Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: THIBAUT DURAND / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 7:15 p.m., February 6, 2024

Katie Wyse Jackson, a British student, managed to exhume the remains of bedbugs at a Roman archaeological site in Great Britain. According to the hypothesis proposed by this team of researchers, the insects would have traveled from Rome to the British Isles on beds of straw, among other things.

The connection between the Roman Empire and bedbugs is not obvious at first glance. And yet, the recent archaeological work of a British student establishes a very clear one, thus providing valuable lessons about the spread of these pests across Europe. As reported by the

Guardian

, Katie Wyse Jackson, 24, specialized in archaeoentomology (the study of insects on archaeological sites), managed to exhume remains of bedbugs, dating from the beginning of the 2nd century, on the site of Vindolanda, a Roman camp located near the famous Hadrian's Wall.

According to the team of researchers, the insects would have taken place in beds of straw, transported by the Romans to the British Isles. “The Romans brought clothing, straw, and grain in large quantities as they set up their camps, so this is the perfect opportunity for a bedbug or two to slip in,” says Katie Wyse Jackson . In this way, pests would have multiplied in the four corners of Europe, according to the multiple Roman conquests. 

The Romans knew about these insects

Especially since bedbug remains had already been discovered previously at another archaeological site in Warwickshire, notes Stephen Davis, lecturer in environmental archaeology. Those from Vindolanda, however, would be "the oldest discovered in Great Britain so far", specifies the expert. 

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The Romans were also perfectly aware of these small insects, whose reputation was much less disastrous than today. The philosopher Pliny the Elder even imagined bedbugs capable of treating certain illnesses, notably ear infections.

“At the time, people had all kinds of ideas about what insects could do,” explains the student, for whom the presence of these pests in the daily life of the Romans is surprising. “The Romans have a reputation for being extremely clean and so it’s interesting to find all these insects that go against that reputation,” she says. In reality, their propagation can occur in a perfectly healthy environment.