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Background: Sterols in feces reflect sterols in the diet. In previous analyses of the fecal steroids in 1000-2000-y-old Native American coprolites found in the dry caves of Nevada, we showed that the sterol nucleus was stable. The coprolites provided useful dietary information., Objective: In the present study, we analyzed the fecal steroids of an Eskimo mummy buried and frozen >500 y ago in Greenland. We compared these analyses with our findings in the coprolites from Nevada and in present-day stool samples from Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and Americans consuming low- and high-cholesterol diets., Design: The fecal material from the Eskimo mummy was subjected to saponification, extraction, and digitonin precipitation. The sterols and bile acids were further analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography., Results: The fecal steroids of the Greenland Eskimo mummy were remarkably similar to those of present-day stool samples. However, unlike in the stool of modern humans, a portion of the neutral steroids in the coprolite had been converted to sterol epimers. Instead of deoxycholic acid, 3alpha,6beta,12alpha-trihydroxycholanic acid was one of the major fecal bile acids. The plant sterol output in the coprolite was only 0.4% of the output of Americans consuming 250-400 mg plant sterols/d. The ratio of bile acid to cholesterol in the coprolite was similar to that in stool from Tarahumara Indians consuming a low-cholesterol diet., Conclusion: The sterol nucleus is stable when frozen. The analysis of coprolite showed that the young Eskimo woman had consumed a diet very low in plant sterols and moderate to low in cholesterol content.

Six samples of human coprolites, some more than 2,000 years old, were analyzed for fecal steroid composition. Despite this very lengthy period of storage, the fecal steroids of coprolites were remarkably similar to those of stool samples collected today. The sterol nucleus was clearly rather stable under the dry environmental conditions of the Nevada Caves. The steroid content (microgram/g dried weight) of coprolite was low in comparison to that of modern man. The bile acid/cholesterol and plant sterol/cholesterol ratios of the coprolite, however, were similar to these ratios of the stools of modern man. In the six coprolites, an average 73% of the neutral steroids was digitonin-precipitable. This precipitate was composed of cholesterol and three plant sterols (campesterol, stigmasterol, and beta-sitosterol) and their bacteria-modified products. A portion of the neutral steroids had been converted to products tentatively identified as epimers of these steroids. Individual bile acids were identified in the coprolite. The bile acid composition of the coprolite was similar to that of the stool of modern man.