Wittkofski, J. Mark schrieb:
> Ned,
>
> One would think you have picked a "stinky" subject this time.  I agree with
> you that archaeologists seem to have "sanitized" this subject from the
> literature.  Anyone interested in delving further into "the pot" ought to
> check-out the Roto-Rooter web sites:
>
>                 http://www.roto-rooter.net/html/rr_hist_tom_crapper.html
>
>                 http://www.roto-rooter.net/html/rr_history_of_plumbing.html
> <http://www.roto-rooter.net/html/rr_history_of_plumbing.html>
>
> One tidbit I learned about the history of toilet paper might offer some
> serious anthropological insight into human behavior.  Perhaps, even, this
> might explain the age-old theory of "migrating oysters" (you know when such
> shells frequently are found on inland sites, far from their place of
> origin!).
>
> "Toilet paper as we know it dates back to 1880 when it was introduced by the
> British Perforated Paper Company. Before that time, the cleaner of choice in
> the West was a scraper, usually a mussel shell.  (c.f. roto rooter, history of
> plumbing web site).
>
anyone try the experimental approach? use wear analysis? i'm trying to imagine
this medieval network of mussel-shell salesmen wandering the highways and byways
of europe and beyond, hawking their wares -
        but might yet explain all of the shells we find in our late
medieval/renaissance pits -


geoff carver
http://home.t-online.de/home/gcarver/
[log in to unmask]