Bed bugs brought to Britain by Romans

[guy]

 

Evidence of bed bugs have found at Vindolanda.  It is suggested that the bugs were brought to Britain in the late first century AD, possibly on straw bedding, clothes or grain brought to the island. 

Examination of damp soil dated between AD 100 to 105 near Hadrian’s Wall revealed thoraxes believed to be from the common bed bug.
 

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The discovery was made by Katie Wyse Jackson, a University of Dublin student working at the site since August 2023 as part of her research masters in archaeoentomology with the UCD School of Archaeology. 

Archaeoentomology is almost unique in that we study organisms that would have been living with, and in some cases on, people in the past,” added Dr. Stephen Davis, an expert in environmental archaeology and one of the UCD specialists working at Vindolanda.

“This means it can give us a real insight into the lived experience of people in the past that other methods might miss."

Examining soil excavated from Vindolanda from between AD 100 to 105, Katie used a process called paraffin flotation to separate insects from the waterlogged material.  

 

 

 

 

https://www.ucd.ie/newsandopinion/news/2024/february/08/ucdstudentrevealsbedbugsmostlikelycametobritainwiththeromans/#:~:text=Among the insects preserved in,from the common bed bug.&text=The discovery is the earliest,the isle in AD 43.

https://www.vindolanda.com/Blog/beetles-on-the-frontier

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/03/incredibly-rare-discovery-reveals-bedbugs-came-to-britain-with-the-romans

Edited February 13 by guy