Living UndergroundA History of Cave and Cliff Dwelling
Author: David Kempe
Publisher: The Herbert Press Ltd, London. 1988.
ISBN: 0-906969-86-7
Number of Pages: 256
This is the first comprehensive survey of troglodytes and other cave dwellers throughout the world from Neanderthal Man to the present day.
It starts with an account of the physical origins of caves and then discusses the use early man made of rock shelters, not only in Europe where the paintings of Lascaux and elsewhere are well known, but also in the Far East where 'Peking Man' was found, the Middle East and Africa. The story continues up to modern times covering other, now lost, cultures such as the cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde in the Four Corners region of western USA, the cone dwellers of Cappadocia in Turkey, Petra in Jordan and the religious caves of Yun-Kang in China. The author examines why people have chosen to live in caves or natural shelters, the nature of the life and the distinctive characteristics of the dwelling.
Underground chambers have also been put to a variety of other, sometimes bizarre uses - as hotels, cafes, pubs, weekend cottages, for mushroom growing, guano gathering, wine vaults, burials and for defence such as the Cabinet War Rooms in London or the underground burrows used by Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima in World War II.
Dr. Kempe brings together these various stands to give a fascinating history of man's life underground.