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Comment by 2rsf | Hacker News Reader

> They also found a domestic dwelling that contained a toilet

A toilet?

A toilet is a place where people go take a shit or piss.

Before the invention of flushing toilets, the place where people were going to shit or piss was generally outside the house, also known as an "outhouse". A "domestic dwelling that contained a toilet and a kitchen" does sound unusual.

Hell no. People have never been ok to stump on someone else shit and feces have been used in the past as construction material and fertilizer.

There are still old dry toilets in my grandparents old farm. Basically a cabin with a toilet seat made of wood on top of a big hole. Wood chips and saw dust was kept in a bucket for the user to cover his shit with.

Mixed with compost the end result was used as fertilizer.

>...a cabin with a toilet seat made of wood on top of a big hole.

In Australian slang this is called a 'long drop' after a particular style of judicial hanging.

And yes, there are spiders.

I would have guessed long dropbears instead of spiders.

I have never given outhouses a second thought before this, but I wonder how often people fall in.

Or as fuel for fire. (Once dired)

The Indus Valley Civilization had toilets that could be flushed using a pipe coming from a water source above it. That's from about 6,000 years ago.

The Romans had indoor toilets. They also existed in medieval times but only the very rich had them. most castles had a toilet or two. of course it was probably reserved for the lord and other high ranking individuals.

[writes that down]

It can be an item into which one deposits bodily waste, or an area/room where one goes to defecate and/or micturate. The earlier meaning, very occasionally still used, is a place for dressing and/or grooming (eg powdering a wig).

Hmmm...

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/toilet

> "1917, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge": "It is a quarter-past two," he said. "Your telegram was dispatched about one. But no one can glance at your toilet and attire without seeing that your disturbance dates from the moment of your waking."

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