These are poop sticks.
They show that parasites were spread along the Silk Road 2000 years ago.
An ancient latrine near a desert in north-western China has revealed the first archaeological evidence that travelers along the Silk Road were responsible for the spread of infectious diseases along huge distances of the route 2,000 years ago.
The complete article is here: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/ancient-faeces-provides-earliest-evidence-of-infectious-disease-being-carried-on-silk-road.











