"It's rock hard, it doesn't smell and it's certainly not squishy"

[pynchonoid]

OK, so Pynchon-L is now (with the inauguration of a
Pale Fire reading) officially Pynchon-free.  Cool, I
won't have to make an effort to put any of my
tangential posts in a Pynchon context. This one is
Pynchon-L related, at least, because I know T has
passed bigger ones than this on Pynchon-L...


Experts to repair 'faeces fossil' 
Archaeologists are carrying out one of their most
delicate projects to date - the careful restoration of
1200-year-old human faeces. 

Measuring 20cm by 5cm, the exhibit is thought to be
the largest fossilised human excrement ever found. 

But despite surviving for well over 1,000 years, the
Viking relic was broken into three pieces during a
recent school visit to its home, the Archaeological
Resource Centre (Arc) in York. 

Now team member Gill Snape, a student from the
University of Bradford, has the unenviable task of
restoring the artefact to its former glory. 

But despite admitting she has "never done anything
quite like this before", the 21-year-old told BBC News
Online it was not quite the revolting job people
assumed. 

"It's rock hard, it doesn't smell and it's certainly
not squishy," said Ms Snape. 

Centrepiece attraction 

Museum chiefs are desperate to see their star exhibit
glued back together because it is popular with the
schoolchildren that make up a large percentage of
their visitors. 

"The kids loved it," Ms Snape added. 

"We've even had thank you letters saying 'thank you
for showing us the poo'." 

After it is delicately glued back together, Ms Snape
said the fossil would be mounted on perspex for
visitors to "fully appreciate its glory as the
centrepiece of the Arc". 

And she had a message for anyone who doubted the
impressive stature of the item, which was discovered
in 1972 on land now occupied by Lloyds TSB Bank in
York. 

"It's huge - and bear in mind it's shrunk since it was
deposited," she added. 


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/2969730.stm

Published: 2003/06/06 18:06:11 GMT

© BBC MMIII



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