Rim fragments of the chamber pot in the course of being excavated. Credit: R. J. A. Wilson.
Rim fragments of the chamber pot in the course of being excavated. Credit: R. J. A. Wilson. Arts & Humanities - Erik Rolfsen New research published today in the Journal of Archaeological Science Reports reveals how archaeologists can determine when a pot was used by Romans as a portable toilet, known as a chamber pot. "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. Archaeologists at the University of Cambridge analyzed crusty material formed on the inside surface of a ceramic pot dating to the fifth century from a Roman villa site in Sicily.
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