Dugouts, Archaeology of

Introduction

Underground housing was a common and expedient choice during European colonization in the United States, Canada, and Australia and is still used in the mining town of Coober Pedy in South Australia. This was not something new but a continuation of a long tradition.

Dugouts have been recorded across the world in North Africa, Europe, Australia, and Asia as well as in North and South America. In Northern China, dugouts were used for at least 4,000 years and remained home to 30–40 million people in the late 1990s (Long 1999). In Cappadocia, Turkey, there are at least 40 underground cities, with occupation peaking between the sixth and sixteenth centuries but likely predating this (Cappadocia Turkey n.d.; Ayhan 2004). In England, the Nottingham Caves Survey has recorded more than 450 caves dug out under the city and used for a variety of purposes since at least 1250 (Strange-Walker et. al. n.d.).

Definition

Dugouts are fully or partially subterranean structures used as...