[tripod]

What’s with all the buried cities around the world. Didn’t people sweep their walks and streets? Or did the people just disappear and nature did the rest? I once viewed an excavation in Athens that was about twelve feet below street level. When I asked my host how so much fill covered it he told me “dust.” I found that hard to believe.

When it came to revitalize did they cart in enough fill to cover everything up and then start over? Very strange to my way of understanding how that could happen.

My only guess would be a total absence of anyone doing anything in an entire city for eons and nature doing the rest.

[PeterFinn]

It would be interesting to see what the content of the fill material is. That’s really a fascinating observation on your part.

[squarebarb]

Thanks, Blam.

I read somewhere that earthworms turn over the soil and gradually cause foundations, etc. to sink over the centuries.

I think I read that in a book on Roman ruins. So maybe that’s it.

[blam]

There are shops at street level today in Istanbul that have access ladders/stairways to 2-3 street levels underneath their shops.

There's a very good program on the History Channel titled: Cities Of The Underworld . Some of these shows are fascinating.

[Ironclad]

There’s a big section of downtown Seattle where the original streets and shops are 10 feet underground. Subsidence, floods, FIRES, barbarians laying waste to the town; there are any number of reasons.