Researchers dug up the oldest known wooden toilet seat at site that was once the most northern outpost of the Roman empire.
The artifact was discovered at the hadrianic trenches at Vindolanda. In the past stone and marble seat benches were discovered at the site, but this is the first time a wooden one has been uncovered, the Vindolanda Charitable Trust reported.
"There is always great excitement when you find something that has never been seen before and this discovery is wonderful," said Director of Excavations, Andrew Birley.
The toilet seat is believed to have been preserved by the anaerobic, oxygen free, conditions that exist at the site. The seat would not have been as fancy as a marble or stone toilet bench, but would have been much more comfortable to sit on in the region's hot conditions.
The researchers believe the seat was heavily used and then thrown away just before the construction of Hadrian's Wall in the early second century.
"It is made from a very well worked piece of wood and looks pretty comfortable. Now we need to find the toilet that went with it as Roman loos are fascinating places to excavate - their drains often contain astonishing [artifacts]. Let's face it, if you drop something down a Roman latrine you are unlikely to attempt to fish it out unless you are pretty brave or foolhardy," Birley said.
Other discoveries at Vindolanda include "a baby boot, coins, a betrothal medallion, and a bronze lamp."
In the future the researchers hope to find a "spongia," which is a natural sponge on a stick which Romans used in place of toilet paper.
"We know a lot about Roman toilets from previous excavations at the site and from the wider Roman world which have included many fabulous Roman latrines but never before have we had the pleasure of seeing a surviving and perfectly preserved wooden seat. As soon as we started to uncover it there was no doubt at all on what we had found," Birley said.
