Stone slabs with a hole in the middle
One of the toilets featured a granite slab with a hole in it and two stepping stones on either side.
The Donggung palace complex in present-day South Korea was once an elaborate lakeside retreat with at least 26 buildings used for hosting festivals and banquets. Now, archaeologists have also discovered several innovative “flush” toilets at the 1,300-year-old site, including one that likely drained into a nearby waterway.
During recent excavations at the complex, researchers found a small two-room building with a hole in the middle of a cut granite slab, according to a statement from the Korean Heritage Service. On either side of the hole, they found wide stepping stones.
Experts think waste from the toilet funneled into an underground holding chamber, similar to those used in outhouses or portable toilets. A servant likely poured water into the hole to flush the waste down a drain and into the chamber.
Inside the palace, researchers also found a flush toilet that “directly discharges human waste into the river through a drain,” Kim Gyeong Yeol, an archaeologist with the Korean Heritage Service who led the recent excavations, tells Live Science’s Owen Jarus. The interior toilet was probably reserved for use by the crown prince and his court ladies.
“This is an early example of a sophisticated plumbing system, reinforcing the idea that this was a royal facility,” says Kim, per the Korea JoongAng Daily’s Yim Seung-Hye.
Historical documents also confirmed the presence of toilets at the palace, including one that references two lotus flowers blooming in one of them. The granite and stones that make up the toilets are similar to those found at other archaeological sites from the same era, including the Bulguksa Temple and the Hwangryongsa Temple.
Built in 674 C.E., the palace complex dates to the Unified Silla period, when the Silla kingdom reigned over the Korean Peninsula. It’s located on a man-made body of water called Wolji Pond, which has three central islands and many pavilions.
The site is an “excellent example of garden and lake construction of that period,” according to the Korean Heritage Service.
“Beautiful trees and flowers as well as rare birds and animals were brought from all over to these islands and hills,” the service adds.
Archaeologists began excavating and reconstructing the palace complex in the mid-1970s, including the original stone embankments, water conduit and drainage channel. They’ve uncovered numerous artifacts, including decorative bricks, bowls and plates.
In recent years, similar ancient toilets have been found at other excavation sites. In 2023, archaeologists discovered the remnants of a 2,400-year-old flush toilet in China, as CNN’s Tara Subramaniam reported. Like the newly discovered toilet in South Korea, it was located inside a palace and had a pipe that funneled waste into a pit. Additionally, experts think servants flushed it by pouring water into the bowl after each use during the Warring States period (475 to 221 B.C.E.) and the Han dynasty (206 to 220 B.C.E.).
Researchers use ancient toilets to learn more about the people who used them. In 2023, archaeologists announced that they’d discovered a dysentery-causing parasite in the sediment below two ancient toilets in Jerusalem. Their findings, along with descriptions from historical texts, suggest dysentery was common in the Kingdom of Judah during the seventh and early sixth centuries B.C.E.
Fossilized human feces, called coprolites, have also provided insights into historical diets. The Neolithic people who built Stonehenge, for instance, likely ate undercooked organ meat some 4,500 years ago, according to a 2022 analysis.