Ancient Romans Used Ceramic Pots As Portable Toilets. Parasitic Eggs Reveal Era Of Their Usage
The researchers identified the eggs of whipworm, confirming that the vessel once contained human faeces.
New Delhi: Did you know that ancient Romans used ceramic pots as portable toilets? Now, archaeologists can determine the era in which the portable toilet, known as a chamber pot, was used, according to a new study.
The study, conducted by archaeologists at the University of Cambridge (UBC), England, was recently published in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports.
Conical Pots Of This Type ‘Recognised Widely’ In Roman Empire
Roger Wilson, a professor in UBC's department of classical, Near Eastern and religious studies who directs the Gerace archaeological project in Sicily where the pot was found, said that conical pots of this type have been recognised quite widely in the Roman Empire and in the absence of other evidence, they have often been called storage jars, according to a statement issued by UBC. Wilson further said that the discovery of many in or near public latrines had led to a suggestion that they might have been used as chamber pots, but until now, proof has been lacking.
Crusty Material Formed Inside The Ceramic Pot
The archaeologists analysed crusty material formed on the inside surface of a ceramic pot dating to the fifth century from a Roman villa site in Sicily, the study said. The team from the Ancient Parasites Laboratory at UBC used microscopy to identify intestinal parasites.
The researchers identified the eggs of whipworm, confirming that the vessel once contained human faeces, the study said. Tianyi Wang, who co-authored the study, said that it was incredibly exciting to find the eggs of these parasitic worms 1,500 years after they had been deposited, according to the statement.
Parasitic Eggs Found Inside The Ceramic Pot
Whipworms are human parasites that are about five centimetres long and live on the lining of our intestines, and lay eggs which get mixed in with the human faeces. As a result, they got deposited in a chamber pot during use, the study said. Since the pot was repeatedly used, minerals from urine and faeces built up in layers on the inner surface of the pot, creating concretions.
Sophie Rabinow, another co-author of the study, said the researchers found that the parasite eggs became entrapped within the layers of minerals that formed on the pot surface. This preserved the parasite eggs for centuries.
How Is The Discovery Special?
The discovery marks the first time that parasitic eggs have been identified from concretions inside a Roman ceramic vessel, according to the study. Also, the parasite eggs confirm that the Gerace pot must have been used to contain human faeces.
The Gerace chamber pot measures 31.8 centimetres high with a diameter of 34 centimetres at the rim. The measurements indicate the chamber pot could have been used for sitting on. However, it is more than likely used in conjunction with a wickerwork or timber chair under which the chamber pot was set, according to the study.
Ceramics are one of the most commonplace forms of archaeological artefact recovered from Roman sites, and this technique provides a crucial tool enabling researchers to identify pots which had the special purpose of being a chamber pot, distinguishing them from those used as storage jars for food or other materials, the study said. Occasional alternative uses of such vessels have been documented.
Rabinow said that the findings show that parasite analysis can provide important clues for ceramic research, according to the statement.
If at least one of the people who used the chamber pot was infected by intestinal worms, the technique would work, according to the study. More than half of the people in places where parasites are endemic in the developing world today are infected by at least one type of intestinal parasite, the study said. If Romans were infected as commonly, there is high probability that the approach will identify most such vessels as chamber pots if encrusted deposits are preserved.
Pot Came From Bath Complexes Of A Roman Villa
Piers Mitchell, the parasites expert who led the study in the laboratory, said that the pot came from the baths complex of a Roman villa, and it seems likely that those visiting the baths would have used this chamber pot when they wanted to go to the toilet. This is because the baths lacked a latrine of their own.
Mitchell said that clearly, convenience was important to them, according to the statement.
Where Roman pots in museums are noted to have these mineralised concretions inside the base, they can now be sampled using the technique to see if they were also used as chamber pots, Mitchell added.
Researchers can understand more about the sanitation, diet, and intestinal health of people in the past through identification of intestinal parasite eggs in chamber pots.
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