Slovakia Sinkhole Reveals Historic Underground Structure

News January 6, 2025

SHARE:

DUBOVANY, SLOVAKIA—The Slovak Spectator reports that a sinkhole in western Slovakia has revealed a loch, an unlined, underground structure that was used to store food or as a refuge in times of unrest. Archaeologist Matúš Sládok said that this is the first loch to be discovered in the Trnava region of Slovakia, but many have been unearthed in Moravia, Austria, and Germany. “Lochs typically maintained above-freezing temperatures, even in harsh winters, making them habitable during colder periods,” he explained. “They were often accessed through above-ground structures and occasionally used as prison cells, giving rise to the Slovak phrase zavrieť do lochu (throw someone in jail). This loch is thought to be linked to a structure recorded on a map made during a military survey between 1782 and 1784. For more on the archaeology of Slovakia, go to "Neolithic Mass Grave Mystery."

  • Features January/February 2025

    Dancing Days of the Maya

    In the mountains of Guatemala, murals depict elaborate performances combining Catholic and Indigenous traditions

    Read Article
    Photograph by R. Słaboński
  • Features January/February 2025

    Unearthing a Forgotten Roman Town

    A stretch of Italian farmland concealed one of the small cities that powered the empire

    Read Article
    Photo Courtesy Alessandro Launaro
  • Features January/February 2025

    Medieval England’s Coveted Cargo

    Archaeologists dive on a ship laden with marble bound for the kingdom’s grandest cathedrals

    Read Article
    Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
  • Features January/February 2025

    Lost Greek Tragedies Revived

    How a scholar discovered passages from a great Athenian playwright on a discarded papyrus

    Read Article
    Clump of papyri in situ in a pit grave in the necropolis of Egypt's ancient city of Philadelphia
    Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities