Out of sight, out of mind: Privy architecture and the perception of sanitation

This study examines privy vault architecture, an often underutilized piece of archaeological evidence, to provide another line of evidence for understanding perceptions of sanitation in mid-19th to early 20th-century Louisville, Kentucky. Specific architectural attributes of privy vaults are analyzed in relation to ordinances that regulated the construction of these features. The vault depth, materials used in construction, method of construction, and their proximity to water sources are analyzed. This analysis reveals that misguided sanitary perceptions affected the ordinances pertaining to sanitary issues and the compliance of the ordinances by the public, which were manifested in the way privy vaults were constructed. The intention of this research is to demonstrate the utility of privy vault architecture as archaeological information and to illustrate the potential of interpreting archaeological data in specific contexts. By interpreting the same archaeological information in different contexts, we can begin to understand the multiple meanings of objects in the past, leading to a better understanding of past culture.