China.. In search of a 2400-year-old toilet (photo)

Archaeologists in China have found a toilet that may be one of the oldest toilets ever discovered.

Broken parts of a toilet bowl, including a bent pipe, were discovered at the Yueyang archaeological site in the city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province last summer and were pieced together for months before researchers revealed the details last Wednesday.

Among the ruins of a palace in the ancient city of Yueyang, researchers from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences were surprised by this find. It is believed that Qin Xiaogong (381-338 BC) or his father Qin Xiangong (424-362 BC) used the toilet. .e.) from the Qin Dynasty during the war.

“This is the first and only toilet discovered in China,” said Liu Rui, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who was part of the excavation team. “Everyone at the site was surprised, and then we all burst out laughing.”

The researcher pointed out that the toilet was placed inside with a pipe leading to an open hole, adding that the servants probably poured water into the toilet each time it was used.

Liu said the top half of the toilet was not found during the excavation, so experts cannot confirm if users were sitting on it.

However, based on earlier records of toilets, such as the stone carvings on the tombs of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD), it is likely that they sat on them.

“The flush toilet is a real testament to the importance that the ancient Chinese attached to sanitation,” Liu said, adding that there were few records of domestic toilets in ancient times.

Experts are analyzing the indoor soil, hoping to find traces of human feces and learn about their eating habits. So far, only traces of fertilizers have been found in soil samples, which were used by farmers during the Han Dynasty.

Prior to the discovery of this toilet, it was believed that John Harrington invented the first manual toilet for Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century.

Yueyang was the capital of the Qin Dynasty about 35 years ago, and also the first capital of the Han Dynasty, during which the palaces were demolished to make way for farmland.

Source: China Daily.