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HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
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Thu, 15 Jul 1999 20:35:10 -0400
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In a message dated 7/15/99 6:44:38 AM Central Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<< Michael-- if you find any, let me know. As I have stated on list before, I
 have never seen a single example in SC. Perhaps on some of the larger
 plantations? Carl Steen
  >>

None that I have ever heard of.  I believe antebellum notions about hygiene,
privacy, disease theory, etc discouraged any sense of need for such
specialized facilities, except in the most crowded urban settings.  The
garden privies at places like Westover (Tidewater Virginia), Mount Vernon,
Monticello, etc. were as much status symbols as necessities - kind of a long
walk from your room at night, especially when you had access to a chamber pot
or bucket in the corner.  Questions about privies and bathroom activity in
general are extraordinarly frequent from visitors here at the Hermitage.
                Larry

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