Connie Adkins wrote:
>To me, the presence of lime suggests a privy receptacle, as that is what my
>father used in our privy when I was a child.
Lime (calcium oxide, CaO) is used for a myriad of things such as cements
and plastering walls, but in the case of privies it is used because it
helps to decrease the acidity of the soil and speeds the decomposition
organic solids. Pulverized limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3 and calcium
hydroxide, Ca(OH)2 ), also known as agricultural lime, works as well, but
slower.
In times of disease and plague lime has been used to cover bodies and speed
up decomposition and to hide the smell of decay. This is also a reason why
some murderers have found it handy, too.
Lime was also the primary ingredient of whitewash, which was usually mixed
in large containers such as barrels or tubs (also made by the cooper and
which would leave a clod of lime at the bottom easily mistaken by an
arcaheologist for a barrel mold). I can't fathom a reason why whitewash
barrels and tubs would be buried, except in discard.
Rain barrels, on the other hand, would often be buried a foot or so,
presumably to cut down on the rot-factor. I have heard about cisterns
(large stone, brick or wood reservoirs) being whitewashed or plastered on
the inside at regular intervals to help seal them and keep the water fresh.
Having grown up in more northern climes, and in a rural area where some old
folks still use rainbarrels (although for garden water), I was also told
that they could be kept from freezing for a while into the winter by
partially burying them (I think a foot or so) and piling hay or leaves
around them for insulation.
Dan W.
|