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⇱ The secret history of ancient toilets | Nature


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A Correction to this article was published on 22 June 2016

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By scouring the remains of early loos and sewers, archaeologists are finding clues to what life was like in the Roman world and in other civilizations.

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References

  1. McMahon, A. in Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations (ed. Mitchell, P. D.) 19–40 (Routledge, 2015).

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  2. Antoniou, G. P. & Angelakis, A. N. in Sanitation, Latrines and Intestinal Parasites in Past Populations (ed. Mitchell, P. D.) 41–68 (Routledge, 2015).

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  1. Chelsea Wald is a journalist in Vienna, Austria.,

    Chelsea Wald

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  1. Chelsea Wald

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Wald, C. The secret history of ancient toilets. Nature 533, 456–458 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/533456a

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