9. The Fascinating Bronze Age Crocodile Poo Contraceptive
The use of fly poop as a medicinal treatment raises some fascinating questions. Not just about its effectiveness, if it actually was effective. The more fascinating question is just how did people back then, long before microscopes were invented, even manage to spot, let alone gather, tiny fly turds? However they went about the collection of fly poop, the Ancient Egyptians had a good reputation as physicians. As a result, many contemporary cultures during the Bronze Age and afterward looked up and tried and emulate their medicinal practices.
The Ancient Greeks in particular borrowed a lot from the Egyptians, and one of those borrowed things was a medical prescription that used crocodile poop as birth control. Ancient Greek women believed that crocodile dung inserted into their vaginas would serve as a powerful contraceptive. It might have even worked. At least in the sense that to encounter a vagina full of crocodile poop might have been such a huge turn-off that it prevented sexual intercourse in the first place.
