A 1300-year-old toilet found in an ancient palace in Korea (photo)

Archaeologists in Korea have discovered the remains of several ancient flush toilets in a palace complex built 1300 years ago. However, one of them turned out to be special: it belonged to the crown prince and was directly connected to the river.

According to Live Science, the existence of the palace was known before, but new excavations have revealed even more details, including a flush toilet system. Archaeologist Kim Geun-yeol of the Korean Heritage Service explained that these toilets did not function like modern ones. Probably, a servant manually poured water into them to flush the waste through a special drain. The water carried it to a special system that emptied at the end.

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One of the toilets found in the palace building itself directly discharged waste into the river, indicating its special status. Other toilets located outside the palace kept the waste inside, similar to traditional latrines.

The discovered palace complex is called Donggong, which translates to "Crown Prince's Palace." It was built in 674 along with the Woji Pond. Archaeologists have already discovered the remains of 26 buildings at the site, as well as artifacts, including pottery and bricks decorated with ornaments.

Although this is the first such discovery in Korea, flush toilets appeared much earlier. For example, the Indus Valley civilization (the territory of modern Pakistan) had cities with developed sewerage systems as early as 2600-1900 BC.

By comparison, the first flush toilets appeared in England only in 1596, when Sir John Harrington developed a prototype for Queen Elizabeth I. His device flushed waste into cesspools, an early analog of modern toilets.

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