World's oldest toilet: 2,400-year-old loo discovered in China

2,400 years ago, flushing toilets like this were a luxury!

Archaeologists in China say they've discovered what they think is the world's oldest flushing toilet.

The 2,400-year-old toilet box and pipe was found in the city of Xi'an in China, at an archaeological site.

"It is the first and only flush toilet to be ever unearthed in China," says Liu Rui, a researcher involved in the project.

"Everybody at the site was surprised, and then we all burst into laughter!"

This terracotta army made for a dead emperor was also found in Xi'an in the past.

2,400-years-ago toilets were considered a luxury item.

This one is thought to have been used by an Emperor of China.

Experts think the toilet was flushed manually by servants pouring lots of water into it.

Scientists hope to use the toilet to find out what people at the time may have ate.

To do that they're hoping to find tiny particles of poo to analyse - we hope they wash their hands after that job!

Making toilet history

There are lots of historical toilets - like these in Tunisia in Africa, with running water to wash your hands

The discovery could mean that the toilet is the oldest flushing toilet ever.

Until now it was thought Queen Elizabeth I of England was the first to use one.

One of her friends at court, John Harington, invented a loo similar to the one we use today which poured water into the bowl using levers.

The toilets we use now were invented by Thomas Crapper in the 1800s - he designed the pipes with a U-Bend in them to stop the toilet smelling once it flushed.

Before that everyone made do with a bowl called a chamber pot which people used to empty out of windows... look out below!

What happens to your poo?

If you cannot see the interactive activity on this page, click here.