Have any human societies ever lived underground?

From ancient catacombs to modern subways, humans have always travelled underground for short periods of time. But has the entire society of people ever lived underground? Yes. However, historically only in emergencies and when there are no other options. But in the last few decades, it has begun to change.

“The important thing to know about the underground is that we don’t belong to it. Biologically and physiologically, our body is not designed for underground life.” Said Wilhunt, the author of the book.Underground: The history of mankind in the world under our feet“(Random House, 2019).” Still, there are moments when we withdraw underground. “

Historical people temporarily live underwater for a variety of reasons. If they didn’t have the materials to build a house, they dug an underground house, Hunt told Live Science. In places of extreme climate, people went under the earth summer Cool, winter To stay warm. The basement was also a safe place to hide from the enemy.

For example, ancient people built the famous underground city of Cappadocia in what is now Turkey to protect it from both weather and war.

“They were in a very strategic location geographically,” Hunt said. “They were constantly being attacked.” Residents withdrew underground in an emergency, but they did not stay there for a long time, perhaps several weeks at a time.

One of the largest underground cities in Cappadocia is Derinkuyu. Derinkuyu dates back to the 7th and 8th centuries and was home to about 20,000 people. Geophysicists have discovered that another recently discovered city in the area could be 5 million square feet (13 million square kilometres) and 371 feet (113 m) deep. 

If so, this would make the recently discovered city of Cappadocia about one-third larger than Derinkuyu.

Hunt said the underground city of Cappadocia is an “architectural wonder.” The well plunged deep into the water table. The hole leading to the surface acted as a ventilation shaft.

A layer of Protection — Contains large circular stones that ancient people had Rolled in front of the city entrance — Separated the people inside from the surface intruders.

However, not all underground dwellings were as complex as Cappadocia dwellings. People also lived in natural and man-made caves, Hunt said.

The constructed caves can be found everywhere with the right type of geology. For example, stone hills made of puffs, soft Volcano Rocks that are easy to dig.

“They are very common,” he said. “Some people around the world are building cave dwellings.” Even in modern Australia, in a town called Coober Pedy, about half of the population lives in “dagouts,” or holes carved on the sides of the hills.

Many marginalized people have found shelters under the surface of the abandoned infrastructure of modern cities. These “mole people” in New York are less than in the 1980s, but perhaps more than 1,000 uninhabited people live in tunnels below the streets of the city, Hunt said.

Many homeless people also live in tunnels under Las Vegas. And a large community of orphans lives under the streets of Bucharest, Romania.

As more people move to cities, more of those city dwellers can move underground. Places such as Singapore are looking for options to build downwards.

Unhillie, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysian campus, who studies the psychology of being underground, said the skills needed to do so are already here. The challenge is to convince people to move underground.

In fact, according to Lee, is under the earth has a negative psychological effect, as long as the lighting, room size, ceiling height, and other physical attributes of the settings match the ground. That has not been shown yet. For example, technologies such as Lightwell, which allows natural light to brighten underground spaces using materials such as reflective paints, can fight.

Depression resulting from lack of sunlight. People may feel isolated or lack control on the surface, but these emotions are manageable, Lee said. But people still hate the idea of ​​living underground.

In any case, Lee believes that people around the world will soon begin to move, inspired by more than 20 miles of underground cities, shopping malls, offices, and other places in Montreal, Canada. increase. , Hotels and schools.

“Realistically, we’ll be going underground soon. Within at least 30 years, we’ll have more underground working environments and more fun underground,” she said. “It’s coming. It’s not just an idea.”