If Vergil will provide the address, here's the pertinent content. I think
anyone responding should also point out to the Dr. Gott there are
Clostridium spp. living in the soil, the potential for tetanus infection,
not to mention the extended survivability of anthrax and, in some cases
cholera (which usually dies within 75 years).

John Dendy

-- DEAR DR. GOTT: I live in a part of New England that has a rich cultural
heritage. People are always finding arrowheads and other artifacts. I am
sort of caught up in the practice of collecting old bottles and am about to
embark on what is known as "privy digging." The area that I want to explore
is about 50 years old. Can I assume that any infectious agents in human
waste have been degraded by now?

DEAR READER: I think it's fair to say that the outhouse bacteria have long
ago returned to the soil and provided nitrogen for the plant life around the
site. However, you might want to use your fingers to do some math first.

A 50-year-old privy is not all that old. We're talking about what people
were doing in 1950. At that time, I was in high school. If the outhouse of
your dreams had a holding tank, beware: bacterial counts could still be high
and you should exercise caution, wash your hands after digging, and so
forth. Based on my memory of circa-1950 privies, the design was a one- or
two-holer over a trench to which lime was added periodically. People did not
dispose of bottles in privies, so I believe that your enthusiasm about
recovering significant artifacts is premature. At best, you might be able to
salvage a few pages of a Sears catalogue.

I suggest that you refocus your attention on the waste site for an old farm
house. Here is where the real relics can be found, especially if the site is
more than a century old. Old bottles, farm equipment and dinnerware are
available for the taking.

Before I get angry letters from privy-diggers, let me say that when you are
exploring receptacles for human waste, the exuberance of discovery may last
about as long as a spring snow. Although such activity may not be hazardous
to health, you're probably better off going for the oldest sites you can
find.