DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
Augustinian friars being excavated by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit. PICTURE: Cambridge Archaeological Unit
• Medieval friars in the UK town of Cambridge weren’t the most hygenic with a new study finding they were twice as likely as ordinary townspeople to have intestinal worms. A new analysis of remains from medieval Cambridge show this was the case for Augustinian friars despite the fact most Augustinian monasteries of the period had latrine blocks and hand-washing facilities in stark contrast to the houses of ordinary working people. Researchers in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology say the difference in parasitic infection may be thanks to the monks using their own faeces to fertilise their gardens. “One possibility is that the friars manured their vegetable gardens with human faeces, not unusual in the medieval period, and this may have led to repeated infection with the worms,” said study lead author Dr Piers Mitchell from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology. The study involved testing the remains of 19 monks from the grounds of the Augustinian friary in Cambridge and those of 25 locals from All Saints cemetery. It found that 11 of the friars (58 per cent) were infected by worms, compared with just eight of the general townspeople (32 per cent).
• A new endurance athlete has emerged in the US. Duane Hansen, of Syracuse in Nebraska, set a new world record after he paddled some 61 kilometres down the Missouri River sitting in giant, hollowed-out pumpkin that he’d grown himself. Hansen, who completed the day-long feat in his pumpkin vessal named Berta last weekend, said in a video posted by Reuters it probably wasn’t something he’d try again. “I went 38 miles down the river without standing up in that pumpkin and my knees still hurt,” he said. The 60-year-old told the Omaha World-Herald that travelling in the 383 kilogram pumpkin was “just like riding a cork”. The current recognised record for the longest journey in a pumpkin is 25.5 miles – Hansen’s family is submitting all the necessary documentation to Guinness World Records to have his trip formally recognised.
• The city of Sheldon in the US state of Iowa was preparing to mark its 150th anniversary by opening a time capsule. Problem is, no-one can remember where it was buried. Ashley Nordahl, director of the Sheldon Chamber of Commerce, told AP they were hoping to find out exactly where the time capsule was buried before they started digging. “We think we know where it is, but to dig up concrete in the park when we have such a big event going on, we’re just postponing that to a little bit later in the year.” The time capsule was buried 50 years ago during the city’s centennial celebrations but its location has grown a bit fuzzy in the years since.
