The Peculiar History of the Toilet
Mention the unmentionable -- toilets and the, um, urgent function thereof -- to the average person and you're likely to provoke a flushed face and a nervous giggle. Should you continue the conversation by asking about the type of toilets used in ancient times, the response will probably be: "A hole
Posted — UpdatedWhat may well be the earliest toilets known to humankind are small cells attached to homes in a ruined settlement in the Orkney Islands, believed to date back over 40,000 years. The Indus Valley civilization also had an impressive sewage and water supply system, dating to approximately 20,000 BCE. Moving right along, the first clearly identifiable latrines, built about 1700 BCE, were found at Crete's Palace of Knossos in the form of shallow earthenware vessels hooked up to a relatively sophisticated water supply. Various other plumbing "systems" were implemented over the next thousand years, from pit toilets and chamber pots to sewage drains -- either aboveground or more discreetly, and more hygienically, underground.
The following millennium or two did not bring much headway for toilets in the Western world beyond chamber pots, communal privies and, for the nobility, garderobes -- small private rooms with an opening strategically positioned over a moat. Finally, toward the end of the 16th century, the forerunner of today's plumbing system was invented -- a cistern with a valve that flushed water through a small pipe. Notable developments over the next few hundred years were the odor-controlling S-shaped pipe and the bathroom fixture showroom, pioneered by the unforgettably named Thomas Crapper.
The real toilet revolution occurred in the 1900s. This halcyon age saw the development of toilet paper rolls, flushable valves and toilet tanks directly atop the toilet bowl. As the 20th century came to a close, environmental awareness gave birth to many new types of toilet: low-flow, dual flush, tankless, waterless and composting. (So far there is no model which takes out the recycling.)
Automated hands-free flushing systems have become standard issue in many North American public restrooms. For at-home use, temperature- and pressure-controlled personal cleansing sprays, with optional massage feature, are followed by a warm air drying system which may well give toilet paper a run for its money.