The Vikings took over York on 2nd January 867 AD and Viking occupation and influence wasn’t ended in England until just before 1066 and all that. What Viking remains are left following their 200 year occupation? There’s this and that, building remains, jewellery, glass but there’s still no evidence of pottery manufacture. There is, however, the Viking pooh. This is the biggest pooh in the world on display.
The Archaeology of the Pooh
The pooh was excavated from among the contents of a Viking rubbish tip. The archaeologists responsible managed to remove the pooh from its dump in one whole piece – an exercise that called for great skill. Imagine that, a pooh that had survived in one piece for over a thousand years!
What the Pooh told us about the person who did it
The pooh revealed that historians (people who read things to discover history) had got it wrong about the diet of Vikings. Until a piece was sliced off the miraculous find and analysed it was thought that the Vikings ate a greater proportion of carbohydrates (bread mainly) than protein (meat). The archaeologists (people who discover remains of people to discover things about history) found that the opposite was the case.
The sheer size of the pooh suggested that its doer was a man. Other evidence found in the pooh makes it very certain that this man had a very itchy bum!
How do we know that the Doer of the Pooh had an Itchy Bottom?
The fact of the itchy bum was revealed by analysing the slither of pooh under a microscope. Doing this revealed thousands of worms and as you know, anyone who itches their bottom is likely to have worms.
Can We See the Pooh Now?
The pooh is displayed on a specially designed plinth. It is plastic and transparent and therefore allows the pooh’s viewers to see it from all angles and, in so doing, understand the enormity of this archaeological find. You can see it at the Viking Museum (The Jorvik Centre) in York, England.
Is the Pooh still whole?
The pooh appears to be whole but unfortunately it is actually nowadays in three separate portions. This is because a few years ago, someone who had permission to study the pooh and handle it, dropped it onto the floor where the, now brittle, dry, pooh, broke up. The pooh 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
- Google the Viking Museum in York.
- Look at the BBC website and find their Viking timeline.
- 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 Pooh must have had.
TIP: Substitute the word “pooh” with “turd”, “stool” or another technical or vernacular word you are more comfortable with when recounting this tale to children.
