Bedbugs have been plaguing the British for at least 1,900 years.
Archaeologists discovered the earliest evidence of the bloodsucking parasites in the UK at Vindolanda, a Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian’s Wall in northeast England. Katie Wyse Jackson, a graduate student of archaeology at University College Dublin, made the discovery while investigating ancient insect remains at the fort. She found two thoraxes – the insects’ midsections – at the lowest layers of Vindolanda, which was initially built in the late 1st century CE and was remodelled over the years.
The finding supports the idea that the Romans brought bedbugs to Britain after they invaded the isle in 43 CE. Despite the empire’s penchant for frequent bathing, evidence of bedbugs has been found at other sites in England, including a Roman settlement in Warwickshire dating to the middle to late 2nd century, and ancient Roman sites throughout Europe. In fact, a 2016 study found just as many bedbugs at Roman archaeological sites as in Viking and mediaeval ones. Considering the Romans bathed much more frequently, the finding highlights how hard it was to eliminate these pests. “The Romans do have that reputation as being extremely clean, and so it’s interesting to find all of these insects that are contrary to that,” Wyse Jackson said.