Middle AgesMiddle Ages · Trondheim, Trøndelag, Norway
Medieval Trondheim moved latrine waste out of town, and spread roundworm through its food
Latrine analyses suggest nearly the whole population of the Norwegian city was infected after human waste ended up in manure on farmland.
In brief 3 key points
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- Authorities in medieval Trondheim ordered foul latrine waste carried to pits outside the city centre
- Once the waste was mixed into manure and spread on fields, roundworm entered the food supply
- Skeletons also show poorer health and higher child mortality among craft workers on the city's edge
A sanitation measure in medieval Trondheim had the opposite effect of what was intended, researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) report. Moving latrine waste out of the city centre helped spread roundworm.
The work is part of MedHeal600, a research project led by the NTNU University Museum. It studies public health and living conditions in Trondheim, then called Nidaros, from the year 1000 to 1600.
From latrine to dinner plate
In the High Middle Ages, from 1130 to 1350, the city grew and so did its waste and smells. Many believed foul odours, or miasmas, caused disease. The authorities decreed that latrine waste should go to pits outside the city centre.
Elisabeth Forrestad Swensen studied water and waste management for her PhD within the project. Analysis of the latrine contents showed that nearly the entire population was infected with roundworms. The waste was mixed into manure, where roundworms thrive, and spread on the city's farmland.
“Measures were taken with clear, positive intentions; however, not all of them proved equally effective in practice.”
Elisabeth Forrestad Swensen, NTNU University Museum
Wood chips and smell
Sawdust and wood chips, a by-product of house building, were mixed into waste pits to dampen the smell. Their volume fell sharply toward the end of the 13th century, as building almost stopped around 1300. The researchers say the timber around Trondheim was exhausted, and a large volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1257 may also have played a part.
As the pits in town began to stink more, organic waste was carried out of the city instead. This change lowered the risk of infectious disease, the team says.
Rich and poor
Skeletons from two cemeteries show clear differences. Craft workers buried on the city's edge had higher child mortality, poorer health and a less varied diet than the trading elite of Kaupmannastretet, today Krambugata. Well over half of the inhabitants suffered physiological stress in childhood from poor or monotonous food.
The findings are gathered in the book Health in Medieval Urban Trondheim: From Individual to Communal Responsibility AD 1000–1600, edited by Erik Opsahl, Axel Christophersen and James Barrett.
Sources (2)
Bookfrom NTNU University Museum and Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- The introduction of a medieval public health system exposed the population to roundworm (Phys.org)
- Medieval sanitation in Trondheim spread roundworm instead of stopping it (NTNU University Museum)
Paper: Opsahl, Christophersen and Barrett (eds.), Health in Medieval Urban Trondheim: From Individual to Communal Responsibility AD 1000–1600
Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars
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