One of the most famous — and expensive — examples of human poop in the world came from an unknown Viking who lived in England during the ninth century. While Wyoming has a reputation for prodigiously producing dinosaur fossils, archaeologists here wish they could make more human finds like the early medieval Viking.

The Lloyds Bank Coprolite (the scientific term for petrified and fossilized poop) was found during an archeological excavation in York in 1972. At 8 inches long and 2 inches wide, it may be the largest intact piece of human poop in the archeological record and is worth an estimated $39,000.

Andrew Jones, a York Archaeological Trust employee and “palaeoscatologist,” told the Wall Street Journal in 1991 that the Lloyds Bank Coprolite is “the most exciting piece of excrement” ever found and is “as irreplaceable as the Crown Jewels.”

The poop has a place of honor at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, where it’s the No. 2 attraction at the unique museum showcasing the history of Vikings in the British city.

[There are specialties withIN specialties, even for ancient studies, are there not? I’m not sure if any of you ever watched “Scrubs” but they once did a terrific musical number on the show concerning the importance of…um…checking samples. Learn a lot even for something millions of years ago. ~ Beege]