We all know that the squat is the natural sitting and shitting position for humans...

We all know that the squat is the natural sitting and shitting position for humans. But when exactly did we in the west stop doing it? Did the romans squat? Did the shitting squat remain for a while after we started sitting on chairs? Do we know?

I'd assume we've probably always sat on things like rocks, along with squatting, and squatting became less relevant whenever tables became normal. That's just speculation though.

>But when exactly did we in the west stop doing it

>west

Urban romans shat quite a lot like us. They had toilets and sewers. They also wiped their asses but not with their hands nor with leaves. The main differences would be that they had no stalls diving the shitters (you'd be facing several other shitters, maybe having a casual chat) and they wiped their asses with salty, moist towels wrapped around sticks that were passed around by the shitters.

"The wrong end of the stick" expression refers to a funny type of accident from back when a shitter might grab the ass-wiping-instrument by the shit-stained fabric rather than by the wooden handle.

Another funny thing about romans is that while they were very good engineers they didn't really know chemistry. Their sewers often turned into methane factories that would start fires. So romans would often write wards and spells next to their toilets to protect themselves from toilet demons.

>they wiped their asses with salty, moist towels wrapped around sticks that were passed around by the shitters.
That has always sounded like a made up thing. Are there any actual sources for it?

Yeah, in the more populous settlements, they had
small sponges too, because the towels couldn't cut it

So did rural Romans squat then?

I know the urban public toilets are famous but what about wealthy and poor Romans living away from the sewer systems? How would a rich fellow relaxing at his villa shit? How would all the people working on his land shit?

whites never did it

please back this ridicilous claim

Is squatting really healthier than sitting? I heard people saying something like that.

The 90 degrees sitting position is bad for posture and bloodflow. Defecating in the modern sitting position is also very unnatural and can lead to hemorrhoids and constipation problems.

I gets hard to do if you're old/impaired, I imagine toilets were something people wanted to make as soon as they could

God how would this work? Would you have to rearrange the towel with your hand to get a clear side? What if someone had diarrhea, or the pasty kind of shit that takes 20 minutes to be fully cleaned from your asshole?

I can't imagine shitting around other people, I probably would have been the weirdo that would go for a walk in the woods whenever I needed to go. I know my modern nerves might not have existed if I grew up like that, but still. I'm already a weirdo that goes to another building instead of shitting in my shared dorm bathroom

And your pipe can fall out of your bum.

Look up rectal prolapse.

>God how would this work? Would you have to rearrange the towel with your hand to get a clear side? What if someone had diarrhea, or the pasty kind of shit that takes 20 minutes to be fully cleaned from your asshole?
I think they'd dunk it back in the saline solution and try to shake most of it off.

Also, imagine having to wipe your ass with a salted rag when you hemorroids.

I would also imagine their shits would be much cleaner because of their much better diet.

Wouldn't you just be wiping your ass with someone else's shit after the first guy used it?

this. eat a 100% of your fiber and see what happens

Gonna need source on that
>The xylospongium, also known a sponge on a stick, is the ancient precursor of the modern toilet brush.
>In the classical antiquity a xylospongium might be used in the same way as we use a toilet brush. All primary sources implicate the use of a xylospongiumin the context of ancient latrines, but none clarifies the handling exactly.
Well, which is it?

I don't understand this meme. I'm around 6 feet tall (182 cm) and when I'm sitting my kneecaps are definitely above my waist like in that pic. Not 90 degrees.

Everyone saying western toilets are bad posture must be a manlet or their toilet is too tall.

They above your stomach too? You must have a 48" inseam

32" actually

I'm six feet tall on the dot. Either you're full of shit (haha) or your toilet must be on the level of a preschool kid's chair.

No thanks

Eh, sure, they ate whole grain flatbread isntead of the white stuff, but roman urbanites would scarcely have access to fresh vegetables and meat.

They'd eat a lot of cured meat, cheese and some sort of crude fruit syrup and rotten fish sauce they'd spread on food to make it taste less bland. Maybe those spreads were probiotic and evened out the dry stuff.