presumably, the person got caught short."
OMG, I have a family connection with the Viking turd!
