For scientists digging into the past, ancient feces are a time capsule of intestinal parasites, food, and more. The fecal samples themselves are about 1,100 to 1,300 years old. “More than 500 ancient desiccated fecal samples and over 2,000 kids were also recovered from the cave.”Desiccated fecal material from the Cave of the Dead Children. Previously, most work with ancient fecal material like this has used DNA sequencing. We look forward to continuing this collaborative work to better understand the presence and movement of pathogens in ancient samples.”