[HN Gopher] Legends and science of bottomless pits, bogs, and la...
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       Legends and science of bottomless pits, bogs, and lakes (2020)
        
       Author : merrier
       Score  : 51 points
       Date   : 2021-04-25 06:48 UTC (16 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (spookygeology.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (spookygeology.com)
        
       | samkater wrote:
       | Fascinating read - I must confess I only made it through half at
       | the moment.
       | 
       | I used to play Crusader Kings 2 and there was an event about a
       | "Hole from Hell" which was essentially a bottomless pit. I always
       | assumed that was just a made up thing to add variety to the game.
       | Apparently it's no so far fetched?
        
         | azalemeth wrote:
         | One of the particularly horrible medieval torture devices it
         | the oubilette -- a hole below ground with a ceiling out of
         | reach, optionally with spikes at the bottom. You'd be thrown
         | in, and left to die of thirst.
        
       | mLuby wrote:
       | A fun read!
       | 
       | > Therefore, it might not be surprising to discover how often
       | legendary bottomless holes have a demonstrated bottom that people
       | simply chose to ignore.
       | 
       | > Even Thoreau's famous Walden Pond was rumored to be bottomless.
       | He recognized the rumor as a folklore motif common in New
       | England. He succeeded in measuring the depth himself at 102 feet.
       | The locals ignored the finding.
       | 
       | > Soundings in 1896 found a bottom just 20 feet below, but the
       | legend of the pool as supernaturally deep continued. _Facts can't
       | ruin a good story._
       | 
       | Speaking of which: I'm reminded of this image, captioned "Lake
       | Baikal is creepy deep."
       | https://twitter.com/futurebird/status/1381476991975759894/ph...
       | And indeed, the image is somewhat unsettling, though I find it so
       | not for its depth alone, but also for its _narrowness_ (which isn
       | 't real BTW). Perhaps claustrophobia and thalassophobia amplify
       | each other.
       | 
       | > [Houska Castle in the Czech Republic] was supposedly
       | constructed in the middle 13th century to surround and cover the
       | hole to hell that had spontaneously formed. ... Prisoners were
       | put into the hole and were promised release if they could climb
       | back out.
       | 
       | The SCP creepypasta format is much older than I expected.
        
       | imglorp wrote:
       | In case it gets hugged:
       | http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:/...
        
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       (page generated 2021-04-25 23:02 UTC)