High status: A unique notebook and silk were found in a medieval German toilet

In a medieval toilet in Germany, archaeologists have found a unique notebook and silk products that could serve as toilet paper. This is reported by the Polish radio station RMF24.

During construction work in the center of the German city of Paderborn, archaeologists discovered a perfectly preserved unique notebook of the XIII-XIV centuries. This is the first discovery of its kind in North Rhine—Westphalia. Experts hope that the notebook will shed new light on everyday life and trade activities in medieval Westphalia.

During archaeological excavations, a small leather notebook was found in one of the five medieval toilets. The 700-800-year-old manuscript is not only perfectly preserved, but is also complete, which is rare on a European scale.

"It sounds strange, but for us, archaeologists, the toilet is almost always a real treasure trove," Dr. Barbara Ryushoff-Parzinger commented on the find.

It is thanks to the sealed, humid environment of the toilet that the text written in wax has been preserved almost intact for hundreds of years.

The found notebook measures only 10 by 7.5 cm (leather cover) and 8.6 by 5.5 cm (wooden plates). He has ten waxed sheets — eight double-sided and two — the first and last — one-sided.

The notebook was in a decorative leather pouch with a flap. On the surface is a relief image of a lily — a symbol of purity and royal favor in Middle Ages, which indicates that the item belonged to a person from the highest social strata. The text is written with a stylus on wax tablets in italics in Latin, which indicates an educated owner, most likely a local merchant. Judging by the way of writing, the notebook was used spontaneously, for quick notes. Wax tablets made it possible to erase and apply new notes many times, which made the notebook an extremely practical tool for medieval burghers.

"So far, the content remains a mystery — the text is difficult to read and it will take many more months for transcription and translation. Experts hope that modern methods will allow separating the subsequent layers of the letter and reading even those fragments that have been repeatedly erased and rewritten," the radio notes.

One of the main questions remains how such a valuable item ended up in the toilet. Archaeologists believe that the notebook could have fallen there by accident, although other versions are not excluded.

In addition, during the excavations, clay barrels, fragments of fabrics, whole dishes and the remains of baskets were also found there. Special attention is paid to finely woven, decorative silk products that could serve as toilet paper — this is another evidence of the high status of the inhabitants of this part of medieval Paderborn, the radio summarizes.