Have any human societies ever lived underground?

[left-of-center2012]

From ancient catacombs to modern subways, humans have always traveled underground for brief amounts of time. But have entire societies of people ever lived underground? Yes, but historically only during emergencies and when they have had no other option. In recent decades, however, that has begun to change.

"The thing that is important to know about the underground is that we do not belong there. Biologically, physiologically, our bodies are just not designed for life underground," said Will Hunt, author of the book "Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet" (Random House, 2019). "And yet there are moments when we have retreated underground."

People throughout history have temporarily lived below the surface for various reasons. If there were no materials to build houses with, they dug subterranean homes, Hunt told Live Science. In places with extreme climates, people went beneath the earth in the summer to stay cool and in the winter to stay warm. Underground was also a safe place to hide from enemies.

For example, ancient people built the famous underground cities of Cappadocia in what is now Turkey, for protection against both weather and war. "They were geographically in a very strategic place," Hunt said. "They were constantly being attacked." The inhabitants retreated belowground during emergencies, but they didn't stay there for a long time, perhaps for weeks at a time.

https://www.livescience.com/humans-living-underground.html

[FirstLight]

1. Fascinating...thanks for sharing!

I think we need the sunlight ...and our body rythyms would suffer for long periods underground.

But to look at this illustration, this is some master engineering! damn!

[pwb]

2. In Cu Chi Vietnam.

A tunnel complex just like the one pictured.

[left-of-center2012]

8. Apples and oranges

"... have entire societies of people ever lived underground?"

"People throughout history have temporarily lived below the surface for various reasons."

"... historically only during emergencies ..."

[pwb]

9. Pears and plums.

Oh Alrighty then. It must have been a dream.

[left-of-center2012]

10. I don't know if it was a dream ...

But the article made a distinction between civilizations that lived underground and people who did it on a temporary basis for emergency reasons.

[Doodley]

3. Whilst not strictly underground, the Homosapian GOPansis is known to live with its head in the sand.

[appalachiablue]

4. I've read about Cappadocia in Turkey. Here's

the cave dwellers, 'togloditas' that go back hundreds of years in southern Spain, BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160811-the-cave-dwellers-of-southern-spain

[JudyM]

5. Whoa. Puts the Batcave to shame.

Not seeing that graphic you posted in the article … where did you find it?

[csziggy]

14. I found it with a Google Image Search

Connected to this article:
Must See Underground Cities in Cappadocia
https://cappadocia4u.com/cappadocia-underground-cities/

[JudyM]

15. Thanks.

So cool. Going to share it with a friend who’s an architect.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

7. The Morlocks lived underground,

and the Eloi lived on the surface.

Oh wait! That was in "The Time Machine."

[Chainfire]

11. Living in high-density city centers is not a hell of a lot different than living underground.

Given the choice of a high-rise or a cave, I might take the cave; solve the ventilation issue and I would be good to go. But, then again, I am a troglodyte as well as a semi-hermit, so it is all copesetic to me. A lot of people lived in cliff dwellings from time to time, and that is just a horizontal version of living in caves. 150 feet of the World Trade Center (5 floors) is below ground and that is typical of a high rise.

It would get awfully stuffy in the sketch shown above, especially since all light would be by open flame. When people farted it would never dissipate. Walk into a room and it could bring tears to your eyes. (Yea, that was the sausage and cabbage joe ate back in Jan.) Perhaps the underground civilizations also had strict dietary laws. If nothing else, we are adaptable.

If we don't destroy ourselves first, underground living may be the ticket. Utilize the open-air spaces for growing food and collecting energy and tunnel like moles.

[tanyev]

12. Yeah, I always wonder about lighting and ventilation when I see video

of the underground tunnels at Cappodocia. They’ve got lights in there now, and it looks kind of cool, but any type of light they had available back then would have sucked up the available oxygen. Same thing for cooking food. Also, what about using the bathroom? If you lived on the top level it wouldn’t be too hard to pop outside for that, but the further down you lived, the longer that would take. And how many people would you crash into in the dark trying to get out? Boggles the mind.

[Chainfire]

13. Poop down one well and drink out of the other, that is how it has been done for millennia.

In civilized societies you pooped downstream of where you drank.

[ModerateUnderground]

16. Prehistoric stone age cities in Europe and the Middle East sometimes have extensive tunnel networks underneath them.

Prehistoric stone age cities in Europe and the Middle East sometimes have extensive tunnel networks underneath them.