The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
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The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
1–10 of 57 posts
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#2Tunnels through which dogs could carry packages or messages no matter what the weather was like and without fear of getting lost or interfered with on the way?
The chambers at the ends could have been where the dogs slept and were fed.
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#3Based on just this article, it seems far most likely to me that it was a place to hide during an attack.
> And while three brave explorers in the 21st century once spent 48 hours in an erdstall, crawling to new sections whenever oxygen became scarce, it seems unlikely that they would have been constructed as hiding places, even temporary ones. Though they could have provided refuge for a small family, why would they be accessed from such public spaces?
I don't see why a whole bunch of people couldn't have hidden in them for several hours during an attack/raid? A hiding spot sufficiently known to a few, just big enough. And then it makes perfect sense the entrance would be in some central public place.
> The lack of exits is a further strike against this theory—if enemies became aware of such a tunnel being used as shelter, it would quickly become a death trap for its inhabitants.
Which would contribute to their extreme secrecy. And the loops and dead ends and narrow spots make it all the harder for attackers to pursue you even if they find it.
> Besides, in either of these cases, one would expect at least some goods to have been left behind—remnants of food or clothing, cached or dropped valuables. Instead, there is nothing.
If they were intended for hiding for just a few hours, since oxygen would run out anyways, it makes sense for nothing to be left in there. You rush in and come back out when the raiders have moved on. Clothing was valuable, you weren't going to leave your shawl behind.
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#4As people spent time in them, the oxygen would run out and be replaced with carbon dioxide, which is heavier than air and would sink to the bottom. With no exits and no airflow, wouldn't this become a straightforward deathtrap at some point? Or were there ways to force clean air to the bottom, somehow forcing out the CO2?
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#5Tunnels through which dogs could carry packages or messages no matter what the weather was like and without fear of getting lost or interfered with on the way? The chambers at the ends could have been where the dogs slept and were fed.
They have only one access point, per the OP, so they don't provide transit anywhere.
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#6Weren't people much smaller in those days? Maybe adult men could have fit just fine.
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#7Tunnels through which dogs could carry packages or messages no matter what the weather was like and without fear of getting lost or interfered with on the way? The chambers at the ends could have been where the dogs slept and were fed.
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Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#8TIL hn will tell me about archeology just a bikeride from my office.
very fun!
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#9Maybe it was like a safe. If people wanted to steel something it would take them a very long time and they would be very easy to stop from ever coming out alive.
Re: The secret medieval tunnels that we still don't understand
#10Hyperion, anyone?