In Iceland, a privy is called a "kammer," which is interesting because it
is a cognate of "chamber" and the latin root "camera," as when a
legislative body meets privately "in camera." Icelanders are very careful
to avoid using words with non-nordic roots, so there must be a story here
about the movement of this cultural characteristic. Maybe one of our
folklorist colleagues can enlighten us on the euphemisms and terminology.
 
Has the thread gone far enough? I think not. In spite of some members'
apparent fatigue, IMHO this thread has been an example of the higher
purpose of such lists as this. I have saved the past two days' digests for
future reference.
 
Now, the next question:  Without a privy pit, how do we identify waste
disposal sites?  At St. Johns in St. Marys City, Maryland, as I recall,
there was a chemical footprint of a fence line that the excavators
attributed to tavern-goers relieving themselves along the fence. Has anyone
else found a footprint for human waste?
 
Would there be a chemical marker for a surface privy of the sort described
at the Moser site?  Would there be a culturally-dictated location for a
surface (pitless) privy on a rural site?
 
All about Iceland:       http://www.dmv.com/~iceland------------
Research and Land Rovers:http://home.dmv.com/~eheite/index.html
_________
|        \               BABY GETS 19 MILES PER U. S. GALLON!
|  BABY   \_===__
|  ___        ___|       Always remember to pillage
|_/   \______/   ||      BEFORE you burn.
___\_/________\_/_____                   ---- Ned the Horrible
Ned Heite  Camden, DE