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iamnotfromthis t1_iznx5q8 wrote

Reply to comment by Stickfigurewisdom in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

I mean the answer is much more complex than I am capable of putting into words, but remember romans had very adequate waste management, and native people in the americas never had a human waste issue like the europeans.

The modern toilet is a fairly new invention, but so is the whole notion of privacy, medieval people in general did not expect nor wished for complete privacy, wealthy or not.

It is also worth mentioning that the notion of cleanliness varied greatly from our modern understanding, people were more concerned about odors and "humors" and bacteria and infectious diseases were not properlly understood.

I believe it all led to mismanadgement. I believe the catholic church did play a role with their concept that bathing was bad, and the whole exarcerbated villification of the human body in general.

I'm sorry I don't have a definitive answer but I hope I may have beem able to present a few points of consideration.

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Stickfigurewisdom t1_iznykxf wrote

They had something like indoor plumbing in the Indus Valley as well, centuries ago, but it seems like someone somewhere would’ve done something. We hear stories that you could smell London from miles away, and that if you went to the Louvre you ran a risk of stepping in human poo. But people just kept crapping in buckets? Its madness.

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iamnotfromthis t1_iznzz4o wrote

This certainly sparked my interest in the subject, I'll search for books about this, a documentary on the history of human waste management would not be pleasant to watch for me at least lol

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Stickfigurewisdom t1_izodm0i wrote

Please keep me posted on what you learn! I wonder if, when the indoor toilet was finally presented, everyone said something like, “why would I buy that when I have a perfectly good bucket that my dad and grandad used!” 😂🤣

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