I have not followed this thread too closely, and I know this is far off
the topic question Mary Ellin originally raised, but...I know of virtually
no privies on 17th-, 18th- or 19th-century rural sites in Virginia.
Actually, I know of one feature which *may* have been a privy on one early
17th-c fortified settlement, but I see privies in this neck of the woods
as urban features, primarily of the late 18th century and later. Of two
urban sites I excavated in Richmond, we found no privies on one and lots
of privies on the other.
 
Now on to Mary Ellin's question about materials (based on archaeology, not
inventories, etc.), we find 18th-c chamber pots in Colono-Indian Ware,
delftware, Rhenish, scratch-blue, creamware and pearlware. I have seen
some fragments of possible white salt-glazed stoneware chamber pots as
well. For the 17th century, well I'm not sure. I know of one possible
colono pot from that period. We know there were redware pots available,
and they may be common on some sites, but I don't think I've ever seen one
in this period. In fact, I would guess most folks either didn't udse them
or used some material other than ceramic (pewter?, silver?, wood? a large
stale pastry shell?).
 
Dan Mouer
Virginia Commonwealth University
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http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm