These nocturnal poop collectors of Tudor-era England spent their time knee-deep in cesspits full of human excrement.On moonlit nights during the Tudor period of Wales and England, darkened silhouettes would toil below the castle. They were the “nightmen,” digging and scraping near the walls before shuffling into the distance. By name they were the “gong farmers” — by trade, they were removing human excrement from castle cesspits.
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesAn 1849 illustration of two nightmen as published in London’s The Morning Chronicle. Read More...
More than 200 musical scores were found at the Nazi death camp after spending decades in its archives.Leo GeyerMany of the compositions are incomplete and burned around the edges.
In 2015, Leo Geyer traveled to Auschwitz as part of a research project. The British composer had been tasked with creating a composition to honor the late Martin Gilbert, a historian and Holocaust expert, and he decided to visit Auschwitz to get a “sense of the gravity. Read More...
Trace evidence of plants found on obsidian blades from Rapa Nui suggests the island maintained frequent contact with South America during the earliest years of its settlement.Andrea SeelenfreundThe Anakena site on Rapa Nui as it looks today, after some restoration work.
Researchers have discovered ancient food remnants on obsidian blades recovered from Rapa Nui — also known as Easter Island. An analysis of the starch grains reveals that the island’s earliest settlers feasted not only on Polynesia’s native plants, but also on foods indigenous to South America, roughly 2,300 miles away. Read More...
