3 ms·

Toilets. Pottery outlasts everything else.

AlotOfReading 2y ago
Earthenware and unfired pottery degrade extremely quickly once water can get to the actual material. Porcelain can last longer, but it's not nearly as durable in the ground as stone or even metal. I'd expect granite countertops and metal tools to be more commonly found by future archaeologists.
- loloquwowndueo 2y ago
  I have metal tools that are almost completely eaten by rust. No way these will last a few thousand years.
  - AlotOfReading 2y ago
    Maybe not those specific tools, but I have personal experience with finding metal tools that are thousands of years old as an archaeologist. Earthenware is a relatively uncommon find anywhere that has water because it degrades so quickly. It used to be common to build clay paths by scattering broken earthenware and letting it degrade naturally. Porcelain is more durable chemically, but it's too fragile mechanically to survive intact in large pieces in most cases. I've only ever found it when buried in situ.
    - inglor_cz 2y ago
      The ancients didn't have toilet bowls. I guess this sort of sanitary porcelain is going to last longer than fine 18th century coffee cups.
    - codr7 2y ago
      I would suspect those tools are made out of metals of very different composition though.
- deadbabe 2y ago
  What about engine blocks
  - nativeit 2y ago
    We’ll have long since melted them down for arms when the Final War comes between humanity and NeuraLink’s jar of formaldehyde preserving the distilled and partially sentient spite of a >400-year old Elon Musk.
- JoeAltmaier 2y ago
  I don't think water degrades a toilet. Not following. And, the earliest artifacts ever found - partially fired throwaway pottery at an ancient fire site?
  - AlotOfReading 2y ago
    Porcelain is more stable, as mentioned. You'll still have issues if the protective glaze cracks, but it won't completely dissolve on you like earthenware would in the same situation. I'm not sure I understand what you're referencing with the pottery. The oldest pottery I'm aware of is 18-20k years old and was found in a cave with exceptional preservation conditions. That's fairly old, but not remotely the earliest or indicative of special longevity. We have lithics that entirely predate the evolution of genus Homo (Lomekiwi tools, 3.3M years old) as an example.

Earthenware and unfired pottery degrade extremely quickly once water can get to the actual material. Porcelain can last longer, but it's not nearly as durable in the ground as stone or even metal. I'd expect granite countertops and metal tools to be more commonly found by future archaeologists.

loloquwowndueo 2y ago
I have metal tools that are almost completely eaten by rust. No way these will last a few thousand years.
- AlotOfReading 2y ago
  Maybe not those specific tools, but I have personal experience with finding metal tools that are thousands of years old as an archaeologist. Earthenware is a relatively uncommon find anywhere that has water because it degrades so quickly. It used to be common to build clay paths by scattering broken earthenware and letting it degrade naturally. Porcelain is more durable chemically, but it's too fragile mechanically to survive intact in large pieces in most cases. I've only ever found it when buried in situ.
  - inglor_cz 2y ago
    The ancients didn't have toilet bowls. I guess this sort of sanitary porcelain is going to last longer than fine 18th century coffee cups.
  - codr7 2y ago
    I would suspect those tools are made out of metals of very different composition though.
deadbabe 2y ago
What about engine blocks
- nativeit 2y ago
  We’ll have long since melted them down for arms when the Final War comes between humanity and NeuraLink’s jar of formaldehyde preserving the distilled and partially sentient spite of a >400-year old Elon Musk.
JoeAltmaier 2y ago
I don't think water degrades a toilet. Not following. And, the earliest artifacts ever found - partially fired throwaway pottery at an ancient fire site?
- AlotOfReading 2y ago
  Porcelain is more stable, as mentioned. You'll still have issues if the protective glaze cracks, but it won't completely dissolve on you like earthenware would in the same situation. I'm not sure I understand what you're referencing with the pottery. The oldest pottery I'm aware of is 18-20k years old and was found in a cave with exceptional preservation conditions. That's fairly old, but not remotely the earliest or indicative of special longevity. We have lithics that entirely predate the evolution of genus Homo (Lomekiwi tools, 3.3M years old) as an example.