A 1,900-year-old Roman vial has revealed a surprising medical practice: the use of human faeces.
Dark brown flakes discovered inside the vessel, known as an unguentarium, have been identified as human waste.
New analysis suggests this unusual concoction was blended with thyme, likely to mask its potent odour, and may have been administered to treat inflammation or infection.
The small glass bottle, typically used for perfumes, oils, or medicines, was unearthed sealed with clay within a tomb in the ancient city of Pergamon, now located in western Turkey.
The intriguing findings emerged from work by archaeologists examining materials held at the Bergama Museum.
Their study, led by Cenker Atila, an archaeologist at Sivas Cumhuriyet University, was published on 19 January in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
It describes how researchers analysed the contents of the vial using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, a technique that identifies organic compounds.
Two compounds detected in the residue — coprostanol and 24-ethylcoprostanol — are well-known biomarkers associated with faecal matter. According to the researchers, the ratio between the two suggests a human origin.
“The consistent identification of these stanols strongly indicates that the unguentarium originally contained faecal material,” the authors wrote in their paper.
The team also identified carvacrol, an aromatic compound found in herbs such as thyme.
Commenting on their findings, the researchers wrote: “By integrating archaeometric analysis with historical and philological research, the study reframes Roman unguentaria as vehicles not only for cosmetics, but also for socially managed therapeutic substances.
“The findings contribute critical empirical support for the pharmacological use of excrement in antiquity.”
Pergamon was a major centre of Roman medicine during the second and third centuries AD and was closely associated with the physician Galen, whose writings shaped medical practice in Europe for centuries.
Classical sources describe a range of remedies based on human and animal excrement, used to treat ailments including infections, inflammation and reproductive disorders.
Galen himself wrote of the therapeutic value of a child’s faeces, provided that the child had followed a specific diet.
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However, until now there had been little physical evidence of the remedies actually being used.
Ancient physicians were also aware that patients might reject foul-smelling treatments and often recommended mixing such substances with aromatic herbs, wine or vinegar.
The researchers say the discovery provides rarAncviee physical confirmation of these practices.
“This study offers the first direct chemical evidence for the medicinal use of faecal matter in Greco-Roman antiquity,” they wrote, adding that it shows such remedies were not merely theoretical, but actively prepared and used.
For Dr. Rana Babaç Çelebi, medical historian and clinical aromatherapist who worked on the team, the results were a surprise as she was initially hunting for a Roman perfume.
“As the analyses progressed and the results emerged, encountering a formulation I knew from ancient medical texts reflected so precisely in the chemical residues recovered from the vessel was an experience difficult to put into words — especially from the perspective of a medical historian,” she said.
