Vindolanda latrine drain yields first Roman Britain evidence of Giardia

October 29, 2026EnglandBioarchaeologyNew ResearchShare

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Key facts

• Vindolanda is a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern England whose inhabitants used baths, communal toilets and drains to carry away waste.
• Sediment from a drain connected to 3rd-century latrines preserved parasite remains likely derived from infected people.
• The team examined 58 samples: 50 from the drain's main fill and 8 from its final fill, searching microscopically for intestinal worm eggs whose shells survive millennia in sediment.
• Roundworm or whipworm eggs were found in 14 of the 50 main fill samples (28 percent) and in 2 of the 8 final fill samples.
• One sample repeatedly tested positive for Giardia, detected via parasite proteins; this is the first archaeological evidence of Giardia in Roman Britain.
• Egg morphology alone could not distinguish human infection from every possible animal source, nor how many people contributed the waste, but the latrine context favoured a human origin.
• A separate sample from an earlier fort context dating to the late 1st century CE also contained roundworm and whipworm.
• The fort housed civilians, women and children as well as soldiers, and the pattern resembles findings at other Roman military sites.

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