Edinburgh children rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the dirtier side of archaeology at Fountainbridge Library.

The youngsters, aged eight to 11, found themselves wading through fake poo as they learned that the key to early civilisation is found in the toilet bowl, not the museum.

The event, called ‘Poos of the Past’, was inspired by the BBC’s Hands on History initiative. It showed how the eating habits of humans have changed throughout the ages.

Children put down the library books and inspected fake poo made by library staff from salt dough coloured with brown food colouring.

Team leader Margaret Taylor said: “The children who took part came from a reading group called Chatterbooks.

“We had different kinds of seeds and stones we put into the excrement. Some cooked spaghetti was also added to some of the poos to represent internal parasites such as tapeworm.

“If there were olives stones and melon seeds, they were probably a Roman.

“If there were lentils and breads grains, they were probably a Tudor. If there were fish bones and cherry pips, they were probably a Viking.”

The children were tasked to search for food particles that helped them identity which era the person lived in.

Margaret said: “It was then explained to the children how archaeologists sometimes dig up human excrement and look for any remains of food within the poo so that they can ascertain what these long dead people had eaten and what their health may have been like.”

The unique event proved popular with the children.

Margaret said: “They loved it. Because we said they were going to be picking poo apart there were a few screams and squeals to start with.

“After the initial giggling had died down the children were divided into groups and given a poo to dissect and record what they found in it.

“It was a very messy and therefore thoroughly enjoyable event for our young readers.”