# Tunnels under Stone Age Settlements **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571 "2011-08-05T09:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/1 "2011-08-05T09:46:00Z")
I hadn’t heard about this before. I watch archaeology shows like _Time Team_ and _Cities of the Underworld_ regularly. I’m surprised they haven’t mentioned this on the shows I’ve seen. I wonder if these were dug to avoid predators like bears, and leopards & jaguars? I can’t imagine digging these with stone age tools. > [@](#): > > A German archeologist says Stone Age man created thousands of kilometres of underground tunnels stretching from Turkey to Scotland. > > Dr. Heinrich Kusch says evidence of the tunnels has been found under hundreds of Neolithic settlements all over the continent, according to a report in the German Herald newspaper. > > His book, Secrets of the Underground Door to an Ancient World, says the fact that so many have survived after 12,000 years shows that the original tunnel network must have been enormous. > > “In Bavaria in Germany alone we have found 700 metres of these underground tunnel networks. In Styria in Austria we have found 350 metres,” he told the German Herald. [http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/offbeat/9979541/tunnels-were-freeways-of-stone-age-world/](http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/offbeat/9979541/tunnels-were-freeways-of-stone-age-world/) > **[Steuern - Nachrichten - Austrian Times](https://www.austriantimes.at/steuern/)** > > Steuern - Nachrichten: Alle Nachrichten und Informationen über Steuern in Österreich finden Sie hier auf AustrianTimes.at! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/2 "2011-08-05T09:50:57Z")
Perhaps, or maybe to hide from other people bent on rapine and pillage. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/3 "2011-08-05T10:01:14Z")
[Bookfinder.com](http://Bookfinder.com) only found this guys book in German, published 2009. No English versions under this authors name. Author is Heinrich Kusch Title is Tore zur Unterwelt Book is written in German Doesn’t do me much good. ☹ I would have enjoyed reading it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/4 "2011-08-05T14:20:18Z")
“Behold the Underminer! I am always beneath you, but nothing is beneath me! I hereby declare war on peace and happiness! Soon all will tremble before me!” ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/5 "2011-08-05T14:23:28Z")
> [@](#): > > A German archeologist says Stone Age man created thousands of kilometres of underground tunnels stretching from Turkey to Scotland. That’s obviously the Underground Railway. A Neolithic Chunnel. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/6 "2011-08-05T14:54:34Z")
Did they find a Horta? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/7 "2011-08-05T17:32:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > [Australian News Headlines | Yahoo News Australia](http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/offbeat/9979541/tunnels-were-freeways-of-stone-age-world/) > > [Steuern - Nachrichten - Austrian Times](http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2011-08-03/35344/Tunnel_vision) Heh. The Austrian link says: _Some experts believe the network was a way of protecting man from predators while others believe some of the linked tunnels were used like motorways are today._ The Yahoo link Americanizes it to: _…others believe that some of the linked tunnels were used like freeways are today._ But either way, the image of thousands of real-life Fred Flintstones commuting through dark two-foot wide passages is pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/8 "2011-08-05T17:52:01Z")
I can’t believe that a tunnel would have any advantage over a ground-level pathway for long-distance travel other than protection from predators, especially since you’d need some kind of lighting all the time you are in the tunnel. One big problem would be tunnels under rivers and wetlands: how would you keep them dry without some kind of pumping system? I can understand them being used for other purposes, e.g., sleeping and storage, but for travel they make no sense. ---
**Author:** ![WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/9 "2011-08-05T18:41:19Z")
There was a longer article about these tunnels, called Erdställe (singular: Erdstall) in the German magazine Spiegel recently. It is also available in English: > **[Hideouts or Sacred Spaces?: Experts Baffled by Mysterious Underground Chambers](https://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/hideouts-or-sacred-spaces-experts-baffled-by-mysterious-underground-chambers-a-775348.html)** > > There are more than 700 curious tunnel networks in Bavaria, but their purpose remains a mystery. Were they built as graves for the souls of the dead, as ritual spaces or as hideaways from marauding bandits? Archeologists are now exploring the... They don’t give a lot of credence to that author Kusch and his theories of neolithic underground networks. The tunnels rather seem to stem from the middle ages or the migration period before, and there is also little evidence for large networks, but only isolated and relatively short tunnels. Still, their exact origin and purpose remain pretty mysterious. The idea that they may have been hideouts or hidden storage places is also discussed, but there are some arguments against it: They are pretty impractical for those purposes, too narrow to move around in them easily, and the supply of oxygen would quickly become a problem. There also are hardly any traces of supplies having been stored in the tunnels. So instead, they speculate about some religious functions. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/10 "2011-08-05T18:50:58Z")
Literal Man Caves. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/11 "2011-08-05T19:30:25Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Ihttp://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/offbeat/9979541/tunnels-were-freeways-of-stone-age-world/ > > [Steuern - Nachrichten - Austrian Times](http://austriantimes.at/news/Around_the_World/2011-08-03/35344/Tunnel_vision) A freeway? Did you see the dude squirming thru that tight hole? (Insert joke here) We’ve got many kilometers of underground passages just like that in Kentucky, Tennesee, Missouri and Arkansas as well as many other US states. We call them “caves.” They were made by flowing underground water over millions of years, not aliens, not religious fanatics, and not prehistoric stoneage Homo sapiens. They are 100% natural and so far, Kentucky isn’t claiming they were used as freeways. If you don’t believe me, ask any geologist about karst country. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/12 "2011-08-05T20:12:39Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > … Arkansas…not aliens, Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the graffiti, “Klaytu sucks”, hmmm? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/13 "2011-08-05T20:25:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the graffiti, “Klaytu sucks”, hmmm? Time travelers. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/14 "2011-08-05T20:57:40Z")
> [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](#): > > The tunnels rather seem to stem from the middle ages or the migration period before, and there is also little evidence for large networks, but only isolated and relatively short tunnels. Still, their exact origin and purpose remain pretty mysterious. Sometimes the tunnels were the Medieval equivalent of a panic room. There’s a good example in [northern France](http://www.grottesdenaours.com/nous.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Fourtyfold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Fourtyfold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fourtyfold)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/15 "2011-08-05T22:27:14Z")
> [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](#): > > …So instead, they speculate about some religious functions. Heh. Don’t archaeologists _always_ assume some religious function if they don’t know what something is for? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/16 "2011-08-05T23:20:42Z")
Great article. Thanks for posting the link. 🙂 Amazing how many theories there are about these tunnels. They don’t seem big enough for any practical use. > [@WilliamWilsonsDoppelgaenger](#): > > There was a longer article about these tunnels, called Erdställe (singular: Erdstall) in the German magazine Spiegel recently. It is also available in English: > > [Hideouts or Sacred Spaces?: Experts Baffled by Mysterious Underground Chambers - DER SPIEGEL](http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,775348,00.html) > > They don’t give a lot of credence to that author Kusch and his theories of neolithic underground networks. The tunnels rather seem to stem from the middle ages or the migration period before, and there is also little evidence for large networks, but only isolated and relatively short tunnels. Still, their exact origin and purpose remain pretty mysterious. > > The idea that they may have been hideouts or hidden storage places is also discussed, but there are some arguments against it: They are pretty impractical for those purposes, too narrow to move around in them easily, and the supply of oxygen would quickly become a problem. There also are hardly any traces of supplies having been stored in the tunnels. So instead, they speculate about some religious functions. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/17 "2011-08-06T00:12:31Z")
Those Stone-agers just never cease to amaze. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tunnels-under-stone-age-settlements/591571/18 "2011-08-06T00:14:01Z")
> [@PolycarpeRose](#): > > Those Stone-agers just never cease to amaze. Yeah, the aging Stones just keep on rockin’.