A mummy microbiome hides inside 1,000-year-old poop

This Man Died 1,000 Years Ago. The Organisms In His Stomach Survived.

The mummy now known as the Zimapán man was found to have a diverse microbiome that reveals more about what one ancient Mesoamerican culture ate.

A mummy microbiome hides inside 1,000-year-old poop

Underneath the remains of an ancient young adult man and his preserved feces lies a microscopic world. These microorganisms beneath the cloth hold clues to what the world may have looked like hundreds of years ago. Now, a new look at a 1,000-year-old mummy called the Zimapán man could tell us what ancient Mesoamericans ate, where they lived, and show us how much our world has changed since.  Who is the Zimapán man? In 2014, locals near Zimapán, …

Ancient Microbiome of Mexico’s Zimapán Man Analyzed - Archaeology Magazine

Coprolite, Zimapán, Mexico MEXICO CITY, MEXICO—Phys.org reports that Santiago Rosas-Plaza of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a team of researchers have analyzed coprolites, or feces, and intestinal tissue samples taken from the well-preserved remains of Zimapán Man, whose 1,000-year-old body was discovered wrapped in a bundle in a rock shelter in central-eastern Mexico. Zimapán Man is thought to have been a semi-nomadic hunter g…