Before modern plumbing the local government would dig big holes for the people to poo in and sent police around to people's houses to make sure they weren't shitting in their backyards (pissing was allowed).
It could sometimes take up to 10 minutes to reach your local shitting hole on foot and many people would shit their pants on the long trek, you weren't allowed to shit in a jar and bring the shit with you to empty in the hole because all shits had to be done in the hole.
Many people tried to smuggle shit they had brought from home but the state employed hole inspectors to observe the people shitting in the hole, the punishment for poo smuggling was for the criminal to be thrown into the hole and not allowed to leave for 12 hours.