16 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

New research determines portable toilets of the ancient Roman world

New research published today reveals how archeologists can determine when a pot was used by Romans as a portable toilet, known as a chamber pot.

In a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, researchers from the University of Cambridge analyzed a layer of crusty material formed on the inside of ceramic pots, found in a Roman villa from the 5th century in Sicily.

“Conical pots of this type have been recognized quite widely in the Roman Empire and in the absence of other evidence they have often been called storage jars. 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,” says 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.

The chamber pot as mended from fragments. Credit: R. J. A. Wilson.
The chamber pot is mended from fragments. Photo: R. J. A. Wilson.

Using microscopy to identify intestinal parasites, the team from the Ancient Parasites Laboratory identified 1,500-year-old from the eggs of whipworm, confirming that the vessel had once contained human feces.

Whipworms live on the lining of our intestines and lay eggs that become mixed with human feces. These would have been deposited in the chamber pot and eventually entombed in concretions created by the minerals found in urine and feces to the inner surface.

“We found that the parasite eggs became entrapped within the layers of minerals that formed on the pot surface, so preserving them for centuries,” said co-author Sophie Rabinow, of the Cambridge team.

Detail of the interior of the chamber pot, showing lime-scale concretions within it. Photo: R. J. A. Wilson.
Detail of the interior of the chamber pot, showing lime-scale concretions within it. İmaje: R. J. A. Wilson.

This is the first time that parasite eggs have been identified from concretions inside a Roman ceramic vessel and confirms the Gerace pot must have been used to contain human feces.

Although the measurements of the Gerace chamber pot (31.8 cm high with a diameter of 34cm at the rim) indicate it could have been used for sitting on, it was more than likely used in conjunction with a wickerwork or timber chair under which the chamber pot was set.

Piers Mitchell, the parasites expert who led the study in the laboratory, says: “This pot came from the baths complex of a Roman villa. It seems likely that those visiting the baths would have used this chamber pot when they wanted to go to the toilet, as the baths lacked a built latrine of its own. Clearly, convenience was important to them.

The Gerace research project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, under a permit granted by Regione Siciliana.

To read the article.

University of British Columbia

Related Articles

Archaeologists Found Evidence of a Lost Temple in Chorazin Linked to Jesus’ Healing Miracles

12 August 2024

12 August 2024

Recent archaeological excavations in Israel may have unearthed the remains of a long-lost temple, believed to be the very site...

2000-year-old Genuine Pompeii marble relief installed in a wall lining the staircase leading down to the basement in a Belgium home

22 December 2023

22 December 2023

An important marble relief depicting the earthquake of 62 AD, stolen from the ruins of ancient Pompeii in Italy in...

Over 7,000-Year-Old Traces of Life Discovered in Ratina Cave on Šćedro Island, Croatia

28 February 2025

28 February 2025

Recent archaeological excavations on Šćedro Island, located south of Hvar, have unveiled significant findings that challenge previous understandings of the...

‘Nano lime’ protects Nemrut: Throne of the Gods

24 October 2023

24 October 2023

Last year, “nano lime” was filled with syringes to protect the tiny cracks on the large stone statues on Mount...

Luxurious Feather Beds of Iron Age Warriors

27 March 2021

27 March 2021

According to a new study, two warriors from the 7th century in Sweden were buried in graves where they were...

The excavation, which started in a cave in Turkey’s Mardin, turned into a huge underground city

19 April 2022

19 April 2022

In an underground city known used as a settlement in the early Christian era, in the Midyat district of Mardin,...

Flying reptile discovered in Scotland dubbed ‘Jurassic fighter jet’

24 February 2022

24 February 2022

The jawbone of a 170 million-year-old pterosaur, described as the world’s best-preserved skeleton of the prehistoric winged reptile, was discovered...

Archaeologists discovered a sunken prehistoric fort in Clew Bay island

1 April 2024

1 April 2024

A sunken prehistoric fort has been discovered on Clew Bay island off the north Mayo coast, Ireland. It has been...

Saudi Arabia’s “Gates of Hell” and Mysterious Structures

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

The region of Saudi Arabia, where the mysterious neolithic structures called the “Gates of Hell” are located, has around 400...

Chinese Paleontologists discovered a 170-million-year-old flower

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Chinese paleontologists discovered fossils of an ancient plant dating back approximately 170 million years. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing...

The Historian Says That the Saint Petrus Cave Church in Antakya is Not the First

24 February 2021

24 February 2021

According to a news from Trt World, A historian who was in the news recently for claiming a church in...

200,000-year-old ‘mammoth graveyard’ found in the southwest UK

19 December 2021

19 December 2021

Researchers have unearthed a mammoth “graveyard” filled with the bony remains of five individuals, including an infant, two juveniles, and...

Egyptian archaeologists discovered 16 meters long ancient papyrus with spells from the Book of the Dead

19 January 2023

19 January 2023

Archaeologists working in Egypt’s Saqqara region have unearthed a 16-meter-long ancient papyrus for the first time in a century. Saqqara...

Could the Kerkenes Settlement be Gordion the Second?

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

Although the settlement on the Kerkenes mountain, located within the borders of Sorgun district of Yozgat, has been known and...

Thousands of ignored ‘Nummi Minimi’ Coins Found in the Ancient City of Marea in Egypt

11 December 2023

11 December 2023

Numismatists from the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw have examined thousands of previously ignored small coins (Nummi...