[extropy-chat] random caveman thought

[Amara Graps]

pharos at gmail.com :
>But cave-dwelling as a permanent habitation would not have been
>possible before farming was invented. Hunter-gatherers and nomadic
>tribes would possibly have used caves temporarily until the nearby
>food sources were used up, then they would move on.
>By the time farming was developed, there were usually many better
>options for housing available.

I guess you've not heard of the underground cities in Cappadocia (Turkey)
Estimates give at least 35 underground cities (experts say many more are
waiting to be discovered). The largest is under under Derinkuyu. The
site at Derinkuyu covers an area of 4 km^2 and is considered to be big
enough to house 2000 families, 20,000 people in total. Some of the
openings are in presently used houses, parts of the first floors of some
underground cities are used as storage places. Some of the these
underground developments go down 18-20 floors. I recommend highly a visit
to them, they are fascinating places representing life underground, and
for centuries.

The development of these cities began 4000 years ago, and were
continually developed over the next several thousand years. Even though
they were continually developed, the cities were greatly enlarged
upon arrival of Arab raiding parties in Anatolia in the 7th and 8th
centuries, who drove the monks underground taking the local Christian
communities with them forming the underground cities.

http://www.rdricketts.com/uncity.html

Cappadocia:
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/photo_galleries/cappadocia/index.html

-- 

Amara Graps, PhD      www.amara.com
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI), Roma, ITALIA
Associate Research Scientist, Planetary Science Institute (PSI), Tucson