The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1905-01-04

"hN SoAu W nave lllONh nV new llShl
on the puzzle these wonderful excava-
tons present to the antiquarian.
Who constructed them, in fact, no. |
body knows; nor for what purpose, |
nor when.
Altogether there are about four |
miles Of passages. varying in height
from six feet to ten, and in width be-
tween one yard and four.
They have been cut out of the solid
chalk, at an enormous expenditure of
time and labor, the walls showing
everywhere marks of the workmen's
picks.
An even greater mystery attaches to
the Dene Holes of Essex and Kent,
ancient artificial caverns in the chalk,
having deep. narrow. vertical en-.
frances.
Many of these entrances are fifty,
eighty, or even one hundred feet in
depth, and three or four feet in diam
eter. They pass straight down through
the everything sands and gravels into
the chalk beneath, in which are ex-
cavated several large and lofty cham
| DtlS.
the bottom of the shaft.
All sorts of explanations have been
| advanced to account for the existence
Of Dene Holes. Some authorities say
they are merely prehistoric chalk pits.
But this is obviously ridiculous. For
there is plenty of surface chalk to be
had in the neighborhood without sink
ing shafts for it.
Others assert that they were used
as places Of refuge when an invader
sailed up the Thames; but against this
may be urged the fact that the bottom
of a Dene Hole would be about the
last place in the world in which a man
would care to be found by his enemy.
Another favorite theory with some
archaeologlsts is that they constituted
the habltation of our forefathers in
days before the art of building was
; known in this county. But no trace
Of permanent habitation has been
found in any of them, and 1t is much
to be feared that any race dwelling
in the Dene Holes would quickly sue
cumb to ague and rheumatism.
Il Others have hazarded the theory
! that they were prisons, subterranean
! chapels, places of sepulture, and even
silos for the storage of green fodder,
! But these explanations are all mere
guesswork.
, Two facts about them only are GER
? tain. One is that they are very ancient
t So long ago as the reign of Henry ~
l l. nAthin1 pf hn thu
2 excavated them, and attributed them
D to the magic arts of the British King
Cunobeline. Another is that the labor
t Of constructing them must have beer
q enormous. 1t is estimated that from
e one single group Of Dene Holes II
j Hangman's Wood, Essex, no fewer
: than 10000 tons of chalk were quar-
ried and raised.
At Trelowarren, in Cornwall. are
some very remarkabl e subterraneaI
chambers and galleries, the origina
use of which is quite unknown.
Some of the galleries are more thar
ninety feet long. and. though hlgl
enough inside to allow a man stand
u ing upright, are approached only b!
| very low uOOI ds lulouSh WI al.
g one desiring ingress would have t
n creep on his hands and knees. Cham
d bers and galleries alike are line
e throughout with hewn stones, man,
of which are of immense size.
II Other similar but smaller under
n ground structures have also been dis
6 covered at Boliet and Pendeen in tn
n ynI t.ta w a
parish Of st. Constantine. and at Sar
4 creed, near PenZance.
d 1t is well known also that subtei
d ranean galleries of precisely the sam
h character have been found beneat
the old forts or "raths" of IRELAND
- and from this circumstance some a,
~ thorlties are inclined to believe tina
20 they were intended as storehouses fo
$ reserve warlike stores, arms and PRE-
visions.
These Irish galleries, however. mui
=. in nowise be confounded with the CT
~ rlous beehive-shaped undergroun
chambers, which are SO abundant
- County Cork and elsewhere, an
: which are called by the peasant
| 'DuUe notes. DcCuust, my ouy' ~
IL Danes were wont to hide in them
~ olden times.
ne This may have been So by the wa,
III for many of these subterranean apar
ments would form excellent hidir
W places; but they were certainly CO.
lis structed originally by the Irish then
he selves. at a period long anterior
p the advent of the Danish invaders.
or Probably they are allied to Il
"Picts houses" of the Orkney Island
on which are either chambered tumuli I
he underground dwellings, or both.
of The rock "tombs" of the anciel
he Etruscans are also of this categor
to Men lived within them, aud they all
buried their defunct relatives with
Of them, underneath the floor. just as Il
lin Inults do now. A few inches of ear
ne suficed to separate the living fro
Of the dead. In Peru, again, are sin
,es lar subterranean tumuli houses co
is ering thousands of acres of groun